Process Consulting

Process consulting involves major redesign of processes and jobs leading to significant organizational reengineering.

In this competitive, rapidly changing global marketplace , the need for flexibility and the willingness to adapt are necessary for survival. In many cases, it is possible for departments or work groups to observe a need, analyze the situation to understand it better, brainstorm alternative solutions, and implement the most favorable idea with minimal discomfort. In those situations, change is welcomed because it alleviates outmoded practices.

Sometimes business practices and processes become entrenched because they involve many departments or include processes that have served well in the past. Often, the need to change is not obvious to all employees and, as a result, change may be resisted.

Ambiguous situations, multidepartmental concerns, or problems with little agreement are often best suited for process consulting. As a result, process consulting can lead, at times, to significant reengineering.

Definition and Scope

Organizations change continually in subtle ways, and solutions to correct minor issues are implemented daily. However, there are times when a centralized approach, known as process consulting, is needed to ensure that change is coordinated and sustained. Process consulting is usually spearheaded by one leader (or team), such as a PT practitioner, who works closely with a sponsor and a project team. The process consultant may be either external or internal to the organization.

For smaller problems, work groups can accomplish change using traditional continuous improvement techniques. Process consultants , on the other hand, work in a mutual, collegial relationship on the bigger organizational issues. It is important that consulting recommendations are beneficial to employees. ^[24]

Process consultants use specialized skills to observe and interpret group dynamics, to bring insight to work process concerns, and to manage the stress and ambiguity of change relationships. PT practitioners, as process consultants, need to carefully observe interactions among and between various constituent groups, such as executives, managers, and workers and, perhaps, customers or suppliers. They create process flowcharts and analyze policies, procedures, and work standards to identify or confirm work problems. PT practitioners help clients anticipate the stress of change and the ambiguity of new situations. In addition, they prepare for resistance and the frustration of people who do not welcome the change effort.

Determining Performance Relative to Business Needs

Frequently people fear process consulting efforts because they believe that chaos and anxiety usually come with major change. Workers fear that they, or others, will lose power or their jobs. Employees become defensive because change efforts seem to imply that everything in the past was wrong.

Actually, process consulting is usually triggered by changes in shareholder expectations, increased competition, or a need to increase productivity and maximize the possibilities available through computers and automation. Typically, the results of process consulting are increased productivity, consolidated functions, or the elimination of unnecessary work.

Employees can benefit from:

• "Increased employee interest in and appreciation of the enterprise, its leadership, its products or services, and its customers.

• "Improved internal cooperation, communication, teamwork, and understanding of needs.

• "Increased employee knowledge of the organization's direction, its role in the marketplace, its competitors , and its identity.

• "Improved matching of employee skills and empowerment to responsibilities and processes.

• "New individual- and group-performance measures that are more closely aligned with the marketplace, the value of the work performed, and the contribution made." ^[25]

Consulting Phases

When PT practitioners serve as process consultants they usually follow a structured approach. According to Lippitt and Lippitt, ^[26] widely respected experts in consulting, ideally there are 6 phases and 14 work focuses in consulting.

Phase One: Contact and Entry

Making First Contact

Consulting services may be requested due to a problem or a desire to improve competitiveness , increase productivity, or enhance satisfaction, effectiveness, or organizational image. Typically, organizations search for potential consultants by considering internal talent, checking external referrals, and through professional associations. Internal consultants tend to know more about the existing problem or need for improvement. External consultants bring a "fresh pair of eyes" and neutrality.

Clarify the Need to Change

Internal or external consultants begin by seeking information via surveys, interviews, and official memos, reports , and other documents. Outsiders need to gain context and learn the history of the organization, whereas insiders may face defensiveness due to a perceived "in-the-family" status.

Exploring Readiness for Change

While the consultant is acquiring information, the client organization is determining the consultant's credibility, trustworthiness , sensitivity, and capability. At the same time, the consultant tests the readiness of the client to collaborate before mutual commitment to the change effort.

Potential for Working Together

The client and consultant need to feel comfortable working together, and they need to believe the change effort is worthwhile. The consultant needs to ensure that there is sufficient motivation within the client organization to implement interventions.

Phase Two: Formulating a Contract and Establishing a Helping Relationship

What Outcomes Are Desired?

The consultant and client need to agree about the problem and the likely outcomes of the change effort. Outsiders have a fresh outlook regarding the problem and tend to come up with a wider variety of potential solutions. Insiders more easily understand the organization's concerns and the feasibility of any planned change effort.

Who Should Do What?

At this point, the client wants an estimate of the time and energy needed for this project. The client also requires a commitment that the consultant has sufficient availability, skill, and knowledge to reach success. The consultant expects a pledge of support from top management and the necessary financial and time resources.

Accountability

There needs to be consensus about measures of success. Evaluation measures and strategies for documenting a baseline status also need to be established.

Phase Three: Problem Identification and Analysis

Force-field Diagnosis

Clarification activities should focus on forces that may impede progress and those that support reaching change goals. For example, the client organization is likely to encounter resistance to data collection and to change intervention. Force-field diagrams help illustrate driving forces and restraining forces that will have an impact on the change effort. It is the consultant's responsibility to interpret the causes of the problems and the implications for change. An internal consultant has greater awareness of available documents and needed data. The external consultant may need more data but is less likely to face resistance.

Phase Four: Goal Setting and Planning

Projecting Goals

At this stage, the consultant talks to strategic planners, the organization's futurists, and top management. It is helpful also to talk to designated representatives of all employee levels. Change activities need to be aligned with organizational goals and in tune with the internal and external environments.

Planning for Action and Involvement

Planning for implementation involves documenting and sequencing the steps in the change process. Criteria, or evidence of change, need to be established and agreed on. It is vital to conduct trial runs to predict pitfalls and to determine the best path to success.

Phase Five: Taking Action and Cycling Feedback

Successful Action

The consultant must marshal resources and inspire motivation within the organization before initiating change activities. At this point, the outsider probably has greater leverage for introducing interventions and initiating change. However, the internal consultant probably does a better job of assessing implementation requirements.

Evaluation and Feedback

Using a variety of procedures, the consultant periodically seeks feedback about the progress of the change initiative. The internal consultant may more easily get feedback because of his or her familiarity with the organization, although employees may try to hide information and opinions from internal colleagues. In contrast, the external consultant, who may find getting feedback more of a challenge, may more readily introduce new procedures and methodologies.

Revising Action and Mobilizing Additional Resources

"Feedback is only helpful if it is utilized rapidly to reexamine goals, to revise action strategies, and, perhaps, to activate decisions concerning the mobilization of additional resources and changes of assignments and roles." ^[27] The internal consultant knows how to get access to resources. The external consultant may find it easier to confront issues and suggest alternatives.

Phase Six: Contracting Completion: Continuity, Support, and Termination

Designing for Continuity

Process changes are hard to sustain. For example, employees may try new ideas and procedures and find them awkward . Days are spent deliberately thinking about processes that were previously automatic. Old methods were faster because new methods still have " bugs " in them. There can be intense pressure against change in the hope that management will revert to the old methods. This fragile situation should be anticipated and counter-measures established. Follow-up support for change initiatives should be consistent and strong.

Termination Plans

The consultant needs to prepare the organization to assume new responsibilities for continuing the changes. A termination timeline needs to be established that covers the following:

• An insider needs to be assigned responsibility for maintaining the change effort.

• The intervention budget may be decreased as maintenance activities are put in place.

• A termination celebration should be produced, such as a publication of results.

• A periodic maintenance plan, such as annual reviews, needs to be established to support continuation of the changed environment and to acknowledge accomplishments.

Although no intervention project adheres rigidly to each phase, using a similar overall plan promotes successful interventions. PT practitioners, as process consultants, listen and watch diligently, empathize with the entire workforce, and partner with the organization to achieve excellence and to institute exemplary processes and practices. ^[28]

Case Study: Roegan Enterprises

Situation

Each year, K-12 school leadership teams convene work sessions to prepare and/or update their school improvement plans (SIP). Typically, membership includes school administrators, representatives from each grade level and subject, and parents. Team responsibilities include collecting and analyzing student and staff performance data, researching best practices, and assessing the monitoring and evaluation processes utilized in the past year.

Intervention

Because SIP is a continuous strategic planning process, the role of a process consultant is to prepare the organization, obtain buy-in, and develop the organization's skills for transformation. Moreover, the process consultant uses her or his skills to diagnose bottlenecks in the school learning environment, to assess its performance outcomes, and to learn how to make these processes more efficient and cost-effective . Thus, the process consultant needs to utilize all three levels of facilitation skills ”process, content, and intervention ”to develop an effective transformation framework.

The SIP team can consist of 10-20 members . This larger group is generally divided into the following small planning groups:

• Values, mission statement, and goals

• Student and staff performance data

• Objectives and strategies

• Curriculum alignment

• Monitoring and evaluation

Objectives

The process consultant works with the SIP team to ensure they address barriers created by dysfunctional school cultures. Thus SIP teams:

• Define their organizational strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOTs)

• Identify the subsequent top barriers to achieving growth over time

• Propose solutions

• Prepare their annual plan

Techniques

At the beginning of each session, the process consultant frames the issue, describing it in a couple of sentences using input from the SIP team. The consultant helps guide the team in determining objectives, listing sub-issues or underlying problems, and soliciting possible solutions. In addition, with the team's input, the process consultant determines the appropriate group to address the issue and the timelines for implementation.

Throughout the planning phase, the process consultant uses various techniques to help the SIP team obtain a deep understanding of the entire school and the district 's overall direction and operations. Typically these will include round-robins, storyboarding, discussion, and consensus-building.

During the round- robin and storyboarding sessions, each member or team discusses and writes SWOTs on 3M Post-Its and attaches them to the appropriate charts . Members then discuss, clarify, consolidate, and use consensus to select top SWOTs, identify "killer" barriers, and propose solutions.

The process consultant provides summary and direction and ensures that any remaining issues are resolved, assigned to the planning groups for resolution, or carried over to the next meeting.

Results

The process consultant leads the team to its final outcome of the planning sessions, a SIP, that includes:

• A needs assessment based on student and staff performance, which includes specific recommendations for improvement.

• Improvements in the quantitative and qualitative monitoring and evaluation process.

• Performance-driven goals, objectives, strategies, action steps, and timelines.

• Professional development strategies that build strong, competent leaders and well- educated teachers .

• Effective teaching practices and highly engaging instructional methods.

• Strong school-family relationships.

Lessons Learned

1. The isolation that teachers face in the traditional K-12 classroom setting hampers transformation and contributes significantly to the resistance to changing traditional practices. However, using the facilitation skills of a process consultant, a workable framework for change can be created. This collaboration between process consultant and SIP teams enables schools to use their SIP as a source for organizational renewal. This helps the school to solve its local problems, make changes, and gain focus for sustained improvement.

2. When school schedules do not provide adequate planning and discussion time or limit opportunities for internal and external cross-functional communication, curriculum and programming tend to narrow rather than grow far-reaching. Opportunities for developing external relationships decrease. If resistance occurs, the process consultant helps the team to unfreeze and remove the obstacles to its reform efforts. The process consultant helps the school develop better strategies for dealing with its problems, as everyone becomes comfortable with a process of assessment, goal setting, and implementation.

3. When teachers have job-embedded time to meet and have structured, collegial dialogue on student and staff performance, significant growth occurs. Thus, the process consultant can successfully help establish a school culture that values collaborative effort, sets high standards and expectations, and creates a challenging core curriculum.

4. When schools include parents, community organizations, and businesses in their planning and decision-making processes, staff perception and knowledge expands and becomes more global, student learning improves , and relationships among school, parents, and business improve. At this point, the process consultant has enabled stakeholders to focus the school's efforts on a shared vision and ensured that changes in the school respond to priority local problems rather than simply reflect on current "popular" problems. Thus, faculty, staff, administrators, and volunteers all attend to the same concerns.

Case study written by Joyce Beasley, President of Roegan Enterprises. Used with permission.

 

Job Aid 6-3: PROCESS CONSULTING PLANNER

Consulting Objective	Initial Observations and Issues
Describe situation and improvement opportunities.
Why is the proposed process consulting project necessary?
List project team members and document executive-level support.
Sketch out consulting activities and sponsor's expectations.

ISPI 2000 Permission granted for unlimited duplication for noncommercial use.

 

^[24] Bellman, 1990, p. 66

^[25] Bennis and Mische, 1995, p.13

^[26] Lippitt and Lippitt, 1978, pp. 9 “26

^[27] Lippitt and Lippitt, 1978, p. 23

^[28] Robinson and Robinson, 1995; Block, 1981