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Locating and Positioning Ourselves as Consultants for Organisational Change

Locating and Positioning Ourselves as Consultants for Organisational Change

thoughts across the boundary.

Posted

8 April 2019

Key people

thoughts across the boundary.

The French border strikes were a sharp reminder (particularly to those of us bored with Brexit news) that leaving the EU will have a real impact on everyday life. Having to stand for two hours whilst passports were checked, as I did, was not fun.

For many of us, it is easy to forget that disputes and negotiations around boundaries are always happening. Boundaries are essential in all areas of life because they identify what belongs inside and what is placed outside. This line of demarcation is invested with great potency as it often defines other types of relationship or engagement between individuals and teams; it is used to define who holds authority and who belongs.

As organisations shift and respond to the changing social context, particularly in the public sector, the space for consultancy also moves. We are offering a
practical seminar which will consider the changing landscape of the consulting field and how we as consultants fit into the wider territory.

We will explore the differences in biases and approaches for working with organisational change between ourselves, our colleagues and our clients, recognising that there is an invisibility to the essential process of how we position ourselves to take up this role. There is a tangible impact when we get it right or wrong.

We will explore issues related to all types of boundaries; the domain of the consultant; the psychological boundary of entering a new organisational context; holding your space when there is a desire to pull the consultant out of role or the brief keeps changing; how to hold firm to the agreed timeframe for delivery, when the desired outputs are not always transparent or even defined. We will consider how to identify the shifts and changes that happen across the boundary and how to negotiate them.

Whether you are taking up the consultant role as an internal or an external consultant there will be issues relating to authority and relationship. This practical seminar offers a chance to look closely at the consultant’s domain and the interlinked layers between contracting, entering and influencing an organisation. You will learn practical tips about how to hold your role and to understand the importance of systemically for how you enter and locate yourself.

Previous participants said about the seminar:

“Really thought provoking and insightful – I particularly liked the focus on us as practitioners and consideration of what we bring with us to the consulting process”

“It was a boost to my own practices, an opportunity to focus on the consulting process”

“The impact is already being felt in the way that I talk about what I do and my intention to act”

“It was clearly structured around a unifying framework – the immediate impact is to make me take stock of where I am”

The seminars are for anyone interested in how to succeed in change work: leaders; managers; Human Resource professionals; coaches; leadership, team and organisational development practitioners; psychologists and other social scientists – anyone working with change in 1:1, group, organisational and system contexts.

The seminars are designed so that you can attend just one or two or the whole series. Each seminar is held on a single day in central London and is non-residential.

You can apply here

  • 1 seminar = £300 + VAT
  • 2 seminars booked at the same time = £260 + VAT each.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Anabel Navarro: a.navarro@tavinstitute.org

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