Summary

The most effective way that a consultant can learn about the client's problem and propose an effective intervention in through data gathering. Consultants use data gathering methods to delve into a client's description of a presenting problem in order to determine what underlying problems may be contributing to what the chent is seeing By gathering valid information about the organization, the client and consultant have a better understanding of the problem Five data gathering methods that consultants use most frequently are interviews, focus groups, surveys$/$questionnaires$,$ observation, and unobtrusive measures. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, so a mixed method approach may be the ideal solution. Consultants must balance the pros and cons of each method with what chents may accept, based on the investment needed in the approach, access, relevance, accuracy, and flexibility Thus, proposing a data gathering strategy to a client is to propose another kind of contract, one in which the consultant is pledging to help the client understand the underlying problem in exchange for the organization dedicating energy to analyzing it in order to work toward an appropriate solution

Exercise: Data Gathering

Read each of the five scenarios below. Then, decide what the best data gathering approach would be for each scenario based on the principles identified in Chapter $7$: interviews, focus groups, surveys, observations, or unobtrusive measures.

If you select interviews, focus groups, or surveys, identify who would participate and how, and write the questions you would ask

If you select observations, describe whom you would observe, for what length of time, and in what setting

If you select unobtrusive measures, describe what data you wish to collect and how you would do so$.$

Scenario $1$: The client, a manager in the billing department, reports that her team "does not work well with the team from sales." She tells us that she is always mediating disputes between what the sales team has promised to a customer and the processes that the billing department must follow. She complains that the sales team wants her to bend the rules to serve a customer. For his part, the manager of sales reports that his team is always complaining that the billing department is too rigid when it comes to its practices and that more flexibility is needed to serve customers