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The
systemic approach: seeing the big picture – seeing
the hidden dynamics
The following is an overview of the systemic consulting
services we offer. These tools and techniques are
derived from a consulting model called systemic
constellations, which has its source in
Germany. Depending on the context, they are also
referred to as organisational
constellations, management
constellations, structural
constellations or family
constellations, depending on the setting
and the area of insights the client wishes to gain.
To find out more read this page or follow the links.
When considering our offers
remember: systemic constellation work never substitutes
action! And we can help you in this process.
| What
are systemic constellations? |
|
Systemic constellation
techniques are basically tools for communication. They
are simple, yet highly effective. The power of
these tools dictate they only be used by a very
skilled and sensitive facilitator. Systemic constellations:
- Depict
complex interconnections in a simple way
- Are
an analogy to enable people to see what is happening
in their system
- Give visibility to the emotional
dynamics, where language fails
- Are phenomenological – you
experience the phenomena instead of analysing
a construct
For a
more detailed description of systemic constellations
refer to the following pages:
Family constellations for
the origins and the format of systemic constellations
Organisational constellations for
the application of systemic constellations to specific
processes in an organisational and business context
The techniques described below are generally regarded
as an addition to existing management tools and
many combinations are possible. They are freely
adaptable to the specific needs of the client,
or complexity of the issue in question.
For example an organisational consultant,
seeking supervision, may simply want to participate
in a public systemic
constellation seminar.
Conflict within a team may be
addressed by an initial discussion, perhaps with
an individual systemic constellation consultation
by the team leader, followed by a series of team-specific workshops that
include systemic awareness sessions.
At the other end of the scale, an organisation
planning and executing a major change, such as
a merger,
may use most of our services, in the sequence described
below.
For best effect when working with systemic
constellations and systemic awareness,
the process should be headed by the person holding
the most senior position in relation to the issue
in question. For example, a cultural change of
an organisation is best headed by the CEO. Or,
when seeking conflict
resolution in a team, by the
team leader. Of course, a team member can also
do the work in relation to his or her position
in the team, such as to find new ways to work with
other team members or how to deal with obstacles.
A systemic constellation can be
held either in an individual consultation or
in a group setting as described below.
| What
can systemic constellations do? |
|
Systemic constellations can help you to
look at a situation you are personally involved
in, from the outside. This creates a
certain meta position on your behalf.
With systemic constellations you will learn to
trust your feelings and intuitions more. You can
use them as an intervention when you get stuck
with something and want to take a look at what
is going on. The process can throw up questions
and ideas you may otherwise not come up with on
your own. Systemic constellations:
- Invite
communication about communication
- Improve decision
making
- Systemic constellations can be used as
an initial stock take:
- What is the present situation?
- What do we need
to take into account?
- They can also be used for
the next step, when looking for possible solutions:
- What
would an option look like?
- What would happen if
we include …?
| How
to benefit from systemic constellations |
|
Systemic constellations are
best approached from a ‘phenomenological
stance’. The word
sounds more complicated than the actual process
and was coined by experts trying to explain what
can’t really be explained by words. To
benefit from systemic constellations you need a
certain approach, a childlike curiosity, inherent
to us from birth, but often forgotten over time
as we grow more and more rational in our response
to the technological and competitive world. To
break with the merely rational, the following is
required by the participants as well as the facilitators
of the process:
- Willingness to take a wider perspective,
wider than just the project you are working on
- Positive
atmosphere where openness is permitted, and indeed
encouraged
| Individual
systemic constellation consultation |
|
A systemic constellation
in an individual setting is using figures or
place markers on the floor as representatives,
depending on the issue and the client’s
preference. A session lasts one hour and includes
a pre-constellation interview to distil the intention,
and a brief post-constellation discussion to
collect ideas and further steps.
Advantages of an individual setting are privacy,
confidentiality, price and availability.
They can be used as a preparation for a systemic
constellation in a group setting, in particular
when the issue is not clear, or as a precursor
when the person approaching us is not in a position
of greatest influence on the matter, so as to be
in a better position to relate the process to others.
A sequence of individual systemic constellations can
also be used to focus in on a particular part of
enquiry or can be used to address a number of related
issues which require individual attention.
| Systemic
constellations in a group setting |
|
The primary benefit of a systemic constellation
in a group setting, are live representatives. The
constellation can often take unexpected turns due
to feedback from representatives who are not overloaded
with past dynamics or preconceived interpretations of
the situation and who have no investment in a particular
outcome. It is possible to participate in such
a public seminar as an observer/representative
to gain a better understanding of the process and
to develop systemic awareness.
Systemic constellations in a group setting are
very powerful. Therefore time needs to be given
for its effects to settle and manifest. They can
have a ripple effect for months to come and as
a result shouldn’t be repeated too frequently
on the same issues.
| Public
systemic constellation |
|
In a public systemic constellation
seminar, the client chseminarsooses other participants
of the seminar as representatives. Participants
of a public seminar are either other clients planning
to set
up a systemic constellation during the
seminar, or observers/representatives who may be newcomers
wanting to gain a better understanding of
the process, or past or current customers wanting
to develop their own systemic awareness.
A
pre-constellation interview is held at the beginning
of the systemic constellation in the workshop or
seminar itself, or prior to the event, depending
on individual arrangements. If held at the seminar,
the following is discussed:
- Formulation of the issue
to create the intention for the constellation
- Facts
relevant to the issue
- Generic organigram, if required
If the pre-constellation
interview is held prior to the event, the consultation
will be more detailed and include confidentiality
issues. A systemic constellation can be held in
a group setting without participants knowing any
facts or names to protect copyrights and innovation.
For
more information about how it all works follow
the links below:
- The family
constellation page describes the process
in detail and gives information about the background
of this tool
- The organisational
constellation describes principles and
elements on applying this model to businesses
and organisations
- The schedule lists
public systemic constellation workshops and seminars
that occur at regular intervals
A systemic constellation
is completed with a brief collection of ideas,
depending on the client’s
requirements, their need for confidentiality and
any other constraints.
| In-house
systemic constellation workshops |
|
For busy managers, who do not have time to
spend two or more days in a public a seminar in
order to investigate a specific issue, or if the
there is a very pressing issue, neutral representatives
can be brought from outside for an in-house systemic
constellation. The constellation can also be held
at an off-site location if this helps. The
constellation can be watched by the whole team
or by a selected group from the company, with the
team leader being the main client. In
this case every person present needs to be in agreement
with the process. An attitude of ‘this won’t
work’ and general suspicion will hinder the
emergence of insights and initiatives. Curiosity
is more productive, and even a bit of doubt can
be beneficial to the outcome as it will keep ideas
in the context of reality. As stated earlier, systemic
constellations never substitute action.
At the systemic constellation itself, neutral
representatives are given minimal or no information,
depending on the request for anonymity of the client
and the nature of the preparation. This ranges
from, stating the intention by the client plus
some basic information on facts, to the representatives
not being told anything, apart from being assigned
an identity such as A, B, C etc. In this case the
client and the facilitator will have a list with
descriptions of the placeholders.
In-house workshops with
management or teams
For certain issues, such as testing strategies,
values or branding possibilities, systemic constellations
can be held in-house with members of the company
as representatives. This specific form of systemic
constellations is often referred to as management
constellations.
The intention for the constellation is
discussed in the group to establish a common
request followed by the team leader
choosing the representatives. Special techniques
are used to keep the representative feedback
neutral, such as exchanging positions regularly
to receive a feedback from more than one person
in a particular position. Another possibility
is to work with the representatives not knowing
who or what they represent during the process
of the constellation; they are chosen according
to an initially secret list.
The constellation process can be video taped and
subsequently watched and discussed by the whole
team once the identities of the representatives
are available to everybody.
Please note, these types of systemic constellations
are not recommended if a conflict in a team needs
to be resolved. In this case uninvolved representatives
will be freer to give honest feedback. For directly
working with conflict issues in a team, we will
use other team building facilitation
techniques.
With systemic constellation work it is
very important that the issue, and desirable
outcome, are formulated clearly. In
other words, an intention has to be created.
A long story can often be distilled into one
or two sentences. We have special consulting
skills to help you do this.
This can be done directly at the beginning of a
systemic constellation, or, as a preparation in
a separate meeting before a systemic constellation
seminar. There are benefits to be had from developing
the intention for a systemic constellation, in
advance. More time is available, and privacy and
confidentiality can be ensured for sensitive issues
or issues effecting high profile companies.
In an initial meeting, the client outlines the
current issue he or she is seeking insight into. This
can be anything from testing an idea or a product,
developing a strategy or making a decision, analysing
loss of clients or blow out of costs, resolving
resistance, power struggles and conflict between
staff, understanding the root cause of high staff
turnover and gauging the impact of redundancy,
recruitment and succession planning.
Some sections of this meeting may, if requested
by the client, be voice recorded as part of the
data gathering for the preparation of a report.
In a more complex situation, for
example a restructuring
of an organisation,
a system analysis is needed before we can give
any recommendations. Basic information is gathered,
for example:
- Ownership: is
it a privately or publicly owned business, a family
business, a non-profit organisation or a government
department?
- Output: what does the organisation
provide, develop, produce or sell?
- Hierarchy of the organisation:
an organisational chart is either sketched during
a meeting, or provided by the client.
- History of the organisation:
founding of organisation, takeovers of other
companies by the company or from other companies,
mergers, downsizing, boom, restructuring, reorganisation
or product changes.
- Other major influences that
might affect the dynamics within the company.
In
addition, we discuss measures and strategies that
currently work – the organisations successes
and what contributed to these successes. We will
use this information as a starting block for a
systemic consulting project, as there is little
to be gained in changing things that already work
well!
Through performing a collection of qualitative interviews we looks
at information between the lines.
| Building
Systemic Awareness |
|
Systemic awareness or systemic intelligence
can be learned and will improve management and
team leading skills, help to run projects more
successfully. Observing and being involved
in as many systemic constellations is one way.
In addition, we offer team
building workshops
containing exercises that help promote systemic
awareness and
other group dynamic processes to improve communication
within a team.
Systemic constellation work never substitutes
action! As an integration of the new
information received in a systemic constellation
workshop we offer systemic coaching on an individual
basis. As a key contribution to transferring
insights, received in a training session, back
into the workforce, systemic coaching is not
just looking at the client’s goal. Systemic
coaching also includes the bigger picture, the
system the client works and lives in. For
example to achieve better performance does not
just depend on an employees ability; it also
depends on his or her position in their team,
the teams position in the department etc.
In systemic coaching we use the systemic approach
in our questioning in addition to traditional,
solution focused, coaching techniques for the individual.
This includes the shadow sides of what is missing,
the system of the voices that go on in each person’s
head when trying to achieve success. We also take
into account that every action has a ripple effect
throughout the whole system, the organisation,
the individual is working in.
Depending on the issue presented in a coaching
session, we will also use individual systemic constellations
to find insights.
| Consulting
the Consultant |
|
Systemic
consulting and organisational constellations
can also be used for consultants and their position
in the company they are consulting to answer
questions such as:
- What
is going on in the organisation I am brought
into
- What are the possibilities
of my position within the organisation
- Does
the customer have a hidden agenda
- How much am
I, myself, trapped in the hidden dynamics of
the organisation
Based on initial
meetings and a system analysis, we prepare detailed
reports on the findings. We look at options,
tasks and steps we perceive as being beneficial
to the client’s progress,
recommend a strategy and present a proposal toward
a solution. This report may contain an appropriate
selection of the services described here, and possibly
other services not described here, offered by us
or our partners, that we think would help the client.
These findings are presented in a meeting, with
a PowerPoint presentation and subsequent discussion,
for clarification of any questions.
Systemic constellations mainly work with
the unconscious mind and our emotional intelligence
can come up with the most unexpected results.
Nevertheless, remembering what happened in the
consultation can help building a bridge to intellectual
understanding. Ideas that evolved can
be tried out in the ‘real world’.
Depending on the situation and your preferences,
constellations can be recorded in a combination
of video, audio, photographs and handwritten
notes. We also offer the preparation of reports
if so required.
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