It is a long time since I added to this series. The others can be found under the category Participation and the first in the series is here.
I thought it would be an opportunity to write about this topic whilst I was writing a recent post about the need for structural ecumenism. The post makes the case for structural ecumenism but says little about the practicalities of supporting ecumenical work.
Non-directive consultancy was developed by George Lovell, the founder of AVEC, which for several decades trained church and community workers in the basics of non-directive community work. In later years George was one of the founders of the course Consultancy for Mission and Ministry. The course continues although George has recently retired. I have placed a link to one of George's books in the sidebar, go to Amazon to find the others.
Non-directive consultancy differs from other methods I have described because it is an arrangement between a consultant and a consultor, usually one person, rather than an activity for a whole group. It is possible for the consultant to work with a few people but usually it will be with one person.
Usually consultants are paid to do some research, planning and / or design on behalf of an organisation, which for some reason does not have the capacity to do the work itself. This is an entirely legitimate approach and might be done using participative methods. However, the consultant is the person who does the work.
With non-directive consultancy it is the consultor who does the work. The role of the consultant is to act as a sort of booster to the consultor's brain power. The assumption is the consultor knows the situation better than any consultant might and so the role of consultant is to help the consultor think through the issues.
This is more complex than it might sound. The task might be one of analysis, design or problem solving. The consultant must have a sound knowledge of the techniques to take on any of these tasks. The consultant might also have specialist knowledge, although this is not essential.
The project is always in the hands of the consultor and the work is participative in the sense that the consultor is fully immersed in the process. The role of the non-directive consultant is to provide the consultor with the approaches to problem solving they need to be able to complete their task.
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