Facilitate Generative Conversations
Bringing people together is costly in time and money, and it’s very discouraging if meetings end with little or no progress made. Groups of people with diverse viewpoints and communication styles add interest and depth – but they also create interesting dynamics. The risk of wasting time increases when there is a contentious or fracturing topic on the table. As a seasoned facilitator – of groups from 3 to 300 – I can bring process leadership and planned and spontaneous interventions to make your meetings work.

What is Facilitation?
A facilitator is someone who makes the work of a group easier. Professional facilitators work with clients before, during and after their meeting or event. A great facilitator will make meetings productive and fun. They contribute to an atmosphere of trust, safety and positive energy. As a facilitator with more than 20 years of experience, I can often predict what might happen in certain groups or in certain situations. This experience allows me to anticipate and prepare my clients for situations they may not think of. Clients find it helpful to bring me in to facilitate groups where history or divisiveness is blocking healthy discussion. As an outsider to your organization, I serve as a more neutral and supportive element in the room and my respectful and assertive style opens the space for insights and group progress. I can design and facilitate a meeting from 1 hour to several days long.

When is a facilitator used?

• Strategic planning or strategic re-focus
• Large group discussion on contentious or divisive issues
• Teambuilding dealing with inter-team or intra-team conflict
• Creating joint agreements/partnerships/alliances
• Interactive training sessions on behavioural topics

What do you do before, during and after the meeting?
Before a meeting, I work with you to clarify objectives and challenges. Sometimes I will suggest that the participants be included in the meeting design, which can mean a survey, a focus group or a design sub-committee. With that insight, I design an agenda and process that suits the topic, the group and the culture of the organization. Together weíll develop the right pre-meeting communication and group pre-work, which helps set expectations for shared success. We will decide what tools or techniques will help and not hinder the group.

During the meeting, I will take on the facilitator role as we have contracted beforehand. In some cases this means offering pure process facilitation – simply keeping the group on track, on time and recording their work. In other cases, usually topic dependant, I will bring content expertise to the group, along with leading the process. Sometimes we’ll do something really fun and creative so the group can brainstorm new ideas. In all cases, I demonstrate flexibility and the ability to work with what arises in the room.

Once the meeting is over, I prepare notes or a report on the meeting outcomes, to the detail we’ve agreed on. This can be presented orally if requested.

Facilitation Talk
“You are clearly very knowledgeable in the area of effective teams and team building and developed a better understanding around that for our group. Your facilitation style was well suited to the group – you let people have fun/laugh but also pushed us along when needed. You capture information and turn it around in a format (quickly) that is easy for us to incorporate into other work and next steps.”

“You gave us a process to engage a topic that kept us on track and moving forward. The board members were pleased with how the day went. I had mentioned to you our previous experience with a facilitator that did not go well, so everyone was quite pleased that this time the facilitator really facilitated!”