By Andrew Day and Sophy Pern
Whilst the differences between experiences of internal and external consultants have been well documented (Block, 1981), little has been written about the experiences of internals and externals working together. Others (Walsh & Whittle, 2009) have observed how hard it can be for consultants to collaborate. Both conscious, rational factors, such as contracts, tasks and roles and more unconscious processes hinder collaboration (Walsh & Whittle, 2009).
Our experience supports this observation. The contracting conversation between internal and external consultants is itself a facilitated dialogue that requires care. Our article on the five stages of well-facilitated conversations offers a practical framework for structuring exactly these kinds of high-stakes setup conversations.
Although, we can point to many successful collaborations, we find that the relationship between internals and externals is often complicated and tricky, even though on the surface relations may feel cordial and constructive. This complexity is further increased when multiple internal teams are involved and need to work with one or more external consulting teams.
Over the course of a year, we inquired into the dynamics of the consulting relationship in complex organisation development assignments. We did this by reflecting on our past and current consulting projects and by reflecting with our clients and professional associates. This article summarises the central themes that emerged and what we learnt about what enables healthy partnerships between internal and external consultants, or indeed between internal OD consultants and their internal “clients”.
To download the full article; Metalogue Article Dancing in the Triangle Final
If you are an internal OD team looking for an external partner who understands these dynamics, find out more about how we work on culture change and organisation design at Metalogue.
Interested in our research on organisation design? Find it here.
