One of the services Terra Infirma offers is facilitation. I’m just about to change the entry on this site for it as it sounds a bit flowery and, well, wimpy. Most people have a picture of do-we-have-to away days and token public consultation. Well it can be used for these, but it is a powerful weapon with applications way beyond that.

Facilitation really means group working using an outside agent to guide the process from problem definition to solution. We’re starting to integrate it into our projects where we can as it gives the client ownership of the solution, rather than the traditional consultant’s report/dust trap/shelf filler. I’ve used facilitation in the past to help large rooms of industrialists come up with solutions that have diverted many thousands of tonnes of ‘waste’ into useful and lucrative uses.

But like many people facilitating, I was winging it, frankly, using common sense, trial and error, and no little charm ;-). So, last week I went on an excellent course run by Resource. The course has confirmed my approach was broadly good, and it has given me a whole new armoury of tools, techniques and skills. These will be available either for stand alone sessions, or as an enhancement to our ‘Lean, Mean & Green’ and ‘Low Carbon Business’ programmes. So if you want to create sustainable change (in both senses of the word sustainable) in your organisation, get in touch.