The Joy of working as Consultant: Growing and developing together with your client

For me, consultancy work is never a short term work, although in reality, of course you do short, one-time consultancy for certain client. But a consultancy, actually should always be a long term perspective, even if it is a short-term contract basis. Of course, it is more challenging when it is a short term, one-time contract consultancy.

Having a long term perspective in doing consultancy work is very important, but sharing it with your client is even more important. I wanted to mention one example in this writing, PKMD, Pembangunan Kesehatan Masyarakat Desa, a community development service unit of RS Bethesda Serukam, in Bengkayang, West Kalimantan.

My service to PKMD started in 2014, when PKMD Management expressed their interest to "renew" the cooperation with their once-main donor, BfdW (formerly was EED).

PKMD, as many normal other organizations, went on leadership and management transition which then became organization turbulance and organization transition. From my perspective as consultant, what PKMD experienced was and is very normal in organization development. Any leadership and management transition could lead to organization transition. For sure we could reduce the degree of the transition and/or its effect, but I believe we could never prevent it completely. That is especially true, when you are working alone, without a mentor or consultant, because then you don't have the third opinions and advises that help you broadening your perspective.

I came to PKMD in 2014. Sitting with them, and listening to their concerns, fears, stories, and hopes, I was listening a true-honest self-assessment and at the same time a strong determination from all the people: the management, the staff, as well as the board of PKMD, to work together, in overcoming the long-organization transition they had been through. Honest assessment and determination to work together and overcome the situation are the two main ingredients for an organization transformation, and PKMD had that all. So we sat together, checked and reviewed the organization strategic planning, did organization scan, developed organization development plan, along the way, monitored it, analysed what worked and what did not, why and what need to be done, etc. And now, in 2020, after 5 years, I think I could say that PKMD should be proud of themselves, proud of what they have been journeying together, as they are now standing both as strong organization and as agent of change in society, making changes and transforming the society while transforming theselves. PKMD has been growing together with the community they are working with, and I as consultant, without my knowing, has actually been also growing together with them. Dr. Karina Samaria, and Pak Nico, are just two names to mention during this heavy transition, but of course there are a bunch of staff in their support.