Chapter 6:

Entry & Contracting

To accompany Anderson, D. L. (2017).

Organization Development (4th ed.).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
 Entry
• Getting in, getting started, learning the client
• Types of clients:
• Contact clients: Contact clients are the initial
points of communication in the client
organization.
• Intermediate clients: Intermediate clients are
those that are included in meetings or from
whom data is gathered during the course of the
engagement.

Anderson, Organization Development (4th ed.). Sage Publishing, 2017. 2

 Entry
• Primary clients: Primary clients have responsibility for
the problem the consultant is working to address.
Primary clients generally are the ones paying for the
consultant’s services.
• Unwitting clients: Unwitting clients will be affected by the
engagement or intervention but may not know of the
engagement activity or that it will concern them.
• Indirect clients: Indirect clients are not known to the
consultant but are conscious that they are stakeholders
in the outcome.
• Ultimate clients: Ultimate clients consist of the larger
system or organization, “or any other group that the
consultant cares about and whose welfare must be
considered.” (Schein, 1997, p. 203)
Anderson, Organization Development (4th ed.). Sage Publishing, 2017. 3
 Contracting
• The process of “coming to agreement”
on what the OD project will do
• Can be written or verbal
• Understand the client’s perception of
the situation or problem
• Elicit mutual “wants” and expectations
• Defines success
• Not a one-time event

Anderson, Organization Development (4th ed.). Sage Publishing, 2017. 4

 Some Questions to Answer

• What does the client want?

• What do you need from the client
in order to accomplish this?
• What will you do/deliver?

Anderson, Organization Development (4th ed.). Sage Publishing, 2017. 5

 Some Questions to Answer

• What will your role be? The client’s

role?
• What’s the time schedule?
• What about confidentiality?
• How/When will you give
feedback?

Anderson, Organization Development (4th ed.). Sage Publishing, 2017. 6

 Our Responsibility in
Contracting
• Behave authentically.
• Say no or postpone a project that has a
less than 50/50 chance of success.
• You can’t contract with someone who isn’t
in the room (the client’s boss,
subordinates, another department).
• Avoid collusion: being complicit with the
client rather than independent or
objective.
Anderson, Organization Development (4th ed.). Sage Publishing, 2017. 7
 The Contracting Meeting
• Ask, Listen, Paraphrase/Feedback
• “So it sounds like you’re having difficulty with
coordination between the marketing and sales
departments?”
• Clarify the problem
• “What do you mean by X?” “How often does X
happen?”
• Give support
• “I appreciate your willingness to talk to me
about this difficult problem.”

Anderson, Organization Development (4th ed.). Sage Publishing, 2017. 8

 The Contracting Meeting
• Communicate understanding of the
problem
• “It’s common for groups to feel competitive
in this manner, but the time pressure placed
on both groups makes this situation
unique.”
• Be explicit
• “I want to be clear– I don’t think we will
solve this problem with one workshop.”
• End with feedback

Anderson, Organization Development (4th ed.). Sage Publishing, 2017. 9

 Two Paths...
Engagements are more Engagements are more
likely to fail when there is likely to succeed when
• Lack of client • Everyone involved has
involvement agreed on the purpose
and objectives for the
• Unclear or unrealistic project.
outcomes desired
• The organization is
• Defining a project by ready for change.
the consultant's skill or
offering rather than the
organization's
objectives

Anderson, Organization Development (4th ed.). Sage Publishing, 2017. 10

 Two Paths...
Engagements are more Engagements are more
likely to fail when there is likely to succeed when
• Lack of consultant- • Consultant and client
client partnership explore and agree on
mutual needs:
• Lack of motivation relationship, time,
• Lack of time milestones, etc.
• Unwillingness to tackle • We deal with the real
the tough “real” issues problem.

Anderson, Organization Development (4th ed.). Sage Publishing, 2017. 11

 10 Questions to More Successful
Consulting Engagements
1. What is the problem or need? 6. How motivated are the
client and organization
2. Where did the problem come to change?
from, and how is it being
managed? 7. What outcome is
desired?
3. What is the history and
context? 8. What would you like a
consultant to do?
4. What are the consequences if
the problem is not fixed? 9. Who will be involved in
the project?
5. Who is the client?
10. What is the timeline?
Anderson, Organization Development (4th ed.). Sage Publishing, 2017. 12
1. What is the problem or need?
Tells us
• How much data we have gathered about the
problem
• How clear the problem is to the organization
• Whether we're solving symptoms or
problems
• How many problems there may be
• Whether the problem is technical, personal,
or both (hint: it's both!)
Anderson, Organization Development (4th ed.). Sage Publishing, 2017. 13
2. Where did the problem come from,
and how is it being managed?
Tells us
• How long the problem has existed and who is
involved
• How much “duct tape” is involved
• What additional problems may have been
caused by the previous “fixes”
• How much frustration or desperation there may
be
• What solutions can be avoided because they've
already been tried
Anderson, Organization Development (4th ed.). Sage Publishing, 2017. 14
3. What is the history and
context?
Tells us
• More about the problem's complexity
• What the organizational culture is like:
degree of pain in general, how
engaged employees are, past
successes, or areas of frustration

Anderson, Organization Development (4th ed.). Sage Publishing, 2017. 15

4. What are the consequences if the
problem is not fixed?
Tells us
• How important the problem may be to
leaders and employees
• How ready the organization may be to
change

Anderson, Organization Development (4th ed.). Sage Publishing, 2017. 16

5. Who is the client?
Tells us
• How many people are involved in the
engagement
• What perspective the client may have on
the problem
• Leadership's relationship to the problem
and to the engagement
• Who are the intermediate clients, day to
day clients, end clients, peripheral
clients....
Anderson, Organization Development (4th ed.). Sage Publishing, 2017. 17
6. How motivated are the client
and organization to change?
Tells us
• Whether the client really wants this
engagement
• Whether the client may be able to accept
his/her role in the problem
• Whether the problem exists only for the
client or for others as well
• The likelihood of being able to tackle
underlying problems
Anderson, Organization Development (4th ed.). Sage Publishing, 2017. 18
7. What outcome is desired?
Tells us
• What success looks like
• Whether we have a clear sense of the
purpose of the project
• Whether we have a realistic sense of
the project

Anderson, Organization Development (4th ed.). Sage Publishing, 2017. 19

8. What would you like a
consultant to do?
Tells us
• What role the consultant will take, and
whether that role is appropriate
• How much involvement the client will
take versus the consultant

Anderson, Organization Development (4th ed.). Sage Publishing, 2017. 20

9. Who will be involved in the
project?
Tells us
• The complexity of the project in terms
of number of people, kinds of people
(one organization, multiple
organizations)

Anderson, Organization Development (4th ed.). Sage Publishing, 2017. 21

10. What is the timeline?
Tells us
• Whether the timeline is realistic for
the outcomes desired
• What interim milestones need to be
considered
• Whether the timeline is negotiable

Anderson, Organization Development (4th ed.). Sage Publishing, 2017. 22

The Contracting Meeting
• Ask, Listen, Paraphrase/Feedback
• “So it sounds like you’re having difficulty
with coordination between the marketing
and sales departments?”
• Clarify the problem
• “What do you mean by X?” “How often does
X happen?”
• Give support
• “I appreciate your willingness to talk to me
about this difficult problem.”

Anderson, Organization Development (4th ed.). Sage Publishing, 2017. 23

Block, 1981
The Contracting Meeting
• Communicate understanding of the problem
• “It’s common for groups to feel competitive
in this manner, but the time pressure placed
on both groups makes this situation
unique.”
• Be explicit
• “I want to be clear – I don’t think we will
solve this problem with one workshop.”
• End with feedback

Anderson, Organization Development (4th ed.). Sage Publishing, 2017. 24

Block, 1981