Amandeep Singh_BLP045_Consulting_03Jan’12

Today’s consulting class was very interesting. Topics like dealing with resistance and stage of discovery were being discussed in the class. These topics could have helped you very well clear an interview for the role of consultant. However while these topics were being discussed in class we were busy being interviewed by Mercer, for the role of a consultant.

Chapters in discussion were Chapter 9 and Chapter 10 of Flawless Consulting by Peter Block.

Chapter 9 teaches us the way that how should a consultant deals with resistance from its clients. One of the fundamental aspects to deal with resistance is to never take it head on and try not to fight with it, until you completely listen to the client’s authentic perspective. This will help the storm to pass and also help you have a better understanding of the problem being faced by the client. This chapter teaches us 3 steps to handle resistance:

1.       Always pick up the cues from the manager and then describe to yourself that what is happening.

2.       Always state in a non-punishing way the form of resistance you see. And say in a neutral language to your client.

3.       After expressing yourself, keep quiet and listen to the client. Being an effective listener is the key to deal with resistance.

This chapter teaches us to follow some rules while consulting which will increase the overall effectiveness of the work. Here are few to be listed:

1.       Don’t look for emotional support, approval or affection from the client.

2.       Don’t expect to share a 50/50 responsibility with your client.

3.       Expect arguments and criticism.

4.       Don’t ask client for understanding and don’t ask for agreements.

5.       Don’t take the responses as directed personally.

So following some of them makes consulting more effective and helps to ease resistance between the client and the consultant, which ensures smooth result driven consulting and lays the foundation of a strong relationship.

Chapter 10 helps us to move from diagnosis stage to discovery stage of the assignment. It teaches us different approaches to take this journey from diagnosis to discovery. One being the traditional approach where you find the problem and see for possible remedies which can be given and hence prescribe the best solution.

The other approach this chapter talks about is the asset based approach or the strength based approach. This approach gives more emphasis giving more attention towards strengths rather than the weakness and provokes us to use our strengths in a more effective way to solve our existing problems.

To summarize this chapter, we need to remember the below points:

1.       Ask questions about the client’s personal role in causing or maintaining the presenting or target problem.

2.       Ask questions about what others in the organization are doing to cause or maintain the presenting or target problem.

3.        Involve your client in interpreting the data collected.

4.       Recognize the similarity between how the client manages you and how they manage their own organization.

5.       Condense the data into a limited number of issues.

6.       Use language that people outside your area of expertise will understand.