Our Offerings
Facilitation
Facilitation is the art of moving a group of people through a session (think: meeting, workshop, conference) to achieve a desired outcome. This includes designing, planning, and facilitating a session where the facilitator creates the container for participants to engage meaningfully with each other and with the content.
Facilitation is often associated with sticky notes and beige conference rooms. While we don’t shy away from those colourful post-its, our approach is so much more than sticky notes. We use our deep knowledge and skills, drawing on different worldviews and perspectives, developmental psychology, circle process and a plethora of participatory tools and techniques to bring humanity into the conversation. We love that our clients explain it like this because we, too, can feel when the energy shifts and moments are magical, people feel seen as a whole. When a team becomes aligned, it feels good, different, collaborative and action-oriented.
Team and management retreats — We love taking groups into nature!
Strategy and implementation planning
Workshops & conferences
Multi-stakeholder dialogues
Community engagement
Support for organizational equity and diversity needs
“One of the key strengths of BBG was their adeptness at facilitating difficult conversations. They skillfully navigated complex topics, fostering an environment where diverse viewpoints could be expressed respectfully and constructively. ”
Graphic Facilitation
Jessica, our resident graphic facilitator, brings a unique perspective to the conversation. Gifted in deep listening, she captures emotion and challenging information through visual storytelling. The inclusion of Graphic Notetaking is the inclusion of a universal language (illustration) that can build knowledge of a topic and/or a better understanding of each other. A visual translation invites participants to become more present with what is being shared during complex conversations and to truly feel they’ve been seen and heard.
PRO TIP! These graphics are highly valuable for the final report and can be kept as a memento of the occasion.
Jessica is seen here graphic facilitating while listing to a live Inuktitut translation for a community event in Inukjuak.
Capacity Building & Support
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Office Hours
Sometimes you don’t need to hire a facilitator, but you could pick their brain to help you design and deliver your gathering in a meaningful way.
Maybe it’s an hour to help you think through the purpose and get a general outline of an agenda
Maybe you just want to brainstorm how you might make your weekly team check-ins more energizing
Maybe you need some advice on how to deal with two colleagues who are often in conflict.
Whatever it is, you can buy time by the hour to suit your needs.
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Training & Workshops
Facilitation is a valuable skillset that benefits everyone. Our tailored facilitation training courses cater to teams, whether virtual or in-person, utilizing various techniques and practices. Whether it's a half-day workshop, a multi-day training session, or an ongoing community of practice for specialized practitioners, our goal is to enhance people's skills.
We are also deeply connected to the global facilitation community and often bring facilitation trainings to Ottawa. For example, we have partnered with Ten Directions (Integral Facilitation training) and Liberating Structures (Virtual Facilitation).
We aim to equip everyone with the ability to build bridges, fostering better connections and outcomes.
Bridge Building in Society
Good facilitation skills are useful beyond just the workplace. They involve being intentional when gathering, practicing active listening, and supporting one another. Connecting with people who are different from us is crucial for personal growth and healing our fractured society. However, in today's world, it's easy to stay within our comfort zones, missing out on valuable experiences and deepening the polarizing divides. So, how do we bridge these gaps, bring communities together, and broaden our perspectives? There's plenty of work to be done, and we're just scratching the surface.
As an experiment, back in 2022, we brought people together who were for and against the Freedom Convoy to just talk and listen to each other. Guess what? No yelling, just opened minds and hearts. Read here about “why we need to talk to people with whom we disagree here.”
