Bob Dick - consultant and facilitator Consulting to consultants Participatory action research and action learning Community and organisational change consulting, including cultural change Participative evaluation Team building, communication and conflict management From bureaucracy to flexibility and responsiveness Applications of complexity theory to the solving of otherwise insoluble problems Public workshops on select topics

 

 

In all instances I am interested in the design and conduct of such work, and also in helping other people acquire the necessary skills and understanding to design and conduct it.   Major consulting interests Consulting to consultants -- mentoring and coaching for change consultants Action research -- the use of very applied research methods, usually highly participative, which combine research and improvement Action learning and project based learning -- on the job professional development through project work, with help in reflection from a team of colleagues; also, how to set up such programs in your organisations and communities Qualitative evaluation -- evaluation processes, usually done participatively, which combine formative and summative evaluation with the setting up of feedback systems for short-cycle evaluation Community and organisational change -- facilitating the design and implementation of participative change in organisations and communities Facilitation -- helping to improve meetings, decision-making, problem solving and the like in a variety of settings Experiential learning -- the use of workshop methods which integrate skills and understanding Adult education -- helping people in training and educational roles to make their work more involving and impactful, including program design Cultural change -- facilitating the design and implementation of cultural change in organisations, especially changes from bureaucratic to team-based, flexible and responsive structure and culture Diagnosis -- the use of a variety of methods for generating data for diagnosing opportunities for improvement Public participation -- processes for meaningful consultation with the community and in other settings Participative methods -- ways of involving people more directly in helping to make the decisions which affect them, in all settings including organisations, communities and educational settings   Other specialised interests Performance management -- team based performance management systems in which teams develop feedback mechanisms to monitor their own performance Skills development -- designing and implementing programs for the development of skills in such areas as communication, conflict management, change management, relationship building, team leadership, and the topics listed above Team structures -- helping in the design and implementation of team structures, including assisting team leaders and members to develop requisite skills, and designing team jobs so that teams are more satisfied and productive Strategic planning -- an innovative and effective approach to helping teams, organisations and communities develop realistic and appropriate goals and develop ways of achieving them (with the emphasis more on visioning, immediate steps, and stakeholder involvement, and less on annual objectives and the like) Applications of complexity theory to organisational design, solving "wicked" problems, dealing with situations of high ambiguity, and the like.    I maintain a substantial web site on action research, with a mirror at Southern Cross University. And if you'd like to chat about any of this by email you can contact me at bd@uqconnect.net

 

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Maintained by Bob Dick.  Last updated 20060725