Group Work
I work with groups in Sheffield and throughout the UK.
I have an informal & flexible style - each session I facilitate is tailored to the needs of the group, and adaptable to what happens in the moment. I'm adept at changing plans at the last minute, and generate creative ways of approaching group challenges.
I'm interested to support your group to get to know itself. I'll do this by fostering an atmosphere as safe as possible, whilst realising that we each experience safety, and the lack of it, in different ways. When a group feels safe, risk-taking becomes more possible. And risk-taking helps group development to happen.
My general approach to group facilitation:
What's Up: This is a session where the agenda is decided by the group during the session. Everyone has the chance to name any issues, then collectively you'll decide one of them to talk about. Perhaps it's something that never makes it to the top of the agenda. Maybe it's a topic so thorny that you all tend to avoid it, or just don't know how to begin talking about it.
Decision-making: Develop a collaborative decision-making process and governance structure.
Power Dynamics: Understand the fundamentals of power dynamics as well as facilitating live discussions within groups to deepen awareness of how power is used within the group.
Conflict: Learn how to harness the creative potential of conflict, while navigating the complex feelings and needs present in conflict.
Feedback: Develop confidence and skills in giving and receiving feedback, in both formal and informal settings. I facilitate feedback sessions where people give feedback to each other live during the session.
Away days: I help groups take risks together through games and other activities that help them develop more confidence as a team
Tricky conversations: When a group gets stuck with a certain conversation or decision, I can help get things moving again.
How to facilitate: Learn how to facilitate meetings of different kinds, whether it’s to facilitate an explorative conversation or a high-stakes decision. I teach a wide range of tools, tips and techniques that will support their facilitation.
I have an informal & flexible style - each session I facilitate is tailored to the needs of the group, and adaptable to what happens in the moment. I'm adept at changing plans at the last minute, and generate creative ways of approaching group challenges.
I'm interested to support your group to get to know itself. I'll do this by fostering an atmosphere as safe as possible, whilst realising that we each experience safety, and the lack of it, in different ways. When a group feels safe, risk-taking becomes more possible. And risk-taking helps group development to happen.
My general approach to group facilitation:
- Whatever we’re working on, I’m looking to support what’s emerging for the group. In a very serious group there might be an emerging playfulness, or in a very loud group there might be an emerging quietness. When I’m aware of it, I’ll adapt my facilitation style to embody what is emerging.
- Support people currently on the edges of the group to express themselves on their own terms, and support people in the group’s mainstream to listen and take accountability. This is the crux of my approach to working with experiences of oppression and domination.
- Conflict can be a creative opportunity. I tend to lean in to conflict, as it contains a treasure trove of information for change that is trying to happen. By going slowly, and with an awareness of the power dynamics present.
- I welcome your feedback to me, because I’m always learning, and my own approach is constantly evolving.
- My positionality matters. I’m a straight white middle-class woman with economic security, and a mother of small children. My own experiences of domination and oppression may impact how you perceive me, and how I facilitate power dynamics within your group. I welcome an open dialogue about what you do and don’t need from me, as I recognise my own self-awareness limits.
- I can support your group in a broad range of ways. If you don’t know what you need, we can work this out together. Here are some examples of sessions I facilitate.
What's Up: This is a session where the agenda is decided by the group during the session. Everyone has the chance to name any issues, then collectively you'll decide one of them to talk about. Perhaps it's something that never makes it to the top of the agenda. Maybe it's a topic so thorny that you all tend to avoid it, or just don't know how to begin talking about it.
Decision-making: Develop a collaborative decision-making process and governance structure.
Power Dynamics: Understand the fundamentals of power dynamics as well as facilitating live discussions within groups to deepen awareness of how power is used within the group.
Conflict: Learn how to harness the creative potential of conflict, while navigating the complex feelings and needs present in conflict.
Feedback: Develop confidence and skills in giving and receiving feedback, in both formal and informal settings. I facilitate feedback sessions where people give feedback to each other live during the session.
Away days: I help groups take risks together through games and other activities that help them develop more confidence as a team
Tricky conversations: When a group gets stuck with a certain conversation or decision, I can help get things moving again.
How to facilitate: Learn how to facilitate meetings of different kinds, whether it’s to facilitate an explorative conversation or a high-stakes decision. I teach a wide range of tools, tips and techniques that will support their facilitation.
