Here’s how it works. 

In advance of the workshop, real clients from within the organization are contacted and asked to volunteer to participate in the workshop.  Volunteer is a key concept in the success of this workshop.  These clients must have a real issue that they would like to have addressed, and have to be willing to work within the schedule and framework of the workshop design. 

Once the volunteer clients (usually 3) are identified, the Designed Learning consultant who will facilitate the workshop will contact them and discuss their real problem.  The end result of this discussion is a one paragraph description of their situation.  The problem may have to be “scoped down” to be analyzed within the time limits of the workshop.  Their commitment to the workshop schedule is also secured in these discussions.

Clients are told to expect real feedback and recommendations about how to improve their situation, that this feedback will be skewed heavily toward management issues, and that their own role in managing the situation will be discussed.

One limitation of this design is the physical proximity of the clients to the workshop site.  It is important that the consultants have access to the clients place of work during the workshop. 

The workshop. 

This is a four-day combination workshop including all the material from Flawless Consulting Skills Parts 1&2.   

At the workshop, the participating consultants are arranged in teams corresponding to the available number of clients.  Each team is given a paragraph description of their client’s situation and they prepare for their first (Contracting) meeting with the client. 

On the second day of the workshop, the clients come to the conference room p and meet privately with their team of consultants to agree on how to proceed (Contracting). 

The third day of the workshop is spent investigating the client’s situation (Discovery).  On site observations, interviews, access to information and people who work in the client’s environment make this possible. 

The data is organized, feedback messages prepared, and recommendations created.   

On the fourth day, the clients return to the workshop and hear the findings of their consulting team, and next steps are discussed (Feedback and Decision-Making).  

This may be where the consulting team’s relationship with the client on this project ends, or they may agree to stay involved and engage in Implementation following the workshop.  Further involvement is a separate issue for negotiation and is not required in the workshop design.

The benefits.

When real clients are used, real organizational issues get addressed. 

When real clients are used, the stakes are raised.  Participants take the exercises very seriously.   

Even though the clients and situations are real, the participants are still in a laboratory and there is more room for learning and skill building.  

Real clients learn about the methodology that the consultants are learning to employ.  They become educated as to the processes, the consulting role of staff, and what kind of output to expect in future encounters.  Very often they become advocates for the internal consultants with their colleagues.

Long term continuing relationships with these clients are often created.  Often the consulting team continues with the project after the workshop seeing it through to completion.

For additional information you may contact Phil Grosnick, President Designed Learning Inc.