Outlining the tools and models we need to offer broad spectrum and large scale organization development consulting
Most OD consultants start out with a particular focus: teams, change, strategy, leadership, communication, or the like. Their experience deepens their expertise in that area, but inevitably other issues creep into their practice. At some point, consultants realize they can take on any client, especially those whose distress has no obvious cause or anchor. Their familiarity with organizational dynamics and their knowledge of multiple consulting strategies is broad enough that the more mysterious or complex the problem, the more appealing the engagement. This course is one consultant’s journey to that level of broad spectrum consulting.
Who should take this course:
This course is for consultants (internal or external) in the first half of their career, wanting to look ahead to the time when they can take on any OD concern, from any client, in any industry.
Why:
Looking back, it is now clear that my practice depended on a few abstract models to guide the way. These are not theoretical models; they are forged from over 400 client engagements.
They did not make me an expert on all things, but they did help me ask the right questions.
1. The consulting process: a 4-phase approach to the design and execution of any consulting engagement; a reliable strategy for helping the client (and me) find the best intervention.
2. The nature of organizations: a model of all the elements of an organization; provides a guide for diagnosis and delivery; helps identify what the client is missing
3. Problem solving: a 6-fold typology of problems, which provides a guide for exploration and defining an intervention that often reaches far beyond the presenting symptoms.
4. The nature of work: a model for defining work processes without reference to departments, functions, positions, or people. Guides diagnosis of work and process improvement.
5. The MacroMap of a company: how to conceptualize the company as a portfolio of work processes, which allows employees to become the designers of their own workplace
6. Strategic planning: a model for how to approach the “big picture” for the long term; how to embed the strategic plan into the DNA of the company
7. Organizational change: the 5 layers of any major change effort; clarifies how to avoid the abuses of executive pressure and presumptuous planning and get ahead of employee resistance
8. The Essential OD Intervention: an appropriate intervention has to address the unique challenges of the client, but there is still a clear list of critical elements in any OD effort.
Structure:
• Eight 2hr virtual sessions, meeting consecutive Tuesdays from 10am to noon PST; starting March 17th
• Office hours available 1-2 days a week for more in-depth discussions and case applications
• Supplemental recordings of previously taught courses to expand on particular topics
• Separate sessions on specific consulting tools (surveys, focus groups, etc.) as requested
Registration & Fee:
This is a no-fee course. After you register your interest here, your confirmation email will include a message from Jerry about how to get in touch with him to make sure this course is right for you and receive further details.
Your Instructor:
Jerry started his 45-year career in Stanford’s Sociology department where he taught for 18 years. Leveraging his research and assessment experience, he moved out into corporate consulting. Over the years he accumulated over 450 client engagements with companies in high tech, higher education, manufacturing, construction, health care, banking, the military, entertainment, hospitality, telecom, city & county government, public utilities, consulting firms, aerospace, college publishing, pharmaceuticals, numerous not-for-profits, and one organic grocery store. He is no longer providing client services; his practice is now focused on mentoring and coaching for the next generation of organization development consultants.
Please join us for this special workshop with beloved PNODN member and mentor Jerry Talley!
Even if we can work wonders with organizations, for most of us marketing is our Achilles Heel. And for good reason. Marketing OD is unlike virtually every other professional service: Our clients don't know when to call us. They don't know what we might do for them. And they are not confident they can discern a good consultant from a bad one. So how do we market to clients who aren't even looking for us?
Or worse yet, our potential client has already decided what they want (coaching, team building, change management) and they come to us to "place an order" for a specific service. So we have the same status as a caterer or bookkeeper. If you're responding to a public sector RFP, often you can't even talk to the client until deliverables, cost and schedule are locked up in a contract. So how do we create the room to find the real problem behind the client's request?
And just to make matters worse, many of us are mildly allergic to "selling". So, this workshop is about how we can present ourselves to the marketplace in a way that supports our role as a consultant addressing often elusive and misunderstood problems.
You'll learn:
Your Facilitator:
Jerry Talley started his 45-year career in Stanford’s Sociology department where he taught for 18 years. Leveraging his research and assessment experience, he moved out into corporate consulting. Over the years he accumulated over 450 client engagements with companies in high tech, higher education, manufacturing, construction, health care, banking, the military, entertainment, hospitality, telecom, city & county government, public utilities, consulting firms, aerospace, college publishing, pharmaceuticals, numerous not-for-profits, and one organic grocery store. He is no longer providing client services; his practice is now focused on mentoring and coaching for the next generation of organization development consultants. He teaches courses on Unlimited Consulting, Marketing for Consultants, How to Think About Work, and Advanced Problem Solving.
3:45 - 4:00 pm: Join Zoom Meeting
4:00 - 6:00 pm: Training
Learn a strategy for building an OD practice. Learn how to market to your client’s concerns instead of talking about your specific services.
This course is for external consultants (or internals ready to move out on their own) wanting more control over their income, their workload, and the type of engagements they attract.
Curriculum:
"PNODN" is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
PO Box 46107, Seattle, WA 98146
