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Cap. 6: Entry and Contracting: - Coggle Diagram
Cap. 6: Entry and Contracting:
Entry:
Entry is the first step in the consulting process and consists of the first contact with a client before the formal contracting process has begun
For external consultants, gaining entry is often as the result of marketing and selling one’s expertise or success to a potential client
The entry phase should also be seen as the first stage in a relationship and trust-building process, and the consultant’s actions during this stage will be perceived as at least symbolic of the working relationship to come
Ethical Issues During the Entry Stage:
Advice and counsel to a client on the qualifications or behaviors of specific individuals or job applicants, or confidential advice to a client on the performance or structure of a team
Consultants may also overpromise results, offer an “armchair” diagnosis without background data, or agree to implement an intervention strategy without additional analysis
Who Is the Client?:
Defining the client is not a simple matter
6 “client types”
Contact clients
Intermediate clients
Primary clients
Unwitting clients
Indirect clients
Ultimate clients
Contracting:
Contracting is the process of developing an agreement with a client on the work to be performed
When communicating about the client–consultant relationship is of interest to both the client and the change agent/consultant
What Is Contracting?:
Contracting is a continual process, and consultants return to validate agreements and negotiate expectations at many points throughout the engagement.
Many forms, from a simple phone call or e-mail to a formal written legal agreement.
The psychological contract for the consulting relationship is just as important as the formal contract. It is an explicit agreement about the consulting relationship, such as how the client and consultant will communicate with each other, building a relationship ideally on authenticity and openness.
The Purpose of Contracting:
To further explore the problem.
To clarify the client’s goals and objectives for the request.
To allow the client to get to know the consultant, the consultant to get to know the client and the organization
To understand the organization’s commitment to change.
To create an environment in which consultation can succeed by agreeing on mutual roles and needs.
To clarify time pressures and expectations.
To clarify how the client and consultant will interact.
To clarify confidentiality needs
To plan next steps.
Success in the Contracting Meeting:
Consultants should do 3 things as they conduct the contracting meeting:
Listen.
Ask questions carefully and sensitively.
Do not accept a role, activity, or framing that does not meet your needs for a successful engagement without being explicit about it.
Recontracting:
Recontracting in this sense is an implicit evaluation
and renegotiation that occurs at each stage.
Ethics in Contracting:
3 ethical dilemmas
Misrepresentation and collusion.
Value and goal conflict.
Technical ineptness.
Contracting as Data Gathering:
When both parties agree on a contract, the next step of the consulting process begins: data gathering.