In applying the action-learning approach, we use process consultation to facilitate the change process. Process consultation can be defined as “A set of activities on the part of the consultant that help the client to perceive, understand and act upon the process events that occur in the clients’ environment”

Within the process consultation model the major distinction is how the consultant structures the relationship. However the Client owns the problem throughout. While the consultant can help the client to deal with the problem, but never takes on the problem themselves. Even if the consultant diagnoses early what is wrong this is withheld as:

• There may be some hidden things they do not know;
• Even if right the client may be defensive;
• Even if the client accepts the diagnosis he probably fails to diagnose in the future;
• The client must share in the process of diagnosis and generating a remedy.

The assumptions in this model are:

• The Client is hurting somehow but does not know the source of pain or what to do about it;
• The client does not know what kind of help may be available and needed;
• Nature of problem means the client needs help in figuring out what is wrong and would benefit from participation in diagnosis;
• The Client has constructive intent, motivated by goals and values that the consultant can accept, and has some capacity to enter into a helping relationship – an early task is to examine hidden agendas to see whether the consultant can work with this;
• The Client ultimately is the only one who knows what form of intervention will work in the situation;
• Client is capable of learning how to diagnose and solve her own organisational problems

In most cases the role we need to take on as a support role is a process consultant/facilitator role. We are no longer “experts” – the client and local stakeholders have most of the information and we are helping them to process that information in a systematic way and come up with priorities, recommendations and ways forward, and then supporting them to take forward those actions, but all the while keeping the ownership local.