SERVICES for Organizations:
Group Facilitation

Communication is the foundation for all relationships and processes within organizations. Effective healthy communication facilitates change, team cooperation, productivity, balanced planning, decision-making, problem-solving.

In meetings specific facilitation styles and techniques are applied to enable the smooth flow of communication and accomplishment of desired results. Often an outside facilitator can guide a group to places where inside leaders are either unable or afraid to go. And, when a leader is able to participate rather than lead a meeting, then there is a richness that might be missed otherwise.

Specialized annual meetings, trade conferences, or meetings uniting diverse groups around a central theme require facilitators who know more than the average manager.

We can help lead your group meetings – large and small!

How Our Group Facilitation Services Work

We regularly assist organizations to utilize their time, energy, money more effectively around meetings through:

• Analyzing the client's need for a gathering of key people or key groups
• Specifying a theme and audience with the client
• Guiding the meeting planning process
• Supporting location selection, set-up, and invitation process
• Facilitating groups from 2 to 1000, including multiple break-out sessions
• Guiding processes of action-planning for the future
• Facilitating follow-up sessions to support progress toward action goals

Outcomes of our Group Facilitation Services

We use state of the art facilitation techniques that reliably provide positive results. See the Testimonials section of this website for specific remarks in addition to the following proven benefits of our group facilitation services:

• Improved trust in management through open atmosphere of sharing
• Raised morale during the meeting with empowering projects to keep it high
• Open communication channels in all directions, even among diverse cross-functional groups, during and following the meeting
• Efficient use of time in meetings for all involved due to group-chosen agenda items offered through concurrent sessions, with everyone participating actively within groups sharing similar interest areas
• Natural participant bonding and team-building without specific focus on this
• Whole person involvement which re-ignites passion and creativity to allow for open participation and commitment to follow through
• Empowerment of attendees during meeting and commitment to follow-through
• Problems, issues, opportunities identified and discussed; solutions, strategies discovered; decisions, plans made; follow-through implemented
• Action plans for the future which require little or no supervision, with champions who step forward to lead from within
• Internal task groups formed to follow up independently with action plans
• More enthusiastic ownership of quality and efficient time-conscious results

What is Different about our Group Facilitation Services

We use facilitation approaches and techniques that continue to surprise and delight our clients with the positive and effective results, including:

• Better and faster results expending less time, energy, money
• Meetings that are fun and utilize everyone's time efficiently and effectively
• Allow for ALL members of an organization to lead and participate fully in projects that affect them
• Achieve desired results in subtle, non-“commanded” ways, allowing participants to feel empowered and more in charge of out-comes
• Clients are guided to become self-sufficient and able to follow through with action plan solutions on their own in the future
• Our techniques are a blend of traditional and new, customized for each client and each meeting
• We combine the following tools, among others:
• Open Space Technology
• The Resonating Core Concept
• Whole Person processes
• Kepner-Tregoe processes
• Other cutting edge non-traditional tools
• For more detailed information about how we can serve your organization, please consult the Why Us section in this website.

Typical Clients and Projects

We facilitate group meetings around various themes and for a variety of audiences. Examples of facilitation cases are included in the Articles and Clients sections of this website. Some suggestions of facilitation projects include the following:

• Strategic Planning meetings for all industries
• Annual (Board) Meetings for various organizations
• Team-building across all industries with focus on a business theme
• Economic Development and Project Development groups
• Chambers of Commerce, large membership organization meetings
• Municipalities, State Agencies, Federal Government Agencies, Military groups converging diverse divisions, departments, agencies
• Church and religious organizations, Non-profit agencies
• Focused theme around specific problem, issue, decision, new project idea, with specific audience invited
• Academic institutions and educational agencies or boards
• Cross-functional groups representing many industries

Supplemental Resources to Guide You

Currently we have several e-Books available for FREE on this website. Check the e-Bookstore section to learn more about these and other materials available to guide you and your organization forward.

Additional support is offered in the form of articles and our e-zine Conscious Living. Please go to the Articles section to access information on various topics including several citing facilitation techniques and cases, and to subscribe to Conscious Living.

Logistics

We facilitate group meetings with up to 1000 participants at a time, that last from one half day (for small groups only) to a full week retreat or conference. At least one pre-meeting planning session and a post-meeting follow-up session are required to guarantee optimum results. Personalized guidelines are provided to each client to assist in determining the appropriate meeting theme (if not obvious), and specialized instructions are provided concerning space needs, set-up requirements, technical equipment needs, among other items.

Our prices are fair, with discounts for longer sessions and repeat business. For more detailed information please consult our Pricing for Organizational Services page or contact us directly at merakel@arielagroup.com.