Turn Discussions Into Decisions With The Right Meeting Facilitator
Most leadership teams don’t fail in meetings because of bad ideas. They fail because no one is actually managing the room as a neutral facilitator focused on decisions.
Gordon Sheppard is a professional facilitator based in Edmonton, working with leadership teams across Alberta and Canada in government, energy, education, and corporate sectors. He manages the room so leaders can focus entirely on decisions.
Or call Gord: 1-877-609-3628
WHY IT MATTERS
Why Hire an Outside Facilitator?
When the person running the meeting is also in the meeting, something always gets sacrificed. Either they participate and lose control of the room, or they manage the room and stop contributing. Neither works when the stakes are high.
That’s where an outside facilitator changes everything. Gord keeps every leader in the room focused on the content while he manages the process. He ensures every voice gets heard, not just the loudest ones. He handles conflict before it derails the session.
As Gord puts it: “I’m not in the family.” That means he will say what needs to be said to help leaders get great results.
NOTABLE CLIENTS
WHAT GORD OFFERS
Ways Gord Can Facilitate Your Next Session
Strategic Planning Facilitator
Fast-paced, focused sessions that turn a leadership team’s priorities into an actual plan. Gord designs the agenda, keeps the group moving, and ensures your plan doesn’t end up on a shelf collecting dust.
Workshop Facilitator
Half-day to multi-day leadership alignment workshops on communication, innovation, and organizational priorities. Gord designs interactive exercises that keep participants engaged and producing real outputs.
Conflict Management Facilitator
For teams navigating a difficult dynamic, Gord brings the experience and neutrality to have the conversation productively. He handles dominant voices and keeps the group moving toward resolution.
Innovation Session Facilitator
Structured sessions designed to generate new ideas and turn them into actionable next steps. Gord has facilitated innovation sessions for organizations across Canada and internationally.
Board & Stakeholder Facilitator
For high-stakes meetings involving boards, municipal leaders, or cross-sector stakeholders, Gord brings a firm, respectful approach that ensures every voice is heard and key commitments are made.
Gord designs and facilitates corporate retreats, strategy sessions, and leadership offsites across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, giving leadership teams clarity and structure to move forward.
Not sure which type of facilitation fits?
THE PROCESS
What Happens Before, During, and After Your Session
Before
Gord builds a custom agenda around your goals and group dynamics. For complex or high-stakes sessions, he also conducts pre-interviews so important issues can surface before everyone’s in the room.
During
Gord leads the session, manages the room, and handles conflict as it comes up, keeping every discussion grounded, energized, and focused on real decisions rather than open-ended talk.
After
Gord delivers a clear summary of the decisions made, the commitments given, and the next steps agreed to, then follows up to help keep the momentum going once the session ends.
RESULTS IN ACTION
Where Meeting Facilitation Gets Real Results
Strategic Planning Kramer Direct Ltd.
Strategic Planning • Stakeholder Management • Facilitation
The Need For Leadership Development, Strategy and Process Improvement
Kramer Direct Ltd is a family‑owned North American specialist in trenchless pipeline installation, founded with a mission to deliver top-tier client service and cutting-edge technology in the direct pipe industry.
As they scaled Kramer executives needed consultation in key areas including strategic planning, leadership development, process improvement and more.
That’s when they hired Gordon Sheppard to provide 500 hours of business advisory services in a variety of areas.
Initially Gord worked with senior leaders to assess their current state and also help them to envision what was possible in the future.
Gord initially worked on key issues including conflict management, leadership emotional control and improving communication.
He also served as a liaison with external contractors in HR, Recruiting and web development to help Kramer leaders get impactful results.
Overall he helped key leader to implement a full organization plan and deliver a clear strategic planning session to the staff.
“Thanks for bringing the laughter back into the hallways” said one senior leader.
Gord’s involvement help the company to streamline processes, implement new systems and ultimately build their own Executive Plan that they now visit on an annual basis to optimize future results.
Stakeholder Session Edmonton Global
Facilitation • Municipal Stakeholder Engagement
Edmonton Global needed an experienced facilitator to lead a multi-stakeholder high-stakes meeting.
Edmonton Global is a foreign direct investment (FDI) and international business development agency that represents 14 municipalities in the Edmonton Region.
They hired Gordon Sheppard to provide facilitation services for a high-impact stakeholder meeting that involved municipal Mayors as well as high level Edmonton Global Board members. He also helped the staff at Edmonton Global to assess their current stakeholder group and to develop a high-level approach to stakeholder management in the future.
Gord worked with senior leaders at Edmonton Global to plan the agenda for the one-day facilitated meeting that would bring together key municipal leaders and Edmonton Global board members to decide on the future of their relationship.
Gord also helped Edmonton Global to map out an 18 month plan to manage all stakeholders as well as to manage expectations about how much could be accomplished in the one-day meeting.
As a facilitator he was able to set a firm and respectful tone, and also conduct interactive exercises that maximized communication and helped to build trust among all participants. Gord followed up by delivering an easy-to-understand summary report that was distributed to key players.
Gord helped all stakeholders to say what needed to be said before the meeting in pre-interviews, as well as what needed to be said when they were together in person. He was able to help municipal leaders move their decision-making process forward and also elicit key commitments from the most engaged participants.
Innovation Session Blue Diamond Resorts
Innovation Session Facilitation • 2-Day Session In Mexico
The need for a strong facilitator to work with the commercial leadership team
Blue Diamond Resorts is a resort management company that operates over 60 beachfront properties (more than 18,000 rooms) across the Caribbean and Mexico. Their Commercial Leadership Team needed an experienced facilitator to plan and facilitate a 2-Day Innovation Session in Mexico.
Gordon Sheppard worked with their senior leaders to plan for a productive 2-Day session that would elicit new ideas that could be implemented to generate new revenue streams. He did pre-interviews, designed exercises, built the agenda and a workbook.
During the 2-Day session he conducted group discussions, led interactive small group exercises which turned into micro-presentations, and he also built a safe environment that allowed participants to speak openly and honestly with each other.
The leaders from the Blue Diamond Commercial Team came up with 8 useable concepts that could be implemented in the future to drive revenue growth.
They also were able to communicate at a deeper level and build trust with each other that will lead to more innovations in the future.
THE PROOF
Why Executives Hire Gord
FAQ
Common questions from organizations looking for meeting and workshop facilitation.
A meeting facilitator plans, designs, and leads group sessions to help teams reach decisions and move forward. Their job is to manage the process so every participant can focus on the content. Gord sets the agenda, manages group dynamics, handles conflict, drives the group toward clear outcomes, and follows up with a summary report so commitments don’t get lost.
In practice the roles overlap significantly. A meeting facilitator typically leads a single focused session aimed at a specific decision or outcome. A workshop facilitator usually leads a more structured experience designed to explore ideas, build alignment, or create solutions. Gord serves both roles depending on what your group needs.
Hire an outside facilitator when the stakes are high, when the topic is sensitive or politically charged, when you need every leader in the room to be a full participant rather than managing the process, or when past attempts to resolve an issue internally have not worked. An outside facilitator brings neutrality that internal leaders cannot.
Gord facilitates strategic planning sessions, innovation workshops, difficult team conversations, board and stakeholder meetings, leadership alignment sessions, team building workshops, and corporate retreats. Sessions range from a few hours to multiple days.
Gord is based in Edmonton and works with organizations throughout Alberta, including Calgary, as well as across Canada and internationally. He has facilitated sessions in the U.S. and Mexico.
For complex sessions involving pre-interviews and custom design, four to six weeks of lead time is ideal. For simpler sessions, two to three weeks is typically sufficient. Contact Gord early to discuss your timeline.
Costs depend on the length of the session, how much preparation and customization is involved, and the number of participants. Book a call and Gord can give you a clear answer based on what your session needs.
Contact Gord directly to discuss your session goals, group size, and timeline. He will recommend the right format and approach for your situation.