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Transactional Analysis in and for Organisations

Transactional Analysis (TA) for and in or-

ganisations can be applied in a wide

range of areas. Typically it is about or-

ganisational consulting in the wider

sense. This includes the development of

organisations as a whole, as with cultural

development of entire organisations or

mergers. Furthermore it includes the de-

velopment of parts of organisations, as

for example the restructuring of divisions

and sectors, the development of depart-

ments and teams, as well as internal

conflict resolutions and mediations.

The individual professional development

of people is also part of the organisa-

tional field of application. This covers in-

dividual training and development

measures like coaching and supervision,

individual and group trainings, or execu-

tive development, but also organisation

constellations. The latter are systemi-

cally oriented ways in which to work to

help make relations between members

of a system or parts of a system visible.

Target groups of organisational consul-

tancy on the basis of Transactional Anal-

ysis are composed of individual employ-

ees and executives from all levels as well

as departments, teams and even the en-

tire workforce. Typical subject areas of

the consultancy for and in organisations

are for example leadership and manage-

ment, communication, organisational de-

velopment, coaching, change and pro-

ject management, human resources de-

velopment, supervision and conflict man-

agement (DGTA 2013).

Aside from the above mentioned more

general subjects there are countless

more specific assignments of organisa-

tional consulting. They are mostly tasks

and projects related to concrete content

or functions, for example the implemen-

tation of new IT systems, the establish-

ment of a process-related supply-chain

structure, internationalisation, or entry

into new markets, merger of distribution

companies, or centralisation of purchas-

ing. The work with TA for and in organi-

sations challenges the transactional ana-

lyst in dealing with complexity. Even the

work with one individual employee of a

large corporation, for example in the

context of a personal coaching, has po-

tentially an effect on the entire system,

i.e. the organisation as a whole.

Behavioural change in an individual in an

organisation can have extensive conse-

quences. The farther the counselling

concerns of organisations reach, the

more comprehensively the possible con-

sequences of the consulting have to be

assessed and examined.

“Target groups of organisational con-sultancy on the basis of Transactional Analysis are individual employees and executives from all levels as well as departments, teams and even the en-tire workforce.” “Typically it is about organisational

consulting in the wider sense. This in-

cludes the development of organisa-

tions as a whole.”

© In Stability GmbH & Co. KG 2

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It is for this reason that TA integrates

systemic approaches in the organisa-

tional field of application according to

which organisations are seen as systems

that are not controllable in a linear way.

For their development they essentially

need the abilities of self-organisation

and self-control. TA in combination with

systemic approaches can offer helpful

impulses as they complement the more

specific consulting approaches (comple-

mentary consulting). In this way they can

contribute to solutions which classic

management consultancies often fail to

achieve.

Many TA models were originally devel-

oped for individuals and their relation-

ships. Over time it became apparent that

numerous models could well be used in

the context of organisations. By now TA,

next to the systemic approach, has de-

veloped into one of the most substanti-

ated training branch of developmental

organisation. Organisational consultancy

on the basis of Transactional Analysis al-

lows working with organisations as an en-

tire system on one hand, on the other

hand it can provide valuable contribu-

tions for development of individuals and

across all organisational levels. Herein

lies its specific flexibility and effective-

ness when applied in and for organisa-

tions.

Martin Thiele, Dr. Michael Korpiun

Managing Partners

In Stability GmbH & Co. KG

martin.thiele@in-stability.de

michael.korpiun@in-stability.de