Meetings! Sigh!
We facilitate meetings for clients in higher stake settings where they think it valuable to bring in an outsider. Typical settings include meetings that are unusually important, have tender subject matter, include competing groups, or those with complicated contexts or processes.
Overview
Third-party facilitators have many advantages. We appear to be more neutral; we diminish hierarchy somewhat; we are given license to try new approaches; we can focus primarily on the meeting process rather than the content; and we have a wide array of tools.
We believe, though, that most of the time it is best for clients to use in-house facilitators. To support this preference, we provide facilitation training and coaching when appropriate.
Scope Limits
- We do not lead public consultation sessions, as we are not experts in this area.
- We do not act as a formal conflict mediator, as others are better at this.
- We do our best to avoid situations where the decision is already made. When this is the case we encourage clients to send a memo rather than ask what people want.