We work with a number of clients to help them have the conversations that they need to have. This is our core skills and we can help you by facilitating your conversations.
Why might you bring in an external facilitator?
It’s useful at times to have a more neutral presence in the room, somebody who can hold the conversation, manage the agenda, who doesn’t have a vested interest in the outcome and doesn’t have particular feelings for one side of the argument or another.
Facilitating deeper conversations, conversations about difficult issues or longer term strategy where things are more ambiguous or where emotions are running high is a challenging skill that not everybody has. We do.
Ensuring that you get to have the conversations that you need to have, even if this is difficult. We can challenge perhaps where it is harder for you to do this. We can provide encouragement where this may not be felt by others in the room.
If the issue is particularly confidential it may not be appropriate to have a facilitator from within the organisation. We often work with clients under a non-disclosure agreement to help them think through sensitive issues together.
...in using an external facilitator is trust. Having trust in our ability to hold the process and confidences, and our trust that you will say what you need to say.
We often start our engagements by meeting with all the participants individually. This allows us to get to know each other a little, build credibility and understand each person's perspective on the issue at hand. This conversation is often insightful for both parties.
This also helps us to get a sense for what dynamics might play out in the wider group.
As part of this we collaboratively shape the outcomes and agenda for the session.
...we pay attention to the desired outcomes, and the task, process and climate in the room (i.e. how open, safe, rational, emotional is the conversation). Our skill is in ensuring that the process and climate are appropriate for you to achieve the outcome that you need.
...adapting on the fly to what is happening in the room, noticing what is happening and either adapting the plan or sharing our observations in a way that sensitively furthers the group's awareness. In doing this we leave groups more capable than we find them, developing the skills and capacity to have better conversations together when we're not in the room.
