Organisational and system change

Changing any structure is a complex process and most organisations have stories of the best-laid plans going awry. At Tavistock Consulting we help our clients understand and engage with the more difficult human aspects of transition, so they can successfully lead their people through what is often an emotional journey. Using our systems-psychodynamic approach cultivates confidence, clarity and resilience for leaders and teams alike at every stage of this journey.

Whether it is supporting performance improvement, transforming organisational culture or system-wide integration, our approach is centred on an understanding that how the change is implemented will have a significant impact on what the change is intended to achieve. Our skill is in helping leaders to gain insight into what’s really going on for their people during the transition and how best to support them. This might mean providing opportunities for meaningful exploration of ways of working in new structures, working ‘live’ through the challenges that arise. Or we might work with our clients to design a programme of activities to enable staff to process the change, acknowledging what is lost and creating greater openness and acceptance to new structures and processes.

We work with teams at varying degrees of engagement, from project boards taking a lead on change initiatives, to managers tasked with implementation to teams on the ground, feeling uncertain and resistant.

Integration in particular takes courage and commitment from leaders. They have to inspire staff to buy into a new shared purpose, establish new ways of working and new relationships, and negotiate new boundaries that may incorporate partners from different sectors and different disciplines. We support leaders in navigating this complexity and help their people reconcile differences in context and culture to create a new, integrated way of working.