The focus of this study was the unconscious dynamics in the consultant-client relationship as industrial and organisational psychologists seek to achieve change in client organisational systems. Twelve psychodynamic themes were used to interpret a journal maintained by the consultant throughout one consulting assignment, in an effort to understand the unconscious processes influencing the effectiveness of the consulting relationship. Analysis found that the client system imported the consultant to carry nurturing and healing on behalf of the system, but projected onto and into him the confusion, pain, hostility and incompetence in the system, stripped him of authority and manipulated him out of his role as change agent. The consultant unconsciously accepted the projections, failed to contain the system’s anxiety, gravitated towards the paranoid-schizoid position and was unable to effect meaningful change. Recommendations where made for the use of this form of psychodynamic analysis as a self-evaluative tool in the consulting context. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A.

The focus of this study was the unconscious dynamics in the consultant-client relationship as industrial and organisational psychologists seek to achieve change in client organisational systems. Twelve psychodynamic themes were used to interpret a journal maintained by the consultant throughout one consulting assignment, in an effort to understand the unconscious processes influencing the effectiveness of the consulting relationship. Analysis found that the client system imported the consultant to carry nurturing and healing on behalf of the system, but projected onto and into him the confusion, pain, hostility and incompetence in the system, stripped him of authority and manipulated him out of his role as change agent. The consultant unconsciously accepted the projections, failed to contain the system’s anxiety, gravitated towards the paranoid-schizoid position and was unable to effect meaningful change. Recommendations where made for the use of this form of psychodynamic analysis as a self-evaluative tool in the consulting context. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, employees all over the world were forced to work from home, meaning that consultants no longer could work physically present with their clients. As the consultant-client relationship is incredibly important for management consulting firms, it is interesting to investigate how these relationships have been impacted by the change and what the implications are for collaboration and performance. A qualitative method was used, where the authors conducted interviews with management consultants at an international management consulting firm in Stockholm, Sweden. The study found that remote working with already existing clients was functioning well. However, collaboration with new relations proved to be more challenging, which was mainly perceived to depend on the difficulty to create a personal trust and connection remotely, since digital communication made it difficult to understand the client’s needs. The digital way of working also revealed challenges with creativity, invisibility, onboarding, knowledge development and sales. Thus, the study concluded that collaborations and relationships will benefit greatly from a physical meeting early on. Nevertheless, the most beneficial working method would be to continuously balance the advantages of both remote and office working. / Under Covid-19-pandemin tvingades anställda över hela världen att arbeta hemifrån, vilket innebar att konsulter inte längre kunde arbeta på plats hos sina kunder. Då kundrelationer är extremt viktiga för konsultföretag är det intressant att undersöka hur dessa relationer har påverkats av distansarbetet och vilka konsekvenser det har fört med sig för samarbetet och arbetskvalitet. För att undersöka detta användes en kvalitativ metod där författarna genomförde intervjuer med managementkonsulter på ett internationellt konsultföretag i Stockholm, Sverige. Studien visade att distansarbete med redan existerande kunder i allmänhet fungerade bra. Däremot visade sig samarbetet med nya kontakter vara mer utmanande. Detta ansågs främst bero på svårigheten att skapa ett personligt förtroende och en personlig relation på distans, då digital kommunikation försvårade möjligheterna att förstå sig på kunden och dess behov. Det digitala arbetssättet skapade också nya utmaningar vad gäller kreativitet, osynlighet, integrering av nyanställda, kunskapsutveckling samt försäljning. Slutligen, studien visade att samarbeten och relationer skulle främjas av att parterna träffas fysiskt i ett tidigt skede av projektet. Dock skulle den mest fördelaktiga arbetsmetoden vara att framöver balansera fördelarna av både distans- och kontorsarbete.