Create A Space Where Openness, Trust, and Authenticity Take Hold

Group Facilitation Services for Organizations

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Supporting Groups To Achieve Their Goals

The best facilitation methods are simple and accessible. Using trusted and proven methods I design face-to-face or virtual meetings that engage individuals and inspire collective action and engagement.

Group Facilitation can help you:

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Clarify what you want to do, the results you want to achieve, and how to achieve them
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Gain cohesion and confidence in your means to achieve objectives

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Work together to achieve a common goal with productive meetings and project coordination

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Find harmony within divergent points of view

Group Facilitation Services By The Numbers…

Public and Community Sector Organization Clients

Facilitation Participants

Flipchart + Sticky Note Pages Used

(Thank goodness for paperless solutions moving forward!)

Organizations Supported with their Strategic Plans

Group Facilitation Services

I WORK WITH

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Not For Profit Organizations

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Board of Directors

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Working Groups or Teams

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Public Sector Agencies or Departments

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Volunteer Organizations

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Executive teams

WE CAN WORK TOGETHER ON

Group Facilitation

Facilitating consultative and strategic processes in both English and French. My dynamic and effective presentation and facilitation skills are paired with the ability to interact with audiences of all ages, backgrounds, and levels of familiarity with the topic at hand.

Strategic Planning

Maximize meeting time with members of boards of directors, stakeholders, and members of the organization’s staff. The result: productive meetings that generate authentic content, clear priorities, and ambitious, measurable, and achievable results.

Collaboration

Extensive experience with sectoral tables of not-for-profit leaders working collaboratively to find solutions to a common issue. Collaborative transformation is built on increased trust, shared leadership across responsibility levels and organizations, and a strengths-based approach to building capacity and implementing creative solutions.

Meet Marie-France

“We did good work today!” is a comment I often hear after a facilitated gathering. When participants have the feeling of having had a productive day and meeting their objectives – I know I’ve done my work well.

My “operating system” is Whole Person Process Facilitation (WPPF), an approach inspired by the work of Harrison Owen, the designer of the Open Space Forum, and reimagined by Birgitt Williams and Ward Williams, the designers of the Genuine ContactTM approach.

WPPF is a participatory group facilitation method that connects with the creative potential of a group by appealing to the multiple intelligences (intellectual, spiritual, emotional, and physical) and learning styles of individuals.

I love participatory facilitation methods because they ensure that all participants have the opportunity to be heard and to actively contribute to the work and discussions. This means that the activities in the working session are varied and allow the participants to move around, in order to ensure a good level of energy throughout the working session.

Over the years…

I have developed expertise in facilitation and group dynamics, and I love working collaboratively to find solutions that help you achieve your goals.

More About Marie-France

Thanks again for such a wonderful day yesterday. The team is still buzzing! I also noticed groups going through the worksheets from yesterday. I think it will have a great effect on our planning this year.

M. McCann, Senior Director, Children’s Content, CBC Kids, Toronto

This evening’s session was warm, informative, well-paced and all-around a wonderful experience. Thank you so, so much for your gentle leadership.

L.E. Kanary, Halifax.

I wanted to sincerely thank you for this report from our facilitation work. It’s very well presented and I’m having fun reading the results. What I love most is that you understood what I was looking for. Your listening skills are exceptional! This is one of your many strengths.

L. Breton, Centre francophone Hamilton, Hamilton

It’s easy to get started:

Step 1

Schedule A Call

We’ll clarify your vision for success and discuss an action plan to get there

Step 2

Your Event

Inspire collective action and engagement with openness and trust and the right facilitation design

Step 3

Achieve Your Goals

Clear priorities and ambitious, measurable, and achievable results

Schedule A Call

Your Questions, Answered

What specific kind of facilitation experience do you have?

Group facilitation has been a cornerstone of my consulting business since 2007. My years of experience in this field mean that I can be effective in identifying the kind of facilitation design that will best serve you in achieving your objectives.

I like to say that a facilitation design is a container for your discussions. I am a “container expert” and you are the “content expert” for the work of your organization or group. That said, I’m a pretty quick study on the content.

I love to learn about what you do and how you do it. This is important in the types of facilitation mandates I specialize in, such as strategic planning, where I need to understand how your operations support your strategic goals, or collaborations, where we bring together various stakeholders to address a common problem.

How have you adapted to a virtual meeting environment?

Since March 2020, I, like other facilitators, have had to move my business almost exclusively online. Talk about a creative challenge!

The truth is, my fundamental approach has not changed, but some of the tools have. In a virtual setting, it is even more important to be conscious of participants’ minds, bodies, emotions and spirits.

With everyday platforms like Zoom and Teams, virtual meeting rooms and white boards, I can design a process and meetings that will mine the best wisdom and creativity in your group, in a way that does not leave you tired and depleted.

Our organization wants to develop a new strategic plan. How long will the whole strategic planning process take?

In determining how long a strategic planning exercise will take there are a few variables to consider. For example:

  • Are you updating an existing plan, or is this your very first strategic plan, or the first one in some years?
  • Do you survey your members or clients regularly? Will you need to consult members and stakeholders, and to what degree?
  • Will you need support with action planning once your strategic plan is completed?
  • Are you ready to set aside some time to plan your future? Strategic planning typically engages all parts of your organization (board members, staff, volunteers, management, key stakeholders and executive leaders) but not in the same way.

Over the years I have developed expertise in facilitation and group dynamics to maximize meeting time with members of boards of directors and members of the organization’s staff. The result: productive meetings that generate authentic content, clear priorities and ambitious, measurable and achievable results.

People fully engage in the change they have had a chance to shape. Involving too few people and not getting a good read on key issues in your sector in order to save time will cost you in the end. That said, I have found on average that strategic plans can be completed in 3-6 months.