Case Study: Discovery Phase of Consulting

Introduction

Consultants are professionals that can provide a service that can aid in a clients need for team development, organizational changes, or other situations and problems that might need consulting. Performance of a professional role in most cases requires mastery of a particular set of skills, however many consultants possess a diverse set of skills and services that are particular within organizational settings. Consulting skills and knowledge of organizational behavior requires specialized skills  to helping clients successfully and efficiently address any situation or problem within their organization (Mann, 2012). This document will discuss briefly on a case study that focuses on  a clients need to introduce a new set of processes within its Marketing department. The case study focuses on team development during the transition process and a way to efficiently and smoothly introduce the new processes.

This document will focus on the discovery phase and consultant competencies best practices for effectively evaluating the clients need.  The discovery phase and consulting competencies will provide a perspective of the process taken in order to gain information and steps to take in order to provide best practices.

Case Study

The case study focus was on team development through introduction of new procedures, product launches, and training plans. The organization Danone team of customer service advisors within the Marketing department was to go through considerable changes within the organization (FreshTracks, n.d.). The Marketing team is made up of parents and healthcare professionals that support baby food products within the organization. The organization wanted the process to go smoothly and help the department deal with the changes in a positive and pro -active way. Danone wanted to encourage a more co-operative, self -managing, and resilient unit (FreshTracks, n.d.).

The case studies focus on the consultant and client ability to efficiently and smoothly transition a department through various new processes. The consultant is responsible for acquiring information through discovery that would aid in the transition of the department and acquire any helpful insight from the client. The insights acquired during the discovery phase would be beneficial to better understand the appropriate techniques to be taken to efficiently transition the department.

Discovery

The discovery phase allows for unequivocal understanding of everything that there needs to be known about the client including past present and future. As a consultant, questions are important to gaining an understanding of the organization. According to (Chelliah, 2010) questions that could be asked in order to better process an organizations consultation should be relevant to the client. Questions for this case study to be asked are; what do you believe needs to be strengthened in order to support the departmental changes? (This question will aid in uncovering areas of weakness within the department), what options have you looked at to achieve departmental changes? (gains an understanding of what the client has done to this point, or what they are thinking about, can uncover something that may not have been thought of by the consultant), Did the need for change suddenly arise or has it been planned for a while? (If it suddenly arose, there might be more likelihood that the client will show stronger participation in the change) (Chelliah, 2010).

During this phase the more collaborative the consultant is in working with others of the client's organization, the effort of change will be more successful. When the client and the consultant work as a whole, the discovery phase allows for an understanding of the priority of change and how to efficiently and successfully address it (Chelliah, 2010). Together information can be collected and analyzed to categorized discoveries and assumptions, and then make references from information collected (Chelliah, 2010).

Different approaches can be taken during the phase of discovery. Two approaches to the discovery phase are the expert approach and the Process -consultation approach. Considering these approaches for this case study connects relevance to each process taken during this phase. The expert approach, the consultant is employed to identify the problem, analyze, diagnose, and recommend a resolution (Schein, 1999). The expert approach allows the client to provide the consultant with help in identifying the situation or problem, the consultant provides the expertise in order to appropriately apply a diagnosis (Schein, 1999). This approach, the client is able to identify and classify the problem and communicate relevant information to the consultant (Beitler, 2003).  In this case study the client show what process and direction within the direction the organization wants to go. The client is able to communicate the facets of the department and newly processes the organization wants to conduct. The consultant assessing the client understands it is vital to have expertise with regards to the client’s specific situation. The consultant is not anticipated by the client to train in diagnostic and problem solving (Schein, 1999).

Process -consultation approach, the client and consultant collaboratively assess the situation or problem. The consultant's duty is to train the client on diagnostic and situational problem -solving methods. Situational problem -solving is efficient when the client is able to identify the processes needed to be enhanced. The client is expected to be knowledgeable and insightful of the work within the organization (Schein, 1999). The client has an obligation to implement the action plan if involved in the diagnostic situational problem -solving in its entirety. When the client is not actively involved, the consulting arrangement can be unsuccessful (Schein, 1999).

  The expert approach and the process-consultation approach both work to diagnose and develop techniques during the process of discovery. In comparison, both approaches allows for the consultant to facilitate the client's decision making process and apply the client's valuable input throughout the process (Beitler, 2003). However, the expert approach, the clients need to come up with their own sense of the problem. In order to get the expertise they are looking for the client should have an understanding and ability to communicate exactly what is being requested. Process consultation involves the client to collaboratively diagnose the situation or problem and implement appropriate processes (Beitler, 2003).

The process of the discovery phase is important to also consider the personality facets of the client and the persons involved. According to Nada, Louchert, & Kakabadse (2006) personality styles act as self-systems that are an active forces concentrating on the preservation of social security and avoidance of anxiety. Self-systems are important during the phase of discovery because they are learned defensive activities against anxiety caused by factors of self-esteem and security. Personality is a motivator behind personal interaction anxieties can be heightened during the levels of stress encountered (Nada, Louchert, & Kakabadse, 2006). Personality style outcomes may reflect the social characteristics of the people or groups involved, creating a valuable relationship between the consultant and client (Nada, Louchert, & Kakabadse, 2006). 

Consulting Competencies

Competencies help consultants do their jobs and organizations achieve their goals. Competencies have a key role to play in disciplines such as performance management, success planning, career development and teambuilding. Competencies give organizations a competitive advantage in creating and delivering value within its organization (Little, 2010). Competencies define the abilities for those to excel in certain roles and abilities to perform that role adequately (Little, 2010). Competencies can be used to support an organization's strategy in recruitment and selection, assessment and development, team building and organizational culture (Little, 2010).  Through competencies best practices are used in order to assess appropriately. The case study competencies five best practices are utilized in order to appropriately assess the organization (Little, 2010).

The first best practice used is “consider organizational context” This competency customizes specific proficiencies developed to influence the employee behaviors, organizational culture, life stage, and strengths and weaknesses of its management system (Campion et. al. 2011). The second best practice is to "start at the top" this competency has advantages of getting information from those who actually do the work (Campion et. al. 2011). This allows for management to interact and provide insight in reference to the future direction of the organization (Campion et. al. 2011).

The third best practice is to “consider future-oriented job requirements,” this competency focuses on the requirements of the current job and considers future methods for focus groups, team development, and future oriented requirements (Campion, et. al. 2011). The fourth best practice is to "define levels of proficiency on competencies" this competency focuses on various levels of proficiency that develop on the job performance and job grade level (Campion et. al. 2011). The levels can define standings of observable behaviors and contingencies in the appearance of the competency on the job (Campion et. al. 2011).  The last best practice includes the “fundamental (cross job) and technical (job specific) competencies,” This competency defines the profession within the organization. The fundamental competencies are applied to client and others within the organization. Each profession has a set of particular competencies, such as individual contributors, managers, and higher superiors of leadership (Campion et. al., 2011).

Conclusion

 An effective consultant should possess functional knowledge as well as knowledge of communication and analytical skills, stability, and intellect, also knowledge of personality traits beneficial to effective consulting (Banai & Tulimieri, 2013). The goal of the consultant is to build an open and honest relationship with the client. The discovery phase allows the consultant and client to build a trusting relationship according to vital information that is acquired during the process.

The client must be willing and open to providing necessary information in order for the consultant to do the job properly. The client should answer all questions as honest as possible and understand that the information being provided is essential to helping the organization (Wilson, 2009). Consulting competencies examines specific competencies focused on skills and development related to effective consulting (Wilson, 2009). The competencies for best practice are used to understand job roles, performance, and outcomes of the situation or problem.

References

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Beitler, M.A. (2003). Strategic organizational change. Greensboro, NC:

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Mann, A. (2012). What Organizational Consultants Do and What it Takes to Become One: Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 22(5), 547-554. doi:10.1080/10481885.2012.719440

Nada, K. K., Louchert, E., & Kakabadse, A. (2006). Consultants role: A qualitative inquiry from the consultants perspective. Journal of Management Development, 25(5), 425-436.

Schein, E.H. (1999). Process consultation revisited: Building the helping

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Wilson, S. M. (2009). Organizational consultants and their use of consulting psychology competencies. (Order No. 3383239, Saint Louis University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 82. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.library.capella.edu/docview/304993691?accountid=27965. (304993691).