Contemporary large-scale interventions are more frequently involving of a wide variety of participants, greater timeline, and a change in the consultant’s role. Contemporary large-scale interventions are more frequently involving of a wide variety of participants, greater timeline, and a change in the consultant’s role. To increase both the adoption rate and cycle time of change (and often to develop better decisions), many large-scale interventions began to involve multiple organizational levels.

Large interventions now often involve sizable groups, with hundreds or even thousands of participants. Including multiple levels and roles in the intervention can lead to better knowledge since problems can be examined from multiple angles. Even though the groups are large and may initially sound unwieldy, large interventions are often structured using smaller subgroups for purposes of idea generation and dialogue. Despite the need for rapid change, many interventions that target a whole organization often involve multiple activities over a longer period.

Rather than generating and analyzing data, and the practitioner’s role is now more that of a community organizer who structures, encourages, and helps focus the issues. Organizational members can generate their own data and then can be taught and assigned how to analyze and interpret it.