For Management and Staff Retreats, Board Meetings and Staff Meetings

Managing Conflicts - Building Consensus - Strategic Planning - Goal Setting - Problem Solving

For over two decades, Gerri King, Ph.D., a nationally recognized facilitator, has taught and led workshops and seminars on facilitation, group process, and teambuilding in multinational corporations, small businesses, and at several schools, colleges, and universities.

Gerri is skilled at understanding group dynamics, knowing when and where to intervene, and teaching processes that will help groups solve problems and make decisions. Her expertise at evaluating the dynamics of human interaction and emphasizing the important role of each individual in the success of any group or organization, coupled with her non-threatening manner, engaging style, and sense of humor, make Gerri a consummate facilitator.

The Role of the Facilitator

When a group gets together, people often become anxious: each person has his/her own agenda and is not sure whether others will hear it.

One of the facilitator's roles, therefore, is to open up clear and direct communication between and among members, and to help them assume increasing responsibility for the group's direction.

Further, the facilitator helps maximize the way in which individual members understand the nature of their group and how it functions, and the step-by-step process through which it will inevitably go in reaching its identified goals.

Charged with attending to the process of this development, the facilitator is concerned with the content of the meeting only in the way in which it affects the process. A facilitator's goals, therefore, include promoting a safe and trusting environment that supports honest and meaningful interaction, encouraging effective communication among individuals, actively soliciting and channeling the participation of all members, keeping track of themes and issues underlying all levels of communication, and helping participants and the group reach their goals.