The technicalities of change management is often embedded within the skill set of management consultants. This presentation looks not at these skills but the positioning of the external change agent, within the context of the change cycle. Starting with where it all begins, this is part 1 of a 2 part presentation

1. Know Your Place: Role of the external change agent
(1)
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2. Introduction
• In this brief presentation we’ll be
looking at the first stage of the
consulting phase or cycle. Starting
with selection & entry, moving on
to entry features , concluding with
why its important to get this right.
It is set within the context of
management consultant (Mgt C) as
change agent
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3. Getting to be the changer
A) Identification of
Need (Client)
B) Selection
Considerations
(Client)
C) Entry
Mgt C & Client
Resource need human
and/or
organizational
Time – meeting
deadlines
Decision- making
Evaluating
Action/ reviews
Expertise
Covert reasons
Combination of factors
above
Qualifications
Accreditation
Expertise
and Experience
Interpersonal
Specialisms
Reputation and
Referral
1. Contract
2. Formal
Appointment
3. First Meeting
between
consultant and
client
4. Pre first meeting
activities
5. Completely
Informal/direct
entry
(Ade 2004)
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4. Where you start
• Entry can be viewed as the
point in time at which the
consultant moves from being
external to the client
organisation, to the formal
commencement of the
consulting intervention. It
can be viewed either as the
first step of role and process,
or the last step of the
selection process. (Ade 2004)
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5. What needs doing at entry
• Magerison (1995) ‘Appraisal Step’ – contact -contract
preparation - contracting - contract negotiation, while
• Neumann et al (1997) ascribes – ‘Scouting’ -
negotiating entry - agreeing contract, as the first
stages on entry.
• Cope (2000) Contract and contract negotiation,
subsumed under ‘Client’ as entry activities. But
• Gray (1987) contract negotiation:- post- entry activity,
as consultants begin to gain a perspective, on the
client organisation
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6. Understanding the nature of your place
• Entry is a rather nebulous point of consulting
cycle, though distinct activities surround it. Pre -
selection and selection activities, as well the
client’s organizational demands, determine
actual entry, which will vary from client to client.
• Getting it right affects the rest of the consulting
cycle. (Ade 2004)
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7. This is a taster from Professional Consulting Level 5 course, look
out for the next segment on this topic
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