Some rooms need more than a good agenda
The room was planned and the agenda was set. And then someone said something that changed everything. What happens next depends entirely on who is holding the room.
If you would like a room where trust stays intact, decisions get made, and the right people leave feeling heard rather than managed, read on.
Built for the sessions where it matters most
Margot Bawden facilitates across the full range of environments where infrastructure, planning, climate adaptation, and public sector work gets done.
PROJECT TEAM SESSIONS
When a project team needs to make a difficult decision under pressure, work through competing priorities, or reset after things have gone off track. The facilitation keeps the team focused, productive, and moving forward.
STAKEHOLDER WORKSHOPS
When the people in the room have different interests, different levels of trust in the process, and different ideas about what the right outcome looks like. The facilitation holds the space so that genuine dialogue is possible and the session produces something real.
COMMUNITY SESSIONS
When the community arrives carrying frustration, historical grievance, or deep scepticism about whether their voice will make any difference. The facilitation creates conditions where people feel genuinely heard, not just consulted.
PLANNING AND STRATEGY SESSIONS
When an organisation needs to think clearly about what comes next, make decisions that will hold, and leave with a plan that people are actually committed to.
Sessions run from half a day to multiple days depending on the complexity of the work and the needs of the group.
Facilitation grounded in how people actually behave under pressure
Most sessions are designed around content and process. Agenda items, time allocations, breakout groups. That structure matters. But it does not account for what people bring into the room before the first agenda item is reached.
Nobody arrives neutral. People carry the history of the project, their previous experiences of being ignored or overridden, their own agendas, and their own pressure responses. A community member who has felt unheard for two years does not become a constructive participant because the agenda says "open discussion."
Margot B's approach to facilitation starts before the session begins. Understanding who will be in the room, what they are carrying, and where the dynamics are likely to shift. Designing a process that can hold the weight of what the group needs to work through. Being present to read what is happening and respond to it, not just follow the plan.
The goal is a session that produces helpful outcomes, for example decisions that hold, or understanding that has grown.
What working with Margot looks like in practice
Every facilitation engagement starts with a conversation about the session, the group, and the context it sits in. Margot does not arrive on the day with a generic process. She designs the facilitation around the specific dynamics, objectives, and pressures of your situation.
Before the session
Margot works with you to understand the history, the relationships, the likely fault lines, and what a successful outcome looks like. That preparation shapes everything about how the session is designed and run
During the session
Margot holds the room. She manages the dynamics, creates space for the voices that need to be heard, keeps the group moving when momentum stalls, and intervenes when the conversation starts to go sideways.
After the session
A clear record of what was discussed, what was decided, and what the next steps are. Where it is useful, a brief debrief on what the session revealed about the group's dynamics and where the ongoing risks sit.
Sessions run from half a day to multiple days. Margot works across New Zealand and is available for in-person and online facilitation.
Have a session coming up?
The best place to start is a conversation about the room, the group, and what you need the session to produce. Margot will tell you whether facilitation support would make a difference and what that might look like.
That conversation is free and without obligation.
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