Reflection

he second stage of organizational development focuses on the development of the practitioner-client relationship. There are two types of Organizational Development practitioners:

• External Practitioner - a professional not previously associated with the organization itself. This external practitioner is able to view the organization objectively and without any preferential bias.

• Internal Practitioner - a member of the organization itself. Internal practitioners may have the home-field advantage in that they are more familiar with the culture and structure of the organization itself.

Five OD Practitioner Styles

There are several styles that OD Practitioners can develop within the organization:

1 Stabilizer - tries to maintain a low profile. Doesn't want to rock the boat, so to speak, but rather is there to just have a job.

2 Cheerleader - places importance on satisfaction of employees and is most concerned with morale and motivation.

3 Analyzer - focuses on efficiency and does not worry much regarding employee satisfaction. These OD practitioners can be confrontational in achieving objectives.

4 Persuader - sees the importance of both effectiveness and morale. This practitioner will avoid confrontation in order to motivate and satisfy.

5 Pathfinder - sets the goal to achieve both effectiveness and satisfaction. This practitioner sees that satisfied employees will be effective employees.

Practitioner-Client Relationship Modes

There are four modes of the practitioner-client relationship:

1 Apathetic - members keep their goals to themselves. They believe that sharing this information will not make any real difference. They follow strict routines and do not accept responsibility for their actions. They see change as coming from a higher authority.

2 Gamesmanship - These members believe that sharing their true feelings regarding self-fulfillment or organizational effectiveness will have no result on the outcome so they keep it to themselves. They may favor change if see it as serving their own personal gains.

3 Charismatic - Some members may openly share their ideas and feelings. However, they look for cues from their leaders and view the change process as acceptable is leadership agrees.

4 Concensus - These members will continuously share their ideas and feelings openly. Decisions and agreement is achieved through the value of differing viewpoints. These members welcome change as a necessary and useful process.

Diagnosing the Need for Change

Diagnosis is the method of analyzing organizational issues and learning new behavior patterns. The purpose of a diagnosis is to understand and describe the present state of the organization. There are Nine Steps in the diagnosis model. It is helps the organization recognize the need for change.

Overcoming Resistance to Change

Resistance to change has five phases in its lifecycle. They are:

1 Change Introduced - Once the change is introduced, the level of resistance at this phase could seem immense.

2 Forces Identified - Once change begins to grow within an organization, forces both for and against the change can be identified. The more the change is understood, the more accepted it becomes.

3 Direct Conflict - This is usually the life and death phase for change within an organization as more direct conflicts arise between the forces for and against the change.

4 Residual Resistance - When overt opposition arises, those with power for the change will see that these members were not fully open with their resistance to change during the beginning phases.

5 Change Established - Resisters to change during this stage are very few. The conflict becomes more subtle and shows itself in forms of questions, reluctance, etc.