Organizational Development Consultant

Organizational Development Consultants

[Name of the Writer]

[Name of the Institution]

Organizational Development Consultants

Organizational Development Consultants are the bodies who has full knowledge and conduct research concerning an organization. They are specialized in data collection and deriving useful information through analysis. As they are concerned with finding solutions for businesses, they use different approaches and styles which are analyzed in this paper.

ODCs act in the below-listed roles.

Expert Role

This applies when the clients face issues or problem and ask ODC to do research and assist me with what to do because they have no time and interest.

Pair of Hand Role

This role is implemented when the clients have a task and want to do it by someone other. In such cases, they hire ODCs and state to them that what to do.

Collaborator Role

In the case when both client and ODC share some responsibilities, then this role usually implies.

Non-Directive Role

This role is utilized when ODC asks the client and assist the client to resolve the issue/problem. In this role, the consultant tells the client what to do (Found, Williams, & Mason, 2017).

Organizational Development Consultants also apply the below styles when they deal with change in the organization.

Acceptance Style: This is the style in which ODC show emotional support and empathy to their client. The consultant makes the client emotionally fine and relaxed and resolves the concern without any dependence on others.

Catalytic Style: In this style, the client is made able to evidence-based diagnosis for identifying options and solutions of the problem. This is done by ODC by enabling the client to gather data, analyze and make a fine decision (Found, Williams, & Mason, 2017).

Confrontational Style: In this style, ODC focuses on the attention of the client and the way they have been practised. In this clients are enabled to judge options and make the decision regarding changes.

Prescriptive Style: This is the style is which learn about the problem, gather data, develop sense from the gathered data and then give the recommendation to their clients (Kirsch, & King, 2015).

Comparison

Prescriptive style is used more by ODCs but it is not enough effective. Here, both confrontation and catalytic styles are the same because both come with solutions. While confrontational style is effective because clients are enabled to find contradictions and then make a suitable decision about what to change.

ODCs interact with the problem in every role. But, in an expert role, the client is not engaged/involved in the process while they are involved in the pair of hands role where they judge the problem and assign ODC what to do. Beyond that, the collaborative role is enough effective, because both bodies are involved to find a solution. Looking at directive and nondirective roles of ODCs, the main function of a consultant is to find out a solution for the problem and assist client what to do and this makes consultants near to the directive role (Found, Williams, & Mason, 2017).

Role and Style I Would Best Fit In As an ODC

The collaborative role is the one where I will be the best fit. I will use and prefer this role because I prefer to work collaboratively and to find a solution collectively with the client. Clients’ involvement is crucial because clients are known more about the problem or concern. The involvement of is also important because it would assist to reach to the problem in a better way and find solutions that best fit the client (Kirsch, & King, 2015). I will use this role because it would allow me to eliminate communication barriers with the client. Beyond this, I will also fit with confrontation style so I would point at the contradiction that are the reasons for the problem and allow the client to go with the solution that best fits him/her.

The following roles should be taken by consultants to assist the organization in the changes.

Pair of hands

Expert Role

Directive and Non-Directive

Collaborative Role

While they also implement styles like acceptance, prescriptive, catalytic, and/or confrontational. In short, confrontational and collaborative styles are the best one because the client is involved in these.

References

Found, P., Williams, S., & Mason, R. (2017). The Role of Consultants in Organizational Learning. Journal of Management Policy & Practice, 15(4).

Kirsch, L. J., & King, W. R. (2015). Antecedents of knowledge transfer from consultants to clients in enterprise system implementations. MIS Quarterly, 29(1), 59-85.