Competencies of an Effective Od Consultant
COMPETENCIES OF AN EFFECTIVE OD PRACTIONER
I start by giving a brief definition of competencies. For those of us who would have done HRM we learned that competencies are the behavioural characteristics (skills and abilities) of an individual which is causally related to effective or superior performance in a job.
Every OD Practitioner should have some foundational skills and abilities. If the person claiming to be an OD practitioner is not strong on these, he or she might be a business consultant, or a coach, or a team building specialist – and all of those are important and valuable roles – but they should not be confused with OD practitioners. I am not trying to make the OD practitioner better than any of these – just different. You need to apply the right person to the right job. John Battle from Dow chemicals always said there is no such thing as a bad employee, just a bad fit between an employee and a job. Well, similarly, there is no such thing as a bad consultant, just a bad fit between the consultant and the consulting need.
Intrapersonal Skills- The ability to manage self
The OD consultant works with information that is often fast changing, complex and ambiguous. He has to continually make decisions regarding the relevance of large amounts of data to the organisational situation and / or problem. To do this, he has to know his own values and biases, and know how to put these aside and adopt the organisation’s values and biases when working with this data. The process of working with data, interpreting and making decisions, as well as adopting organisational values and norms in this process, requires fast continuous learning, continuous adjustment and a high sense of innovation. A balance between emotions and rationale helps the practitioner to notice issues that are not always obvious.
Interpersonal Skills- Ability to manage Interpersonal Relationships
The OD consultant needs to be able to enter into an organisation, and begin to
I start by giving a brief definition of competencies. For those of us who would have done HRM we learned that competencies are the behavioural characteristics (skills and abilities) of an individual which is causally related to effective or superior performance in a job.
Every OD Practitioner should have some foundational skills and abilities. If the person claiming to be an OD practitioner is not strong on these, he or she might be a business consultant, or a coach, or a team building specialist – and all of those are important and valuable roles – but they should not be confused with OD practitioners. I am not trying to make the OD practitioner better than any of these – just different. You need to apply the right person to the right job. John Battle from Dow chemicals always said there is no such thing as a bad employee, just a bad fit between an employee and a job. Well, similarly, there is no such thing as a bad consultant, just a bad fit between the consultant and the consulting need.
Intrapersonal Skills- The ability to manage self
The OD consultant works with information that is often fast changing, complex and ambiguous. He has to continually make decisions regarding the relevance of large amounts of data to the organisational situation and / or problem. To do this, he has to know his own values and biases, and know how to put these aside and adopt the organisation’s values and biases when working with this data. The process of working with data, interpreting and making decisions, as well as adopting organisational values and norms in this process, requires fast continuous learning, continuous adjustment and a high sense of innovation. A balance between emotions and rationale helps the practitioner to notice issues that are not always obvious.
Interpersonal Skills- Ability to manage Interpersonal Relationships
The OD consultant needs to be able to enter into an organisation, and begin to