We are a not-for-profit organisation which applies social science to contemporary issues and problems.

Helping organisations, groups and individuals to learn, change, innovate and develop.

Understanding changes, in changing and complex circumstances.

Expanding TIHR disciplines, weaving the arts into our Social Science

Learning how to work with emotion and knowledge, and reflecting on the experience.

Group Relations conferences world-wide offer opportunities to learn about group, organisational and social dynamics.

Translating knowledge into practice & practice into enduring knowledge.

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Conferences & Events

The Leicester Conference

31 July – 13 August 2021

Our flagship, international Group Relations conference, held annually since 1957. Come and participate if you’re interested in developing your role at work; how teams work together and how your organisation can flourish – nurturing leadership in groups, organisations… and wider society.

Testimonials

‘Since going to Leicester, I have learned to better manage myself in my role. Before I attended Leicester, I thought leadership was about managing others; I was surprised to find it is really about managing myself.’

Leicester participant

‘I learned [at the Leicester conference] that if I want things to happen in my organisation I have to take responsibility for my feelings and actions.’

Co-ordinator, Church Mission Programme, Ireland

‘[The Tavistock Institute's] ability to work with credibility and authority with minimal grounding in some of the areas we operate in was impressive. They facilitated and pushed the creation of our Theory of Change map which we’ve adopted successfully as a strategic tool, and were also effective at helping Fixperts hone the language with which we communicate our values, aims and goals.’

Daniel Charney, Founder and Director Fixperts

A truly transformative experience, which at the same time moves you out of your comfort zone and significantly expands your professional repertoire.

Giacomo Mazzariello, Global Head of Human Resources, at Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A. Italy

‘The Tavistock experience grows within you, over the years... today I see the world differently, am more able to accommodate its myriad contradictions and diversity and the Leicester conference is central to this change in me.’

Managing Partner, Transcendix, India

‘I have never learned as much about organisations as whole systems as I did at the Leicester conference.’

The Tavistock Institute helped us to have an independent view as well as a progressive perspective on our current Leadership and culture.

Strategy & Policy Lead - Org Development, Devon & Cornwall Police and Dorset Police, UK

‘Because of the P3C programme, the power of using my creativity, presence and authority has gone to the next level’

Consultant and Co-owner, Frits Philips JR & Partners, The Netherlands

‘The Leicester conference helped me express myself in plain words, instead of professional language, as an extremely powerful tool of communication.  ’

Senior Nurse, NHS, UK

P3C has been like the River Nile, stretching from a distant past to a present overflowing and fertilizing both private and professional banks. Sometimes it’s been hard, but really fruitful!

‘What I had confirmed, was that tensions are inevitable in organisations and certain group behaviours, e.g. the tendency to form silos, seem to exacerbate these tensions. Encouragement given by [Leicester] conference staff to reach out across boundaries and be curious about what was happening in other silos, seemed a useful way of improving understanding and inter-group (organisational) relationships.’

Director, HR, Manufacturing, India

‘A very significant and enriching experience. I really got so much from the course [Coaching for Leadership] and feel it every day in my ongoing coaching and this is clearly due to the way [the Directors] guided the course and complemented each other.’

Partner, PwC - Israel

‘The quality of work carried out by the Tavistock project team for the EMPAC project was excellent. The staff were highly professional, ensuring that the project was evaluated within a robust research framework whilst at the same time taking a pragmatic and flexible approach to working across a number of schools.’

Children Centre - EMPAC

‘The course [Coaching for Leadership] brought me a deeper understanding of psychodynamic, systemic concepts in the context of executive coaching. I am finding the framework of immense help in guiding my progress through coaching with clients, both in groups and individually.’

Associate Director, Executive Masters in Consulting and Coaching for Change, INSEAD, France

‘Leicester conference: It was fascinating to observe how groups were unwittingly affected by their environments, despite their best efforts to prevent that.’

Manager, University Customised Programmes, Australia

‘The quality of the staff and the dynamic combination of groups – with different tasks within the [Leicester] conference as a temporary organisation – provided great scope for concrete and direct learning… I especially valued the opportunity to discover emotional links between professional and personal life experiences.’

Head of Unit, Directorate, General Education and Culture, European Commission, Brussels

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