FACILITATION

Facilitation, mediation, and negotiation are, above all, creative activities. They are usually requested when a group has exhausted its own resources. Technique is important to their success, but it is creativity that permits something new to emerge from the stalemate.

Groups enlist help in order to overcome their conflicts and develop a vision or plan of action. Though their conflicts are distressing, they are also the voice of the group's wisdom – its diversity of backgrounds and interests. That's why the most effective facilitators use a very loosely-structured process that is as much about listening and surrender as it is about speaking and control.

Our approach to facilitation is based on three premises:

• Everyone's perspective is valuable
• Everyone deserves respect
• Access to the group's untapped wisdom is the key to a successful outcome

We borrow techniques from product development, conflict resolution, and the performing arts to make space for a group's untapped wisdom. Only that wisdom can fully illuminate the status quo and imaginatively envision a positive future. Because of this creative approach to facilitation, our outcomes achieve more than simply "solving the problem". They help deepen mutual respect among the participants that pays dividends long after a facilitation session has ended.

As you shop for facilitation, mediation, and negotiation services, ask yourself what improvements you want to see three or six months down the road. You'll find that solving "the problem" is not the end of your story.

Contact us today to learn how to bring our creative facilitation services to your organization.