The consultant–client relationship

develop a fair understanding of the organization’s human problems right at the beginning. “It is most necessary early in the encounter because it is the mode most likely to reveal what the client really wants and what kind of helper behaviour will, in fact, be helpful.”5 They would then switch to other roles or models when they feel that this is the right way to proceed.

In choosing a role, the consultant must never forget that it constitutes a “communicating vessel” with the client’s role. Both the consultant and the client should feel competent and comfortable in their respective roles and believe that they have made the right choice. No one should try to use a role model that is alien to his or her nature and in which he or she will not be effective. The client may be unaware of the various consulting roles, or may be used to a different consulting style from previous projects. This should be discussed and clarified as early as possible in an assignment.

3.5Further refinement of the role concept

Reducing the various consulting processes to two basic roles or modes is a simplification that is conceptually useful, but that disregards a number of situational variables. For practical purposes it is instructive to visualize a greater number of consultative roles along a directive and non-directive continuum, as suggested by Gordon and Ronald Lippitt and illustrated in figure 3.1. By directive we mean behaviours where the consultant assumes a position of leadership, initiates activity or tells the client what to do. In the non-directive role he or she provides information for the client to use or not. Here again the situational roles are not mutually exclusive and can manifest themselves in many ways in a particular consultant–client relationship. The consultant may find it useful to play two or more compatible roles simultaneously or consecutively, switching from role to role as the relationship evolves. These roles are “spheres of influence” rather than a static continuum of isolated behaviour. Let us examine the different role choices in response to a client’s needs.

Advocate

In an advocate role, the consultant endeavours to influence the client. There are two quite different types of advocacy:

●positional or “contact” advocacy tries to influence the client to choose particular goods or solutions or to accept particular values;

●methodological advocacy tries to influence the client to become active as problem-solver, and to use certain methods of problem-solving, but is careful not to promote any particular solution (which would be positional advocacy).

In this role, the behaviour of the consultant is derived from a “believer” or “valuer” stance on content or a methodological matter.

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Source: Adapted from G. Lippitt and R. Lippitt: The consulting process in action (La Jolla, CA, University Associates, 1979), p. 31.

The consultant–client relationship

Technical expert

One of the roles adopted by any consultant is that of technical specialist or expert. As mentioned above, the traditional role of a consultant is that of an expert who uses special knowledge, skill and professional experience to provide a service to the client. The client is mainly responsible for defining the objectives of the consultation. Thereafter the consultant assumes a directive role until the client is comfortable with the particular approach selected. Later in the relationship the consultant may act as a catalyst in helping to implement the recommendations made. The consultant may be a resource (content) specialist in the client’s problem, or a process specialist advising how to cope with a problem and how to implement change. This particular role makes use of the consultant’s substantive knowledge.

Trainer and educator

Innovative consultation frequently requires the consultant to carry out periodic or continuous training and education within the client system. In this aspect of the helping relationship, the consultant can suggest the most appropriate learning process, depending upon the situation and the need. The consultant may design learning experiences, or train or teach by imparting information and knowledge directly. This work requires the consultant to possess the skills of a trainer and developer of others’ potential.

Collaborator in problem-solving

The helping role assumed by the consultant uses a synergistic (cooperative) approach to complement and collaborate with the client in the perceptual, cognitive and action-taking processes needed to solve the problem. The consultant helps to maintain objectivity while stimulating conceptualization during the formulation of the problem. Additionally, he or she must help to isolate and define the dependent and independent variables that influenced the problem’s cause, and will ultimately influence its solution. He or she also assists in weighing alternatives, sorting out salient causal relationships that may affect them, and synthesizing and developing a course of action for an effective resolution. The consultant in this role is involved in decision-making as a peer.

Identifier of alternatives

There are direct costs associated with decision-making. While the value of a decision is dependent upon the attainment of a given set of objectives, in selecting an appropriate solution to a problem the consultant can normally identify several alternatives, along with their attendant risks. The alternatives, together with their economic and other identifiable implications, should be discovered jointly by the client and the consultant. In this helping relationship, the consultant establishes

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