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CLIENT TESTIMONIALS

"I appreciate everything Liz did to make our strategic planning retreat a success. Our feedback from the staff has been extremely positive. More than a few have said it should have been longer, which is very surprising given the level of skepticism we faced prior to the meeting. Liz's strengths include:

Liz's experience and flexibility in tailoring the sessions to our needs during the planning phase
Liz's ability to sense a need to change direction/schedule during the meeting and implement it "on the fly"
Liz's overall facilitation skills, which allowed her to take command of the room when necessary to get us back on track"
Jim Berlow, Division Director, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

"Liz immediately captured my attention by her approach in finding out exactly what the client wanted, who the audience was, and what the purpose was. As a result, she conducted a full day of meaningful, objective, interactive and fun learning. She is able to related to a broad range of personalities, has an upbeat and engaging approach and delivery, and a great sense of humor."
Deanne Johnson-Anderson, Corporate Director of HR, Crestline Hotels & Resorts

"I unreservedly recommend Liz's services to any organization wanting thorough, smart and effective public speaking, training, counseling and coaching for better individual and group performance. She is refreshing for her straightforward and very human approach, but her power comes not only from her persuasive abilities, but from her honesty and integrity. It is a rare and extraordinary combination."
Tom Nagle, Vice President, Marketing, International Dairy Foods Association/Milk PEP

Consulting Capabilities

Berney Associates works collaboratively with you to: (1) thoroughly diagnose and understand the sources of the problems identified; (2) plan and design the consultation goals and activities and, (3) assess the effectiveness of the consultation effort. We firmly believe that we need to work collaboratively with you to combine your organizational knowledge with our expertise to most effectively help you.

CONSULTATION TOPICS (click on title for a description)

Organizational Change
Team Building Training
Conflict Resolution
Meeting Facilitation

Retreat Facilitation
Strategic Planning
RoundTable Theatre

TOPIC DESCRIPTIONS

Organizational Change: Berney Associates collaborates with you to help plan and facilitate organizational changes such as the assimilation of a new manager, group restructuring, self directed workteams, etc. We can also help to work with you following a change to help people adapt to that change.
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Team Building: Berney Associates collaborates with you to build high performance teams. We conduct team building training through assessing the strengths and challenges of the team and through developing strategies to surmount these challenges. Strategies may include: mediating interpersonal conflicts, defining unclear roles and goals, coaching team leadership and identifying processes to be put in place that are critical to work effectiveness.
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Conflict Resolution: Berney Associates facilitates conflict resolution between individuals or within or between groups. First, we interview these parties to understand their perspectives and to coach them prior to the negotiation. We then facilitate one to several highly structured meetings whose aim is to find the creative ways to meet multiple interests of both parties. The final goal of these meetings is to develop an agreement of clear and specific actions that both parties will take and discuss at a follow up meeting.
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Meeting Facilitation: We collaborate with you to ensure the effective and efficient deliberation of meetings. Prior to the actual meeting, we help you develop goals, agenda and structure for the meeting. At the actual meeting, we make sure everyone is heard, conflict is surfaced and resolved and the group effectively makes decisions and solves problems.
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Retreat Facilitation: Berney Associates collaborates with you to structure and facilitate group retreats. This process includes: (1) individual or group interviews to assess individuals' hopes and goals for the retreat; (2) development of a planning team to clarify goals of the retreat and to discuss potential activities (identified by us) to meet those goals and (3) facilitation of the retreat taking frequent "health checks" to ensure the effectiveness of the meeting in reaching the stated goals.
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Strategic Planning: Berney Associates works collaboratively with groups to develop an integrated strategic plan that includes a vision, mission, goals and objectives. Strategies such as the Future Search are used to help groups begin to develop this plan. The aim of this planning is to develop components such as goals that are meaningful to all members of the group.
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Roundtable Theatre for Business (RTT): Dr. Liz Berney and Dr. Joseph Mancini collaborate, through the use of improvisation and storytelling, to actively engage participants in identifying imaginative solutions to current challenges and dilemmas. Through the use of creativity and play, individuals and teams learn diverse strategies for exploring business dilemmas and finding new ways to heighten their productivity. Click here to visit RoundTable Theatre.
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