about clients cases associates facilitation training & consultancy event management

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Facilitation

The core of the business is my work as a freelance facilitator and I have experience working with a broad range of organisations, groups and companies across the public, private and voluntary sectors.

The value of group decision making in commercial and public sector settings is becoming widely recognised. There is enormous value in capturing and pulling together diverse experiences and points of view. But it is not the easy option. Working with groups can be potentially destructive, time consuming and unproductive.

A Facilitator is a person who enables groups to work more effectively, using a range of techniques and skills to harness and maximise the diverse qualities of the group. As an independent facilitator, I provide a neutral resource to the group I am working with to enable each individual to express their point of view and contribute to the agenda in question. I do this in both the design and delivery of the meetings or workshops I am facilitating in a variety of contexts in groups from half a dozen up to several hundred. Examples include:

• Open Space: A technique to pull together the views of a group of people in which the group set the agenda and discuss issues relevant to them in a series of workshops
  
  
• Away Days: (or “retreats”): An opportunity for a group of people with a common interest to take time out from their work or community role to carry out some kind of group development activity. Such events typically can be used for:

Consultation
Induction
Self-assessment
Strategic Planning
Team-work and “bonding”
Visioning and developing policy and future direction

• Consultation Workshops: Working with groups of “stakeholders” (e.g. employees, community members, residents, partners) to formulate policy or seek views on a strategy or set of proposals
  
  
• Focus Groups: Consisting of smaller groups of consumers or employees to draw out opinions on a particular product or strategy
  
  
• Partnership Building: Working with members at a management or stakeholder level to bring about an improved understanding of partners’ respective contributions and exploring how to add greater value through partnership.
  
  
• Group Building: Frequently used to enable a group of employees, board members or members of an organisation to get to know each other better and function more effectively as a team. Techniques used include creative arts, practical problem solving and game play

Photo: Eddie Rolmanis Photographic.

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