Does the strategy not work?
Does the structure of your organization no longer meet the requirements?
Decisions are not being made?
Does resistance arise around every corner?
Or is the problem not clear at all?

In those cases, your organization might need consulting.

Today’s organizations are under high pressure to change. Terms like transformation, strategy, or innovation dominate the discussion—but how can these challenges be specifically integrated? We accompany executives as well as dedicated managers—people who seek clarity and sustainable solutions in complex situations. We offer consulting that relies on the theoretically sound backbone of social systems theory, which we apply in our observations, feedbacks and interventions. Our way of consulting supports you in actively shaping change without resorting to generic tools.

Consulting doesn’t have to be the large, long-term change project: many organizations initially approach us with a specific concern—be it the facilitation of a strategy workshop, a leadership development program, or reflective professional supervision of teams or challenging cases. We understand all these different formats as part of our consulting work. Below, you will learn how we fundamentally understand consulting, how typical processes run, which methods we use, and what you can expect from us.

For me, the SIFB reflects a high and sensitive adaptability to ever-changing requirements as well as a good sense for the right intervention, the right design, and the right methodology at the right time. Being there whenever required. With its approach, the SIFB sets standards in organizational consulting as well as in individual and team development. By leaving the comfort zone and providing surprising, measured reflections, new perspectives and solution possibilities emerge. I recommend the SIFB as a companion for planned transformation and change processes as well as for disruptive change. Special thanks go to Marion and Jan for the successful support through the turbulent time of pandemic COVID-19 vaccine production 2020–2024.

We have worked with Nahide in various formats: she led a course on conflict management, conducted teambuilding with our research teams, and developed an onboarding format for the international teams. Her professional strength in the areas of communication, team dynamics, and conflict resolution was particularly valuable. She knew exactly what mattered and accompanied our teams and us with great sensitivity, clarity, and commitment. The collaboration was trustful and professional—and it was also a lot of fun! We would be delighted to be able to work with Nahide again in the future!

Our major client project was primarily characterized by the meeting of many different interests, perspectives, and expectations. It was a real challenge to hear and value all these voices while simultaneously developing viable common solutions. In this complex situation, the consulting from Marion Schenk provided us with significant support. What made the decisive difference for us was the consistent view through the lens of systems theory: instead of just treating symptoms, we worked systematically on interactions, communication patterns, and blind spots. I can recommend the collaboration without reservation. I would particularly like to highlight the continuous coaching that was part of the consulting service. The combination of methodical expertise and personal support not only strengthened our project team but also sustainably developed my own role as a leader.

Marion Schenk and Jan Kasiske have already led and accompanied two employee days for our team of about 90 colleagues. The content inputs were framed by various Q&A sessions, allowing for conversation beyond work-related topics. Important themes for the future of our organization were addressed in a World Café format, and solution ideas were collected. Varied, clever, and entertaining—an inspiration for everyone and excellent teambuilding! Many thanks for that.

Thanks to the motivating input from Jan and the team, we ventured into an Open Space format with approximately 350 employees. The conference was excellently moderated by the SIFB. Engaging the employees and getting them to participate over two days, contribute their opinions, and go home with a great result speaks for itself. As an engineering firm, one usually already knows a result, but in the Open Space, everything was open. We had to get involved in that first and understand the format precisely. In the end, we profited greatly from this approach.

Ms. Schenk from the SIFB has been accompanying me for years. She provides clear and structured impulses in employee leadership and is also available at short notice for problem-solving. I value our collaboration and her help in truly every matter very much!

I met Jan some years ago for a coaching action. After some demanding sessions, step by step I better understood my personal areas of improvement – namely, that the focus of change was on me and not on others. This discovery allowed me to effectively listen to others and better understand them. I believe that this awareness made me a better leader and helped in my professional and personal journey. Jan’s and Marion’s approach is based on active listening and challenging with powerful questions. In group sessions, the balance between theoretical exchange and hands-on actions is very well managed, allowing the team to reflect and understand what is needed to improve.

Different Formats and Entry Points

Our style of consulting has many faces. Not every issue requires a months-long consulting project—often our client relationships begin with selective, focused formats that either prove themselves independently or serve as an entry point into deeper development processes. These include, for example:

Strategy & Leadership Workshops

To bring together different perspectives, sharpen strategic directions, or support leadership teams with upcoming decisions.

Project Kick-offs & Reviews

So that projects are set up viably from the start or intermediate results can be reflected upon and adjusted.

Leadership Workshops & Retreats

Spaces where leadership teams think about their collective work, decision-making logic, and target visions outside of day-to-day business.

Large Group Formats & Open Space

When it comes to involving many perspectives, generating energy for a topic, and activating collective knowledge.

Coaching & Professional Supervision

For individuals or teams who want to clarify their roles, deal with new requirements, or sort through complex situations.

Moderated Conflict Resolution

Where tensions are open or acting subliminally, we create spaces in which conflicts are processed and used as a resource.

Workshops on Leadership & Diversity

How can diversity be lived and shaped instead of leading to frictional losses?

Reflecting on Culture and Values

Where implicit rules and expectations are made tangible in order to develop them further together.

Reflecting on Project Management

Which approach fits where? How can classic and agile elements be meaningfully combined?

Even in these smaller formats, we bring in our systemic understanding and create spaces where you can safely talk about what often remains unspoken. Many of our clients already experience valuable ‘aha’ moments here—sometimes that is enough, sometimes a deeper collaboration follows.

Our Understanding of Systemic Organizational Consulting

One of our principles in consulting: organizations cannot be developed according to a one-size-fits-all approach. Every company, every authority, and every start-up has its own history, culture, and internal logic. For us, systemic organizational consulting means recognizing this uniqueness and understanding the organization as a self-directed, dynamic system. We see organizations—in the sense of Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory—as complex entities that permanently self-organize and adapt to their environment. Therefore, there are no standard solutions that can simply be imposed—what works in one organization may remain ineffective in another.

In our consulting practice, reflection and a change of perspective are at the forefront. We do not provide ready-made answers from a textbook, but rather develop an understanding of the situation and new approaches to thinking together with you. Our guiding principle is: “Nothing is more practical than a good theory.” A solid theoretical foundation—especially systems theory, insights from modern organizational research, and practical approaches—helps us to see through seemingly chaotic processes, recognize patterns, and develop new solution approaches together with you.

Furthermore, we understand consulting as a joint learning process. We are initiators and sparring partners at eye level: we ask questions, provide honest feedback, and occasionally hold up a mirror so that hidden dynamics become visible. Understanding communication processes and decision-making logic is particularly important to us—often this is exactly where the lever for sustainable change lies. Whether in a large transformation project or in a single workshop: our goal is always to enable your organization and the people within it to develop their own solutions and deal with complexity more confidently.

Typical Consulting Process

Whether large or small—most of our projects follow a similar sequence, adapted to the respective task and organizational logic:

1. Clarification of Assignment & Objectives

We take the time to truly understand your concern. What do you want to achieve with the workshop, the coaching, or the larger consulting process? Which topics are close to your heart? What expectations are there—including unspoken ones?

2. Analysis & Hypothesis Formation

Depending on the question, we dive deeper into your organization, conduct interviews, moderate initial rounds, or observe specific situations. In doing so, we develop hypotheses that we share transparently with you.

3. Measures & Intervention

On this basis, we design interventions—this could be a tailor-made workshop, a new communication structure, or an experiment that helps make patterns visible. The rule always applies: we work closely with you, no standard solutions.

4. Implementation & Support

We moderate, coach, or advise during implementation. In doing so, we pay attention to appropriate pacing, clarity, and sustainability.

5. Reflection & Further Development

At the end (or repeatedly in between), we look together at what has changed, which questions remain open, and what the next steps could be.

Methods and Thinking Tools

We work with a plurality of methods, always oriented toward your concern and the dynamics of your organization. These include:

Workshops & Dialogic Formats

For strategy questions, team processes, or to drive innovation forward.

Exercises & Creative Methods

Where it is helpful to play through difficult situations once without risk.

Visualizations & Systemic Loops

To organize connections and open up new perspectives.

Theory—from Luhmann to Kühl—always remains the background foil. It helps us not to get stuck in surface phenomena, but to think structurally. But ultimately, practice always decides: Which intervention brings insight? Which one works? Which questions still need to be asked?

What You Can Expect

Tailor-made Support

Whether it is a workshop, coaching, or an organizational project—you will not receive a standard product, but consulting that takes your situation seriously.

Partnership-based Collaboration

We bring professional expertise and distance, you bring the knowledge about your organization. From this, something arises that neither could develop alone.