facilitation
Sometimes my clients need help working together better, to meet their sustainable development objectives. This may be because a particular problem has been stopping progress. It may be because the strategy that needs working out is complex and hard to hold onto when it's being discussed. Or they may simply need everyone in the room to be part of the conversation. Working with a qualified, highly experienced external facilitator can enable that to happen.
As a facilitator,
I design workshops, meetings, conferences and longer processes, to maximise connection, conversation and collaboration. People move together effectively to create change.
I work with you to help you clarify your aims, design the right structure, and then I’m in the room with you to help people have the conversations they need.
I can bring in a wider team including more facilitators, graphic recorders, interpreters and subject-matter experts, or your own in-house team.
I work in person, online or hybrid.
Workshops include
planning, prioritising, strategising, addressing challenging topics and disagreements.
networks, collaborations, peers, in-house or inter-organisational.
boards, senior teams, departments, whole organisations.
community groups, NGOs, businesses, public sector bodies, academia.
Network of climate NGOs
Over a number of years, I have designed and facilitated one- and two-day in-person peer learning and strategic planning meetings for this network, helping network members build the relationships needed for swift collaboration when the circumstances need it.
Board, CEO and senior leadership retreat
This organisation is a global membership body in the sustainability sector. It has a board, and around fifty member organisations, each of which has a CEO. The CEO network and board are brought together with the senior leadership team for residential retreats, approximately once a year. I have co-designed the retreats with the client team, and facilitated six retreats.
Team strategy day for a small wildlife NGO
This client is a small not-for-profit environmental organisation using legal cases to ensure rivers, lakes and the sea are protected from illegal pollution, abstraction and other environmental harms. The organisation was developing its first strategy, so this in-person day introduced the wider staff team to the rationale for having a strategy, and enabled people to explore how to put the new priorities into practice. I designed and facilitated the day, including liaising with the venue to overcome problems with the room.
Team building for a team with challenges
A team of around twenty people, with three sub-teams, leads the sustainability work of a large public sector body in England. The team has challenges: churn of staff, changes to roles and goals which some people are unhappy with, and responsibility without power. I have worked one-to-one with the leader and her team, facilitated sessions during regular leadership team meetings to build the team and its skills, and run workshops for different parts of the team to address different challenges.
I can also
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