At the Tavistock Institute, we understand organisations as complex systems where teams, groups and individuals interact in interdependent ways through different behaviours and attitudes, many of which are unconscious. It is essential, therefore, that change agents and organisational consultants are equipped to identify and work with these ‘beneath the surface’ behavioural and cultural drivers from a systemic standpoint in order to facilitate change and development.

Who is this programme for?

The Practitioner Certificate in Consulting and Change attracts a diverse group of participants, from across the globe. All work with change, as organisational consultants or someone leading others through change in their own organisations or systems. Participants might be senior managers or leaders, work in HR or as coaches or organisational psychologists either in-house or freelance. 

• You are looking for a practical programme that will stimulate and challenge you and deepen your working practice
• As a leader or senior manager, you want to apply your learning to the live issues and dilemmas you are facing in your workplace
• You are interested to know more about the unconscious processes that shape organisational cultures and influence (and sometimes block or derail) our best efforts at enabling change
• You enjoy learning through experience and making sense of experience through the lens of a range of theoretical frameworks
• You enjoy working and learning with others, in a cohort
• You are curious to learn more about yourself and the dynamics of groups through an exploration of the group process of the cohort as it happens within the programme.

The value of taking the Practitioner Certificate in Consulting and Change

By learning new theories and approaches that combine systems psychodynamics, social anthropology, complexity theory and socio-technical systems, participants will develop an advanced understanding of consultancy practices, organisational culture and inter-personal and group dynamics.

You will be able to facilitate change and organisational development by offering clients a sophisticated approach that does not shy away from the often complex and messy relationships that are rooted in all organisations.

During the programme, participants will work with UK and international participants from diverse sectors. You will practice the skills of a Tavistock consultant, in the emergent, temporary organisation that is the programme and experience and learn about live inter-personal and group dynamics. You will re-learn through practice and experience how you perceive yourself as a consultant and be confronted and challenged by your assumptions, approaches and learning. 

Programme Outcomes

• Assessment-based Tavistock Institute of Human Relations certification
• A strong sense of your own identity as an organisational change agent/consultant
• Ability to identify and work with the unconscious team, organisational and system dynamics
• Confidence in identifying and working with patterns of conflict within and between teams, organisations and systems
• Use of a systemic approach to work through the change process
• A more sophisticated understanding of organisations through theories, practical models and tools that are rooted in systems psychodynamics, social anthropology, socio-technical systems, creative arts and complexity and other theories
• Practical tools to support the change process from contracting through to ending and evaluating
• An international network of your colleagues.

Camilla Child

I have a number of great and enduring passions which form a thread in my career. One of the first questions I asked at a staff meeting when I arrived at the Tavistock Institute three decades ago was ‘Umm... who has the power here?’ The question was driven by an insatiable curiosity to understand unfolding dynamics and make sense of them. And then to help people...

Dr. John Curran

I am an organisational development consultant, with over 20 years consulting for public sector organisations and global brands. I combine my expertise in the social sciences with process consulting, executive and systemic team coaching and strategic change in order to work with senior leaders and their teams to develop dynamic and collaborative organisational cultures that connect their values with those of their employees, and wider stakeholders. ...

Programme Outline

This programme runs over 4 modules also includes an online day and the Organisational Interchange in which each participant conducts an exploration of another participant’s organisation. The consulting cycle provides a frame for the programme:

Module #1, 3 days: Locating ourselves; place, space and identity

Stepping into the unknown, exploring self and finding oneself in relation to the other. Beginning to uncover and push the boundaries of organisational consultancy. Joining, contracting and being in a group.

Module #2, 3 days: Data gathering, analysis, understanding

What is data? Researching, mapping and analysing, not knowing to knowing; developing reflexive practice; formulating hypotheses.

Module #3, 2 days in person, 1 day online: Designing and intervening, working with complexity

Understanding the system. Taking risks, politics and power, the dynamics of change, staying present. Working with the dynamics of the virtual.

Module #4, 3 days: Loss, leaving, beginnings

Cycles of reflections and actions, moving on.

Organisational Interchange

Co-creating your interchange network within your cohort, this provides the opportunity to learn more about your cohort’s wider organisational system. To experiment with crossing and negotiating organisational boundaries, examining, and experiencing other roles and systems in different contexts.

In between modules, there is engagement and support through Basecamp, our online private forum for participants where you can post messages, attach documents (and collaborate in writing them) share articles/papers; initiate/join in discussions; and offer/gain help with the written assignment: all the while nourishing the connections participants make during the programme.

Assessment

To achieve The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations’ Practitioner Certificate in Consulting and Change, participants are expected to attend the modules and submit a written portfolio of your experience which will be assessed by faculty members.

The portfolio includes a case study of working with a current client or project, personal reflection on your development journey and presentation of your profile as a consultant.

Venue

Modules will take place at the Institute offices in London. Situated between Farringdon, Barbican and Old Street, we moved into our office at Gee Street in mid-2021. Our office is a bright and flexible space, with a state-of-the-art video conference system set up to accommodate both in-person and online learning, and in hybrid. We have a fully stocked kitchen, board room, consulting rooms and studio space for larger groups and movement. 

The programme will be catered with one group dinner provided per module. Hotels can be recommended in the local area. 

Further Faculty members

The Practitioner Certificate in Consulting and Change is an innovative co-created programme. It draws both on the Institute’s rich historical influence in the field of OD consultancy and change, as well as on dynamic and contemporary interventions that inform current global and multi-cultural OD practice.

With this in mind, programme participants will have opportunities to work with diverse OD practitioners from the Institute and elsewhere, to mobilise and explore different parts of our selves in order to develop more widely and deeper for a gestalt approach. These opportunities might include embodiment work; voice work; creative arts including film; photography; poetry; and/or storytelling etc.

Next steps

To join this programme please complete the online application form and pay the deposit. If you have any questions and/or would like a conversation about the programme with one of the directors, please contact Meg Davies, Professional Development Manager at: m.davies@tavinstitute.org