Organizational Development

Consulting

• Organizational Audits

A trained pair of outside eyes often can see a firm’s strengths and weaknesses more clearly than members within a firm.  While duration varies with firm size, Ms. Duncan and Dr. Rose interview key members of a firm and provide leaders with detailed feedback … along with suggestions for improving their firm.

• Retreat Facilitation

As firms routinely schedule management retreats for a variety of purposes, many find these events more productive when they are administered by an outside third party.  Ms. Duncan and Dr. Rose regularly serve firms in that capacity, helping them to achieve the goals for a specific retreat.

• Leadership:  Team Development

Principals of professional firms often find themselves in positions of leadership due to respect attained through years of professional accomplishment.  Yet, these principals often need help organizing themselves to function better as a team of leaders of the organization … a very different challenge than technical project demands.

• Leadership:  Transition

Many firms have formulated methods by which ownership of a firm can pass from one person or group to another.  But, as senior members of a firm prepare to retire, identifying new leaders and achieving a smooth transition – while retaining a firm’s strengths and sustaining successful operations – is often the biggest challenge.

• Leadership:  Individual Effectiveness

Many firms have development programs for “up and coming” staff.  Yet, the success of the firm rests most heavily on the effectiveness of its leaders.  Ms. Duncan serves as an Executive Coach, helping leaders maximize their effectiveness – for their firms and for themselves, professionally and personally.

She also leads a group of non-competing CEOs, who meet monthly to help one another and to learn additional skills to improve individual effectiveness … and who receive one-on-one coaching each month.

• Interventions

As crises occasionally arise in firms – with a firm member, between firm members, or with a client – skilled third parties can often help in resolving issues, and achieve “win-win” outcomes.  While not an “everyday” occurrence, Ms. Duncan has regularly helped firms resolve many of these sensitive difficulties.

• Surrogate CEO

One of the problems that seems to be arising more visibly in mid-sized firms:  Excellent senior project people, whose passion and expertise lies in doing great projects … become principals, out of esteem.  Ms. Duncan is increasingly serving as a surrogate CEO, until organizational systems and a new leadership team is in place.