Facilitator
I am a highly experienced facilitator. Honed over many years designing and leading workshops for Senior leadership teams and their people.
What I do
Facilitation is the art of creating a space for others to engage, contribute, collaborate and create. Facilitation does not seek to tell or control the outcome. It listens to what is being said, and seeks to bring forward what is not being said. Facilitation is fearless, it holds the groups feet to the fire, keeping them focused on their purpose and the behaviours which will best support them to achieve the results they want.
What I offer
I facilitate sessions of all kinds for my clients: Leadership group development days, Board/senior team strategy workshops, learning and development workshops, cross functional team creative sessions and events. The content of these sessions are always as unique as the people who are a part of them. Some are designed to confront issues and reality with honesty, to test out concepts and build ideas, to build relationships and deepen levels of understanding, meaning and trust, to hear alternative perspectives and work through conflict to make sharper, clearer decisions. Whilst the type of dialogue may be different, the role of the facilitator is always the same: to provide neutral, unbiased challenge and support for all individuals in the group to be heard, reflect, share, align and learn.
How we work
I am a strong believer in setting a clear purpose, tangible outcomes and behaviours right from the start: bringing outside stimulus in and challenging existing assumptions in order to drive creativity, new ways of thinking and working: and in doing so, creating experiences for teams that deliver lasting results in both what they do and how.
I always use pre work to support clarity and focus – to ensure teams are able to cut to the heart of issues and opportunities which makes any session an efficient use of time and supports a sense of momentum for tangible results.
The outcome
- focus and clarity
- an atmosphere of connection and trust
- co creation and reflection
- injection of energy to make things real
- confidence and courage to say it as it is
What people say:
“Nic has been integral to the success of our flagship Leadership Development programmes. Delegates experiencing her facilitation skills, getting to the real heart of a topic and gaining clarity on how they need to address it, has created a multitude of ‘lightbulb moments’ over the years. I have witnessed first hand how senior leaders change their body language and relax during her work with them, as they realise they are with someone who not only understands their challenges, but is genuinely there to help them create their own positive outcomes. On a personal note, Nic’s insights and guidance has been an important factor for my own confidence as I moved into a Managing Director role, for which I am truly grateful.”
Nina Metson, MD Waddington Brown
What people say:
“Nic is an exceptional facilitator who I have had the pleasure of co-delivering with many times. Avoiding lengthy presentations and theory based content Nic’s talent is giving people space to relate the subject matter at a practical level. Through encouraging creative thinking and open discussion in a safe space I have witnessed some truly magical life changing moments of realisation and inspiration that have impact way beyond the training room. .”
Emma Gunton
What people say:
“Nic is so much more than a facilitator. She gets under the skin of conflict and issues and challenges the people she’s working with to resolve them. She’s a great coach because she listens and really hears, understands people their motivations and core, driving values and works with these to gain successful results. I’ve worked with Nic on both an personal and team development point of view and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her.”
Tara Gear – Sales and Marketing Director (NEC Group)
What people say:
“Nic has recently been doing some work with an Executive team for me, to help us get our strategy straight in our minds and begin working effectively as a team. Thanks to her brilliant insights and constructively challenging facilitation style, the team now has a clear and purposeful strategy we have rolled out to the wider management team. It’s also been really evident to me how behaviors have started to change, as the team has really started to think of themselves as a team as opposed to technical specialists in their field.
I have now worked with Nic several times (NHS ESNEFT, Harwich Haven Port Authority, Hutchinsons Ports and Ellisons Solicitors) and I would always engage her specialist skills whenever I’m doing development work with an Executive team. She never fails to get the best from people, whilst pushing them to be the best they can be.”
Lizzy Firmin HR Director Ellisons Solicitors
What people say:
“Nicola has an amazing ability to sense the atmosphere in a room and take appropriate action.She is excellent with people on a one to one basis and has a natural coaching style. She always speaks common sense and is very intuitive. Also, Nicola has a great commercial awareness and drives decision making with a clear vision in mind”
Niall Phelan MD Founder
What people say:
“Nic is an inspiring leader – she has the ability to think differently and communicate that at all levels to motivate and take people with her. In sessions, she coaches and facilitates to ensure every team member is with her and has a voice. This coaching is not without challenge which actually makes it even more engaging as it delivers better, faster results with purposed outputs. She works with fiery determination and purpose and has a natural way of connecting with teams and delivering the ambitions.”
Sarah Padden Head of Insight, Marstons PLC
What people say:
“It was a pleasure meeting Nic as she safely guided us through her Building Effective Working Relationships class. It was exactly what I needed although not what I anticipated as a result (isn’t that the way life can be?) and really reminded me how a small issue can prevent growth if ignored. So, thank you very much Nic, I admire your work and salute your professionalism.”
Genevieve Walden Crisis
