Introduction
Organizational Development (OD) Specialists help businesses improve their operations and profits by providing advice and assistance. As an OD consultant, an individual can play a range of positions and styles. OD specialists should be able to deliver good results to a company. They are highly qualified and can have a significant effect on a business. They also provide the resources needed to facilitate change in organizations, despite having little control over them. The words specialist and consultant are used with the same meaning in OD (Bierema, 2020). Organizational development seeks to enhance the efficiency of the company; therefore, an OD specialist’s main duty lies in strengthening the relations with and between people and firms in order to achieve the objective. This paper will address the relevance of the problem, specific conditions for OD consulting, and an acceptable solution to the institution’s problem.
Validity of the Problem
Initial Assessment of the Issue
The first move for management should be to get a broad picture of the situation to pinpoint the real issue. Top management should consult advisors and experts to determine the type of the system that is needed (Chesson, 2018). Consultants may only meet and assess an organization’s personnel in the first stage to collect information. The consultant will work with people from various organizational levels at the initial assessment stage to obtain product information.
Data Gathering
A specialist will conduct surveys at this level to assess the organization’s environment and the employees’ behavioral issues. Interview questions, questionnaires, and related documentation are the tools that consultants may use to gather data (Singh, 2020). The consultant works with different organizations outside of the workplace to determine the organizational environment and behavioral problems that the company is facing. Surveys are used to collect data, and interviews are conducted to develop it.
Data Feedback and Confrontation
The information collected in the second phase will be circulated to work teams, who will be responsible for updating it. Any conflict areas will be resolved solely among themselves, and goals for a reform will be identified (Bierema, 2014). The data is then shared with the relevant workgroups, which are later asked to review the information. They examine the data, find the problem areas, resolve them, make a decision, and then offer reform recommendations.
Developing a Change Strategy
At this point, the consultant will recommend a change strategy. The professional tries to turn the assessment of the issue into a proper action plan with the overall aims for success, which is the basic method for achieving certain aims and the systematic strategy. The group deals with the problems of the company and prepares comprehensive plans to determine who is responsible for the crisis and how they work and when.
Unit Interference
During an OD cycle, the machine interferes with the programmed, featured system. The main objective of OD is to strengthen the structure through these scheduled events (Bierema, 2014). External consultants may be involved in design, including preparation, process management, and team building activities. The creation of a natural partnership, including managing director and subordinates, allows for the development of bigger groups consisting of many teams. In this manner, the whole organization would be included in the process.
Team Building
In the process of team building, the consultant helps the groups to focus on how they communicate with one another. Group meetings take place during the planning process and the advisor encourages members to choose how to operate together: as a community or as a team (Singh, 2020). The consultant assists them in realizing the importance of clear communication and gaining their confidence. The OD specialist should notify them about the importance of open communication and faith in group dynamics.
Evaluation
Since OD is a long process, it necessitates close monitoring in order to obtain accurate input about what happens after the program starts. This will make it easier to perform appropriate changes as needed. Critique sessions, evaluation of progress efforts, and comparison of pre and post-training behavioral trends are also successful ways to test an OD system (Bierema, 2014). As a result, the abovementioned social mechanism and the measures addressed do not apply to all organizations.
Specific Criteria for OD Consulting
Interpersonal Ability
Consultants should be able to build and maintain successful relationships with people and groups in the organization and assist them in developing the skills they need to solve existing issues. The foundation expertise is considered to be team dynamics, comparative cultural experiences, and market functions, managing the consultation process and cooperation as core skills (Singh, 2020). Successful partnerships are affected by both team dynamics and comparative cultural experiences.
General Consulting Skills
OD begins by diagnosing an agency or department to explain how it is currently operating and identify the areas for improvement. At an early stage, OD practitioners should be able to make a precise diagnosis. People should understand how to include employees in the organization in the review, as well as help them think critically and gather data (Chesson, 2018). The director should be familiar with basic diagnostic inquiries and techniques for gathering information, such as questionnaires and surveys, and evaluation techniques, such as force field analysis or qualitative means.
Organizational Growth Theory
A general understanding of organizational development is the final fundamental method that OD practitioners can possess. They should be aware of the numerous interventions available and the value of reviewing and institutionalizing transformation initiatives (Kuna & Nadiv, 2018). Most notably, OD practitioners should be aware of their functions as an OD consultant, director or specialist business consultant in the developing area of organizational advances.
Response to the Organization Regarding Their Issue
Accommodating
Accommodating involves people putting their own needs aside to appease others and maintain harmony. Smoothing or improvising can lead to a false solution to an issue and a range of emotions in the individual, from anger to enjoyment (Chesson, 2018). Accommodators are quiet and friendly, and they may serve as a martyr, troublemaker, or saboteur. On the other hand, accommodation may be helpful when one is mistaken or when a person needs to reduce losses to maintain relationships.
Avoiding
Rather than confronting a dispute, avoiders choose to disregard or withdraw. Avoiders tend to be unconcerned with their own or others’ problems. People who escape a disability expect to leave, to repair themselves without interfering, or to take responsibility for someone else. On the other hand, avoidance may be dangerous if another individual thinks the person is not interested in communicating.
Working Together
Collaboration leads to innovative ideas that address all of the parties’ issues and requirements. Collaborators identify underlying questions, evaluate theories, and obtain a deeper understanding of others’ viewpoints (Bierema, 2014). Collaboration takes time and if the connections of the parties are not important, time and effort cannot be worth the effort to find an effective solution. Collaboration, on the other hand, fosters value, confidence, and partnerships.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I discovered no direction or way to inform customers on various matters by contrasting these types and functions of an organizational leadership consultant. In seeking a consultant, the company should first decide if the specialist needs to be external or internal. Being an OD consultant necessitates mastery of consulting skills as well as ongoing education. There should always be a degree of contact between a specialist and a customer to choose an appropriate approach.
References
Bierema, L. L. (2014). Organization development: An action research approach. Bridgepoint Education.
Chesson, D. (2018). Meeting 21st century organizational challenges with design thinking. Organization Development Journal, 36(3), 73-82.
Kuna, S., & Nadiv, R. (2018). Divided we stand? Occupational boundary work among human resource managers and external organization development practitioners. Employee Relations, 40(5), 848–867. Web.
Singh, R. (2020). The ODC Practitioner. Leading Organizational Development and Change, 123–141. Web.