HUB RESEARCH PAPER - Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel

Process consultation revisited 7
simultaneous enactment of engaging, experiencing and reflecting can be conceptualized in the
‘relational practice’ perspective.
The work with these ‘relational practices’ – i.e., how people are doing ‘things’ together
and how, by interacting, they bring about change – can be documented in intensive group
training and professional development processes, interpersonal work and in all kinds of OD work
and change efforts. The relational practice perspective is elaborated in the second part of the
article. In the third part this perspective is illustrated and extended on the basis of vignettes (short
descriptions) concerning social interaction and intervention cases, illustrating how relational
practices work or are hindered to work. In the concluding section we reflect on the added value
of taking a relational practice perspective.
Taking a ‘relational practice’ perspective
Seen from a ‘relational practice’ perspective, organizational and social change processes
are practical accomplishments that take place among a diversity of actors. With the concept of
‘relational practice’ we want to focus on the ‘how’ of change, rather then on the ‘what’ of
change. We want to focus on the way a diversity of actors involved can work together to bring
about change processes. A ‘relational practice’ is any communicative or task-oriented
interaction, characterized by a certain quality of interacting, among at least two actors involved;
it has a consequence for the relationship and some perceivable outcome (Bouwen & Taillieu,
2004). With this concept we want to shift the attention from the content of the interaction to the
process of interacting, i.e., how people are doing ‘things’ together and with each other, who is
included/excluded and how this is done. The quality of interacting gives an indication of ‘what
really works’ in ongoing interactions for change.