Process Intervention Skills
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th edition
Chapter 7
Slide 1
Learning Objectives
Understand key OD process skills and determine how they
Understand can be applied.
Practice
Practice using OD process skills.
Identify
and gain
Identify and gain insights into your own OD style.
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Chapter 7
Slide 2
Walking the Front at
Disney
(part 1 of 2)
“The actions of one leader, multiplied by thousands of leaders,
can reshape a culture.”
Judson Green, head of Walt Disney Attractions.
Disney has one of the world’s most deeply rooted corporate
cultures.
Chapte
r7
Slide 3
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th edition
Walking the
Front at Disney
(part 2 of 2)
The leadership style at
Disney is inclusive.
Managers work frontline
shifts during peak periods.
Where guests’ satisfaction
ratings are highest, cast
members rate their leaders
as outstanding.
Chapte
r7
Slide 4
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th edition
New
Paradigm in
Organizations
Change occurring in
leadership styles because of
importance of teams.
Organizations relying more on
team approach.
Managers will need new skills.
Understanding group and
team behavior is needed.
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Chapter 7
Slide 5
Process
Interventions
(part 1 of 2)
Process intervention is
OD practitioner skill
for helping work
groups become more
effective.
Helps work group to
understand way it
operates.
Chapte
r7
Slide 6
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th edition
Process
Interventions
(part 2 of 2)
The manager helps team learn
to diagnose and solve their
own problems.
Team becomes more
independent.
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Chapter 7
Slide 7
Group
Process
Process interventions
concentrates on how groups
and individuals within those
groups behave.
Process is the how of the
group.
Content is the what of the
group.
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Chapter 7
Slide 8
Five Areas Crucial to Effective Organization
Performance
Communication.
Member roles & functions in groups.
Group problem-solving & decision-making.
Group norms & growth.
Leadership & authority.
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Chapter 7
Slide 9
Figure 7.1
Group
Process
Interventions
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Chapter 7
Slide 10
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Communications
ANALYZING COMMUNICATIONS
PROCESS WITHIN GROUP.
OBSERVING LENGTH OF TIME MEMBER
TALKS, WHO TALKS TO WHOM, AND
WHO INTERRUPTS WHOM.
Chapte
r7
Slide
11
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Member Roles and Functions
Observing roles
and functions
of members.
Roles divided
into 3
categories:
Group building
and
maintenance.
Group task.
Individual.
Chapte
r7
Slide
12
Table 7.1
Group Behavior Interventions
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Chapter 7
Slide 13
Problem Solving
and
Decision Making
Helping group understand
how it makes decisions.
Group consensus is one all
members share in making
and will support.
Groups can use several
methods to reach decisions.
One common method is to
take a vote and let the
majority rule.
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Chapter 7
Slide 14
Process interventions help the group understand its norms
and whether they are helpful or dysfunctional.
Assisting group in understanding its norms and how they
affect decision making.
Group will improve decision making as members grow.
An Experiential Approach to Organization
Development 7th edition
Group Norms and
Growth
Norms are the organized and shared ideas regarding what
group members should do and feel, how this behavior should
be regulated, and what sanctions should be applied when
behavior does not coincide with social expectations.
Chapte
r7
Slide
15
Leadership and Authority
Group understands impact of
leadership and authority.
Roles of formal and informal leaders
clarified.
Leadership functions shared among
group members.
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Chapter 7
Slide 16
Our
Changing
World:
Grassroots
Leadership
at Shell
(part 1 of
3)
Managing director Steve
Miller tried to transform
Shell but with little progress.
Went directly to employees
in field (coal-face).
He brought change to lower
levels and let it spread to
managers above.
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Chapter 7
Slide 17
Our Changing
World (part 2 of 3)
Leadership changes at Shell:
• Solutions to problems reside
with people at coal face.
• Leader finds ways to
empower frontline people
and hold them accountable.
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Chapter 7
Slide 18
Our Changing
World (part 3 of 3)
Approach to change:
• Brought in 6 to 8 member
teams.
• Teaching method used was
the fishbowl.
• One team in middle
working on problem,
another team observes.
• Observing team learns
from another team’s
performance.
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Chapter 7
Slide 19
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Types of Process Interventions
Process interventions differ but
never involve the group’s task.
Concern is how group going
about accomplishing its task.
Chapte
r7
Slide
20
Process
Interventions
Include:
• Clarifying.
• Providing Support.
• Summarizing.
• Coaching.
• Synthesizing.
• Counseling.
• Generalizing.
• Modeling.
• Probing.
• Setting the Agenda.
• Questioning.
• Feedback.
• Listening.
• Structural Suggestions.
• Reflecting Feelings.
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Chapter 7
Slide 21
Clarifying and
Summarizing
Purpose is to resolve
misunderstandings.
Provides a summary of major
points.
Helps the group to understand
where it is.
Example: “Mary, I seem to be
hearing you say…. Is this
correct?”
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Chapter 7
Slide 22
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Synthesizing
and
Generalizing
Synthesizing occurs when several
points and ideas are put together
in a common theme. Generalizing
refers to taking the ideas or
feelings of one person and
attaching them to the entire group.
Puts several points together in
common theme.
Takes ideas of one person and
attaches them to group.
For example, when one person
expresses reservations about
dealing with a particular issue, a
process observation is,
: “Am I correct in assuming the rest
of you share Irwin’s position?”
Chapter 7
Slide 23
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Seeks more information and asks questions.
Probing and
Questioning
Useful at beginning of discussion if members
reaching hasty conclusions.
Example: “Larisa, I’m not sure everyone
understands your point. Could you explain it
in more detail?”
Probing and questioning may be especially
useful at the beginning of a discussion if
members are reaching hasty conclusions.
Chapter 7
Slide 24
Listening
Communicates nonverbally that one is
listening.
Uses eye contact and body posture.
Listening refers to hearing the entire
message, including any feelings.
communicated nonverbally: tone of
voice, facial expressions, hand and
arm movements, body posture, eye
movements, and so forth.
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Chapter 7
Slide 25
Most messages have two parts: the
content and the speaker’s feelings,
often expressed nonverbally.
Listener practices empathy.
Reflecting
Feelings
Reflecting feelings refers to
communicating back to the speaker
the feeling part of the message that
has been heard.
Example: “Shannon, am I correct in
assuming you have a problem with
what Murphy has just reported?”
The purpose of reflecting feelings is to
check out perceptions and get
members more in- volved in the
discussion.
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Chapter 7
Slide 26
Providing Support,
Coaching, and
Counseling
Providing support includes
encouraging group members to talk
and express their ideas. It also
includes complimenting the group
for a particularly productive
meeting.
Coaching and counseling may occur in
a private meeting with individuals,
particularly the formal manager or
supervisor of the group.
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Chapter 7
Slide 27
Modeling
Learning to give process observations
by observing someone else making
process observations.
Members encouraged to take role of
providing process interventions.
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Chapter 7
Slide 28
Setting the Agenda
Agenda-setting interventions include
setting aside time when process
issues will be specifically discussed
apart from content issues.
The manager may encourage the
work group to allocate time at its
regular meetings to discuss the
processes of the meeting or may
suggest that the group hold a
separate meeting just to deal with
process issues.
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Chapter 7
Slide 29
Provides feedback on group process.
Limited to extent that group is able to
accept feedback.
There should be no feedback to
individuals or groups until they are
ready to receive it.
An Experiential Approach to Organization
Development 7th edition
Feeding Back
Observations
Feedback to work groups can occur at
meetings or to individuals after
meetings.
Chapte
r7
Slide
30
Manager avoids stepping in
and taking over.
An Experiential Approach to Organization
Development 7th edition
Structural
Suggestions
Provides suggestions on
group membership,
communication patterns,
allocation of work, and lines
of authority.
Chapte
r7
Slide
31
Results of Process
Interventions
Little empirical evidence on success of
process interventions.
Some findings suggest positive effects
on participants.
Process interventions relied upon by
OD practitioners and increasingly used
by line managers in daily operations.
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Chapter 7
Slide 32
Discuss HP in light of new
information.
OD in
Practice:
Shaking up
HP (part 1
of 2)
CEO Fiorina dismissed by
HP’s board.
Official reason was “strategic
differences” with the board.
Discuss HP in light of new
information.
What does B.W. and W.S.J.
report?
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th edition
Chapter 7
Slide 33
Has new CEO been able to
bring change to HP?
What style of change does
this new person brings to HP.
What happened to Fiorina?
An Experiential Approach to Organization
Development 7th edition
OD in Practice:
Shaking up HP (part
2 of 2)
Who is her replacement?
Chapte
r7
Slide
34
Key Words and
Concepts
• Agenda setting interventions - sets aside
time when process issues discussed.
• Empathy - listener tries to see world from
speaker’s point of view.
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th edition
Chapter 7
Slide 35
• Group building and maintenance functions - help group grow and
improve members’ relationships.
• Group consensus - decision made by group that all members can
support.
• Group content - task or what a group does.
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Chapter 7
Slide 36
• Group process - how group goes
about accomplishing task.
• Group task functions - behaviors that
directly help the group solve its task.
• Individual functions - behaviors that
satisfy individual needs and
inconsequential to group’s task.
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Chapter 7
Slide 37
Member roles - functions that individual
members play in a group.
Norms - organized and shared ideas regarding
what group members should do and feel.
Process interventions - how the group is
accomplishing its task.
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Chapter 7
Slide 38
Preparations for
Next Chapter
• Read Chapter 8.
• Read instructions for OD Skill
Simulation 8.1 and complete Step 1.
• Read and prepare analysis for Case:
The Farm Bank.
An Experiential Approach to Organization Development 7th
edition
Chapter 7
Slide 39