By Jackalyn Rainosek, PHD, CEO and Liz Cloud, President of DTP Leadership Group, LLC

Introduction

Organizational Development Consulting (OD) is the study and implementation of practices, systems, and techniques that affect organizational change. The OD consultant’s main strength compared to other consultants is they have a comprehensive knowledge of human behavior, supported by a number of intervention techniques. Their goal is to modify an organization’s (group’s) performance and culture. Using theories and methods drawn from the behavioral sciences, the professional focuses on contributing to the organization defining and solving its problems with practical applications of researched methods of changing an organizational system.

OD deals with the total system, which means that it deals with the whole organization, including its relevant environment, or with a subsystem or systems, such as department or workgroups. For example, in the context of the total system, the individuals, cliques, structures, norms values and products are not considered in isolation. The principle of interdependency is at the foundation of changes that are made by the OD consultant, since a change in one part of a system affects the other parts of the organization.

DTP Leadership’s OD consultants have extensive experience as an executive in an organization, and commensurate educational degrees related to behavioral sciences. Both of the founders of DTP, Jackalyn Rainosek, PHD and Liz Cloud have years of experience in working with C-Suite Executive and business owners. Their associates are trained in the same methodology to analyze and change cultures in organizations to create the greatest success and growth for the system. Dr. Rainosek was a member of the National Training Lab Institute (NTL) for 25 years, which founded the concept of OD.

Objectives, Outcomes, and an example of a model used for Organizational Development Consulting

The objective of OD is to improve the organization’s capacity to handle its internal and external functioning and relationships. This includes improved interpersonal and group processes, more effective communication, and enhanced ability to cope with organizational problems of all kinds. It involves more effective decision processes, more appropriate leadership styles, improved skills in dealing with destructive conflict, as well as developing improved levels of trust and cooperation among organizational members and their customer base.

Key concepts that are part of OD work include organizational climate (the mood or unique “personality” of an organization, which includes attitudes and beliefs that influence members’ collective behavior), organizational culture (the deeply seated norms, values, and behaviors that members share) and organizational strategies (how an organization identifies problems, plans action, negotiates change, and evaluates progress). Kurt Lewin is considered to be the founder of OD. Many of his colleagues founded

the National Training Laboratories (NTL), which the T-group and group-based OD emerged from. Douglas and Richard Beckhard described OD as an innovative change effort that does not fit any traditional consulting categories. Core values which underlie OD work were articulated by Margulies and Raia which are:

1. 1. Providing opportunities for people to function as human beings rather than as resources in the productive process.
2. 2. Providing opportunities for each organizational member, as well as for the organization itself, to develop to their full potential.
3. 3. Seeking to increase the effectiveness of the organization in terms of all of its goals.
4. 4. Attempting to create an environment in which it is possible to find exciting and challenging work.
5. 5. Providing opportunities for people in organizations to influence the way in which they relate to work, the organization, and the environment.
6. 6. Treating each human being as a person with a complex set of needs, all of which are important to their work and their life. This is a separate concept from efforts known as operational management sometimes known as management consulting.

The objectives of OD are:

1. 1. To increase the level of interpersonal trust among employees.
2. 2. To increase employees’ level of satisfaction and commitment.
3. 3. To confront problems instead of neglecting them.
4. 4. To effectively manage conflict.
5. 5. To increase cooperation and collaboration among employees.
6. 6. To increase organizational problem-solving.
7. 7. To put in place processes that will help improve the ongoing operation of an organization on a continuous basis.

Example of a model used for Organizational Development Consulting:

Dr. Rainosek studied under Marvin Weisbord and uses his approach to analyze organization; therefore, has taught the associates at DTP how to use his approach. Weisbord was an NTL member and formulated his six-box model for understanding organizations, which included the following:

1. 1. Purposes: The organization members are clear about the organization’s mission and purpose and goal agreements. He stated that OD consultants needed to understand the priorities that related to internal environmental constraints in order to encourage people to support the organization’s purpose.
2. 2. Structure: How is the organization’s work divided up? The question is whether there is an adequate fit between the purpose and the internal structure.
3. 3. Relationship: This box considers the interactions between individuals, between units or departments that perform different tasks, and between the people and requirements of their 3 jobs. This includes interpersonal conflicts, people and technology conflicts, those conflicts between units or departments, and how the parts of the organization interface with each other.
4. 4. Rewards: The consultant will diagnose the similarities between what the organization formally rewards (incentives) or consequences (punishments) for its members. How does this affect the development and connection to the organization?
5. 5. Leadership: This area has a unique task since leadership maintains a scan of the environment and the organization to determine actions to be taken between boxes or about one box of the system.
6. 6. Helpful mechanism: What must the organization attend to in order to survive and thrive—procedures such as planning, control, budgeting, information systems, methods, policies appropriate to the purpose, structure, and required degree of conflict management.

Later in his work he added a seventh area, the external environment. An organization is impacted by the external systems that affect the organization. The fascinating aspects of this six-box model is it can be used to help the development of a new team, task force or committee. It is a powerful way to design the “ideal” organization, which gives people in the organization a chance to see what exists and what needs to exist. The model can be used as a problem-solving technique, and another way to use it is to help people consulting with or providing services to another organization to see what information they may be missing in order to be most effective for their work in an organization. There are many more ways to use this model. To deal with the total aspects of an organization, Dr. Rainosek has a thorough organization assessment tool to determine what is happening in the system, and how to intervene to produce the highest performance of employees to create the greatest increase in profitability and function of all areas of the organization. Organizational development consulting includes management consulting, which focuses on business performance; however, OD creates a more in-depth understanding and methodology to implement change that transforms and ignite your organization to your next level of growth and success.

Dr. Rainosek and Liz Cloud know how to apply OD Consulting to any size organization. For additional information, please contact: