This volume focuses on a relatively neglected area of management consulting, the education of consultants. In today’s business world, we find training programs provided by consultancies, certification programs provided by professional organizations, on-the-job training of consultants with formal or informal supervision, self-taught professionals, and some academic programs and courses. Is that enough? No, better consultants are needed to handle the complexity and changing nature of business. Academe is in the best position to provide the critical thinking preparation necessary. Yet, academic institutions have been slow in embracing this challenge. The role of academia needs to grow in magnitude and in certain directions that educate consultants beyond industry training practices. Chapter authors provide examples of innovative programs, topical approaches for courses, and thoughtful reflections on the role academia can play in preparing better consultants. There are lessons for business schools, consultancies, and aspiring and practicing consultants.
The Practice of Professional Coaching Change is the life-blood of consulting just as organizations endure only through successful change. The reality of this mutual need lies at the heart of what consulting is all about. Consultants solve problems created by the powerful forces of change in an organization's environment and in so doing, create change themselves. The Practice of Professional Consulting is a comprehensive examination of what has been called "the world's newest profession." In this practical resource Edward Verlander offers an overview of the industry and includes the most useful processes, tools, and skills used by successful consultants to produce solutions for their clients. The book also reveals why consulting is a growing and attractive career option. The best practices used by leading consulting firms are included in the book as well as the capabilities skillful consultant use in each stage of engagement. Verlander also recommends ways to ensure a consultant can solve a client's problems in a systematic, professional way. At the very heart of the book is the emphasis he puts on what is needed to become a truly trusted consultant. Filled with a wealth of must-have information from a wide range of consulting professionals, the book includes: a model of the consulting cycle; a diagnostic instrument for assessing consulting roles; ideas of how to develop political intelligence to navigate client organizations; tools for managing consulting meetings, risk assessment, and skills transfer; techniques in communications, emotional intelligence, presentations, and listening; and much more. Written for anyone wishing to start a consulting business, new employees at established consulting firms, facilitators of consulting training programs, and faculty at business schools, this important resource provides an easy way to understand the stages, roles, and tasks of consulting found in any type of consulting and it provides simple and easy-to-use techniques and templates for implementation.
This volume is a joint publication in the Research in Management Consulting and Contemporary Trends in Organizational Change and Development series. This dual focus reflects the reality that consulting for organizational change is a special type of management consultation, a complex field of endeavor that requires a broad range of skills and competencies. To be truly effective, change-related consulting requires a unique client-consultant relationship, a special set of consulting skills, an expertise in human and organizational systems, and significant personal qualities. It is in high demand in a world full of change. Yet, we still know relatively little theoretically about this type of consulting and have relatively little empirical evidence about what actually works and why. As the contributors amply illustrate, the Organization Development (OD) field has a well developed set of frameworks, technologies, and models of change. Still we need to focus on and learn more about the role of the OD consultant as a special kind of change agent. A goal of this joint volume is to increase that specific body of knowledge and provide an illustration of much needed collaboration in bringing all possible resources to bear on our understanding of an increasingly critical and essential form of consulting.
Change Management is a crucial process for gaining the competitive advantage that is the goal of many organisations. Leaders and change agents are often faced with conflicting challenges of motivating and understanding increasingly diverse workforces, accounting to stakeholders and planning for the future in a chaotic environment. Organisation Change: Development and Transformation, 7e takes both an organisational development and transformational approach to change, to reflect the environment of change faced by organisations today. With the field of organisational change continuing to evolve, especially in an international context, future directions of change management are also discussed. To emphasise the relationship between theory to practice, this text provides 10 local and international case studies, practitioner vignettes and a suite of online cases supported by a case matrix.
As a follow-up to a 2010 volume on organizational change-related consulting, the book continues to push our thinking about the dynamics involved in consulting with change leaders and intervening in the change process. Consulting for organizational change is a special type of consultation, with its own complex set of conditions and needs for a broad range of skills and competencies, which include distinct needs for the client-consultant relationship, superior consulting/facilitation skills, an expertise in human and organizational systems, and, as emphasized in the volume, the masterful “use of self.” As with our prior edited collection, this volume is a joint publication in the Research in Management Consulting and Contemporary Trends in Organization Development and Change book series. The dual focus is intended to reflect the importance of quality consulting for change across both the management consulting and Organization Development (OD) fields. It follows a long history of interest in how consulting affects organization change, what works, and, perhaps most importantly for generating theory and insight into the change process, why it works. The book contains fourteen chapters that frame the changing nature of the organizational change challenge, explore the use of self in intervening in organizations, and examine different change frameworks and perspectives, sharing various reflections and personal insights into the underlying challenges of consulting to bring about organizational change. Our underlying goal is to advance the theory and practice of effective organizational change consultation, stimulating thinking and discussion among change practitioners and researchers so that this work and profession continue to grow and evolve. ENDORSEMENT: “Consultation for Organization Change Revisited offers a clear map of the dominant thinking about how consultants intervene to help organizations create an alternative future. It nicely answers the question of "What is Organization Development." It also has a memory so that you see the arc of the field over time, which gives an important perspective. Organization change is complicated work, this book makes it clearer.” ~ Peter Block Author of Flawless Consulting
A volume in Research in Management Consulting Series Editor Anthony F. Buono, Bentley University This volue focuses on a relatively neglected area of management consulting, the education of consultants. In today's business world, we find training programs provided by consultancies, certification programs provided by professional organizations, on-the-job training of consultants with formal or informal supervision, self-taught professionals, and some academic programs and courses. Is that enough? No, better consultants are needed to handle the complexity and changing nature of business. Academe is in the best position to provide the critical thinking preparation necessary. Yet, academic institutions have been slow in embracing this challenge. The role of academia needs to grow in magnitude and in certain directions that educate consultants beyond industry training practices. Chapter authors provide examples of innovative programs, topical approaches for courses, and thoughtful reflections on the role academia can play in preparing better consultants. There are lessons for business schools, consultancies, and aspiring and practicing consultants.
Change Management is a crucial process for gaining the competitive advantage that is the goal of many organisations. Leaders and change agents are often faced with conflicting challenges of motivating and understanding increasingly diverse workforces, accounting to stakeholders and planning for the future in a chaotic environment. Comprising 12 chapters in 6 parts, the text opens with an explanation of the environment of change faced by organisations today. It then deals with managing organisational development, which is a planned process of change which is often subject to the incursions of organisational transformation, a more dramatic and unpredictable type of change. With the field of organisational change continuing to evolve, especially in an international context, future directions of change management are also discussed. Finally, to emphasise the relationship between theory to practice, Organisational Change: Development and Transformation 6e provides 10 local and international case studies and a suite of online cases supported by a case matrix. Case studies, exercises and support material present the challenges of change management in a real-life manner - examining issues from a variety of viewpoints.
The role of human resources is no longer limited to hiring, managing compensation, and ensuring compliance. Learn the skills HR professionals need to become key partners in leading their organizations.
Meaningful school reform starts with your most powerful partner—your students! When you take time to listen, you’ll find that students’ aspirations can drive your school toward exciting new goals—and when students know they’re being heard, they engage meaningfully in their own academic success. Using examples drawn from student surveys, focus groups, observations, and interviews, this groundbreaking book presents a blueprint for a successful partnership between educators and students. You’ll discover how to: Ask the right questions—and understand how to build from the answers Engage students in decision-making and improvement-related processes Implement the Aspirations Framework to guide students toward their full potential
