Collaborative change processes - Consultation
General
- Graduate
- 10 learners; individual projects
- 500 hours per learner
- Dates set by experience
- Learners self-assign
Preferred companies
- 10 projects wanted
- Anywhere
- Academic experience
- Any
- Any
Categories
Skills
Project timeline
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February 14, 2022Experience start
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February 15, 2022Project Scope Meeting and Environmental Scan
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March 1, 2022Ethics submitted to Ethics Committee
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March 29, 2022Data Collection and Data Analysis
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April 26, 2022Feedback Session - Analysis and intervention planning
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May 10, 2022Intervention
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June 13, 2023Experience end
Timeline
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February 14, 2022Experience start
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February 15, 2022Project Scope Meeting and Environmental Scan
Several meetings between students and company to confirm: project scope, communication styles, and important dates.
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March 1, 2022Ethics submitted to Ethics Committee
The project’s scope and design will undergo a rigorous screening from the University’s Ethics
Committee. Each group member from your organization will have the freedom to participate, or
not, by giving their consent. -
March 29, 2022Data Collection and Data Analysis
Students will collect data via surveys, observations, focus groups, etc. and identify emerging themes from the data collected.
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April 26, 2022Feedback Session - Analysis and intervention planning
Meeting between students and company to share findings, make sense of them and co-create next steps (intervention).
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May 10, 2022Intervention
The agreed upon (planned) interventions begin to be implemented.
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June 7, 2022Closing and Feedback
Assessing the change effort’s progress to date. Company provides feedback to student-consultant on performance.
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June 13, 2023Experience end
Overview
- Details
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Students must demonstrate their ability to conduct a complete intervention to effect change in a human system / organization as the principal consultant in a collaborative relationship with a client representing that system. The project includes contracting with the client, gathering and analyzing data, implementing relevant intervention activities, and evaluating the intervention as well as their role.
- Learner skills
- Organizational development, Data analysis, Intervention design, Facilitation, Research
- Deliverables
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- Scoping and problem definition
- Data gathering: e.g. interviewing, focus groups, survey
- Collaborative sense making workshops
- Co-creating recommendations
- Co-creating activities to foster change based on recommendations
- Implement activities
- Evaluating impact
Project Examples
This course is based on a process consultation model where the students work to form a helping, collaborative relationship with the client. They are trained in research methods, group dynamics, organization development and related approaches. The specifics of the projects are designed in collaboration with you, the client, and they are expected to engage in data gathering and processing, but should also design a feedback session for the client system. Once the data has been analyzed and recommendations uncovered, students and client will work together to implement activities to foster change.
Project examples include, but are not limited to:
- Helping two teams work better together
- Helping understand why some teams are not working well
- Analyzing the impact of an organization's culture on its efficacy and efficiency
- Improving communication between different departments
- Supporting a new project or team working together for the first time
- Developing new norms
- Addressing diversity inclusion and equity issues
- Adapting to work in the virtual world
- Other relational issues related to organizational development or else
Additional company criteria
Companies must answer the following questions to submit a match request to this experience:
Be available for a quick phone call with the student to initiate your relationship and confirm your scope is an appropriate fit for the course.
Provide a dedicated contact who is available to answer periodic emails or phone calls over the duration of the project to address students' questions.
Provide time to students to gather data (depending on the project it could be a mix of survey, focus group, workshops, etc.) and work with appropriate staff to design next steps.
Sign a scope of work agreement defining the work the student is expected to do and the deliverables.
Sign an organizational ethics agreement.