CABT key terms

The specific areas of knowledge, skill, and experience in which a practitioner can ethically and effectively deliver services, established through training and supervision rather than assumed from a general license.

The process of disclosing to organizational clients the purpose, methods, risks, limits of confidentiality, and who the client is, then documenting voluntary agreement before work begins.

A situation in which a consultant holds two relationships with the same party, such as evaluating performance while also providing coaching, creating risk of bias or harm to the client.

The condition in organizational work where several parties, such as executives, managers, and employees, hold differing interests in the engagement, requiring the consultant to define whose welfare governs decisions.

Explicit agreement about what the consultant will and will not do, how authority is exercised, and how the consultant's role differs from that of managers or human resources.

The negotiation and written documentation of goals, deliverables, timelines, fees, confidentiality terms, and termination conditions that defines a consulting engagement.

A written statement listing the specific tasks, deliverables, boundaries, and assumptions of an engagement, used to prevent drift and to judge whether additional work requires a new agreement.

The gradual unplanned expansion of an engagement beyond its agreed boundaries, often through informal requests, which erodes profitability and blurs accountability if not renegotiated.

A systematic process of gathering and interpreting information about an organization's structures, processes, and culture to identify root causes of performance problems before choosing interventions.

A structured inquiry that identifies gaps between current and desired conditions and determines whether training, process change, or another intervention is the appropriate response.

A method such as the five whys or fishbone diagram used to trace a visible problem back to underlying system conditions rather than stopping at the most obvious symptom.

An approach that treats an organization as interconnected parts whose interactions produce outcomes, so that changing one element creates predictable and unpredictable effects elsewhere.

The shared assumptions, values, norms, and behavioral expectations that shape how members of an organization interpret events and act, often operating below explicit awareness.

A structured questionnaire measuring employees' perceptions of practices, leadership, and working conditions at a point in time, distinct from deeper cultural assumptions.

An assessment and change approach that begins by identifying what already works well in an organization and builds future change from those strengths rather than from deficits.

A technique that maps the driving and restraining forces acting on a proposed change, helping a practitioner plan how to strengthen supports and reduce resistance.

The degree to which an organization's members perceive a change as necessary, feel capable of implementing it, and have leadership support, which predicts whether an intervention will take hold.

Behavioral or emotional opposition to a change initiative, often signaling legitimate concerns about loss, competence, or fairness that should be surfaced and addressed rather than overridden.

A sequenced change framework moving from creating urgency and a guiding coalition through vision, communication, short-term wins, and consolidation to anchor new practices in culture.

A descriptive model of the emotional stages people commonly move through after a disruption, such as shock, resistance, exploration, and acceptance, used to time support and communication.

The predictable sequence of forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning through which groups typically progress as members clarify roles, negotiate conflict, and build trust.

The informal shared rules a team develops about acceptable behavior, communication, and effort, which can be made explicit and renegotiated to improve team functioning.

A shared belief among team members that speaking up with questions, concerns, or mistakes will not be punished or humiliated, supporting learning and candor.

A pattern in cohesive groups where pressure for consensus suppresses dissenting views, leading to poor decisions and unchallenged assumptions.

The capacity to recognize, understand, and regulate one's own emotions and to perceive and respond effectively to the emotions of others in interpersonal situations.

Planned activities such as coaching, feedback, and stretch assignments intended to build a leader's self-awareness, relational skill, and capacity to influence others.

A structured appraisal that collects performance observations from supervisors, peers, subordinates, and self, giving a rounded view of a leader's behavior and impact.

A communication skill involving full attention, paraphrasing, reflecting feeling, and asking clarifying questions so the speaker feels understood and information is verified.

A structured process for helping parties in dispute identify interests, reduce escalation, and reach agreements that address underlying needs rather than only stated positions.

A bargaining approach that focuses on underlying interests rather than fixed positions, seeking options that create mutual gain and using objective criteria to evaluate outcomes.

A voluntary process in which a neutral third party helps disputing parties communicate and design their own agreement without imposing a decision.

An occupational syndrome of exhaustion, cynicism or mental distance, and reduced efficacy resulting from chronic unmanaged job demands rather than individual weakness.

A framework holding that strain arises when job demands outweigh available resources such as autonomy, support, and feedback, guiding interventions at the work-design level.

A work condition such as excessive workload, ambiguity, harassment, or low control that can harm mental health, which employers are increasingly expected to identify and manage.

An employer-sponsored benefit offering confidential short-term counseling, referral, and crisis support to employees, often with limits on sessions and mandated reporting boundaries.

The defined circumstances, such as imminent danger or legal requirement, under which a practitioner may disclose client information, which must be explained in advance.

A financial ratio comparing net benefit of an intervention to its cost, expressed as a percentage, used to justify spending on well-being or development programs.

A comparison of the total expected costs of an intervention against its expected monetary and nonmonetary benefits to support a resource allocation decision.

The proportion of eligible employees who actually use a service over a period, a key indicator of program reach and of whether low uptake reflects access barriers.

The percentage of invited individuals who complete a survey, which affects how confidently findings can be generalized to the wider population.

Systematic distortion that occurs when the people included in a study or survey differ from the population of interest in ways relevant to the questions asked.

Systematic error in ratings caused by characteristics of the rater or relationship, such as halo effects, leniency, or recency, which distorts performance and feedback data.

The integration of the best available research evidence, practitioner expertise, and client values and context when selecting assessments and interventions.

The extent to which an instrument or method measures what it is intended to measure and supports the inferences a practitioner draws from the results.

The consistency of a measure across time, raters, or items, meaning results are stable and reproducible though not necessarily accurate.

A three-level inquiry into organizational, task, and individual requirements that determines what learning intervention is warranted and who needs it.

A four-level framework for judging training outcomes through reaction, learning, behavior change, and results, moving from immediate impressions to organizational impact.