What We Offer

Faith Community Reconciliation & Nonprofit Resolution of Differences
Common Ground's professional mediators assist target organizations in managing their stress in alignment with organizational values and ethical standards. We assist organizations and individuals in building understanding and resolving conflict. We provide unbiased assistance to all participants. Our goal is to seek reconciliation and the healthy resolution of differences, when possible.

Services include:

Helping all parties in preparing for and participating in facilitated discussions;
Facilitating conversations that build understanding and informed decisions;
Assisting participants in discovering points of agreement that are mutually acceptable, implementable, and enduring;
Advising leaders on interpretation of organizational relationship dynamics;
Coaching leaders as to how best to manage their personal stress while leading;
Working with leaders in identifying personnel practices that optimize achievement of the organizational mission;
Preparing liturgies, educational handouts, and sermons with a goal of reconciliation within the faith community.

Strategic Planning Consultation
Common Ground's consultants and board members bring a depth and width of vocational and life experience to every consultation. We match our resources to the client's needs. For example, if a strategic partner is a member of the faith community, we seek the services of ordained clergy and others who have a working knowledge of congregational, synod and synagogue life. Or, if our client is in the nonprofit service industry, we consult with our board and service providers who make up many of the nonprofit sectors. Good strategic planning, complete with timelines and persons responsible to carry out assignments, is crucial to healthy organizational growth

Services include:

Consulting with the executives and stakeholders to plan meaningful objectives;
Assisting in planning a realistic agenda for the allotted timetable;
Coordinating meeting activities that achieve measurable results;
Facilitating group meetings that call on the entire group?s ideas and collective wisdom;
Assigning organizational personnel that will follow through on strategic ideas; and
Keeping the organizational goals and mission forefront in the minds of participants during the long-range planning process.

Collaborative Relationships
Common Ground assists organizations in building cooperative partnerships with other organizations and in establishing supportive relationships within their organization.

Services include:

Facilitating consensus-building decision processes;
Developing strategic plans that build trust and collaboration within organizations;
Facilitating organizational planning, implementation, and monitoring meetings; and
Assisting organizations in achieving collaborative relationships with related organizations.

Meeting Facilitation
Common Ground provides meeting facilitation when third-party neutrality is needed or meeting effectiveness is a high priority. Oftentimes a faith community or nonprofit will benefit from having a group facilitator from outside the organization assist in leading a meeting. Neutrality and professionalism add to the importance leaders place on meeting outcomes.

Services include:

Helping leaders to define clear objectives and expectations;
Developing a meeting plan based upon the objectives and needs of the leaders and participants;
Preparing an agenda, developing a meeting plan, and identifying exercises that will lead to achievement of the meeting objectives;
Recommending participants and how they should be involved;
Developing strategies to deal with potential conflicts;
Facilitating discussions that meet the meetings objectives and stay within timelines;
Documenting meeting outcomes and decisions; and
Assisting in logistical preparations for meetings such as room arrangements.

Education
Common Ground offers presentations and workshops that provide the tools to enrich the ability of constituency groups (faith communities and nonprofits) to enhance communication abilities. Topics include but are not limited to:

Title	Subject	Time
Difficult Conversations: Enhancing Your Skills to Confront Issues	Conflict and difficult conversations are unavoidable in our lives. Our challenge is not in avoiding them but in using them to build deeper and more enriching relationships. This training provides practical and proven tips on conducting difficult conversations in ways that will increase the likelihood of positive outcomes.	2 to 8 hours
Understanding Your Personal Style of Conflict Management	Through self-assessment testing, participants come to understand their preferred styles of handling differences. This knowledge will enhance participants? skills in dealing with conflicts by helping them to focus on their strengths while minimizing their tendency to resort to weaknesses.	2 to 4 hours
Conflict in the Bible	The Bible is a great resource for learning about conflict. For example, did you know that a section of the Old Testament is referred to as the "grumbling texts" or that the New Testament church dealt more with conflict among members than any other topic? This workshop will review some of the Bible's major conflict themes and increase participants’ awareness of the legacy the Christian church found in the Bible.	1 to 4 hours
Planning and Managing Successful Meetings	Managers, executives, board chairpeople and pastors will benefit from this workshop. The workshop provides instruction on how to plan and lead meetings. Participants will have an opportunity to plan a meeting using techniques presented in this workshop.	2 to 8 hours
Resolving Organizational Conflicts Through Communication	All organizations experience conflict. Successful organizations deal with conflict effectively. This training provides instruction on how difficult organizational issues can be resolved through open and facilitated discussions.	2 to 4 hours