We design and deliver solutions for meeting facilitation, executive coaching, leadership development and team building.

West End Partners team is based in the Chicago area, and we have team members based near most major U.S. cities. This allows us to support clients nationally, including meetings that are set near the metro areas listed below, and we regularly travel to offsite meetings and other locations.

• Atlanta
• Boston
• Charlotte
• Chicago
• Cleveland
• Dallas
• Denver
• Houston
• Indianapolis
• Miami
• Milwaukee
• Minneapolis
• New York
• Orlando
• Philadelphia
• Phoenix
• San Francisco Bay Area
• St. Louis
• Washington, D.C.

West End Partners has the ability to serve clients’ international offices through virtual delivery, and our facilitators travel internationally to facilitate meetings that are conducted in English.

It is very challenging to facilitate at meeting and also be a contributing participant in the conversations and thinking that should occur in a productive meeting. A facilitator should spend much to their time focused on keeping the meeting on track and topic while making sure people’s ideas are being voiced. In contrast, participants should spend their time deeply engaged in thought and discussion, and trying to play both is incredibly difficult to do well. Further, it can be challenging for leaders to create a meeting structure and atmosphere that makes participants comfortable to express ideas that they perceive may not align with the leader’s vision. However, professional meeting facilitator works to ensure that participants do not defer to ideas simply because they are voiced by a particular person who might be the highest on the org chart, most vocal in the room, etc. And, a professional facilitator is able to pivot if needed to reorganize a meeting if it is clear in the room that a new approach is necessary, drawing on experience with a large set of tools that can put the meeting back on a productive track.

We believe it is essential for you to meet with our team and the facilitator we propose so that you can ask questions about our approach and experience, and so we can learn more about your goals and the details around your meeting. Based on this conversation, West End Partners will draft an initial proposal and schedule a call to discuss it with you and decision makers on your team. This conversation will give you a sense of how we approach preparation and design. It will also serve as an important opportunity to provide feedback so we can refine or add any elements to fit your needs. At this point, you will have solid information for a comparison to other facilitator services that you might be considering.

Event planners play a vital role in organizing things such as travel, venues, food, and the selection of speakers and outings that happen for conferences, off-sites and the like. Professional meeting facilitators focus on the design and delivery of the working sessions, prepare with you in advance to build an intentional agenda and get buy-in from stakeholders before the meeting occurs. The design will be structured with a logical build that will surface issues, create meaningful discussion and progress to a clear outcome and set of next steps. During the meeting, the facilitator manages the conversation to make sure input is gathered from all participants, keeps the group to the agenda and captures topics that should be considered at a different time, and is there to pivot if something is surfaced that must be addressed constructively.

Professional meeting facilitators often structure pricing based on the number of days of work required for an engagement. This should include the facilitator’s time to prepare for the meeting, such as interviews with key stakeholders, surveys with participants, and then the design and review of the plan with the stakeholders. After a discussion to understand your needs, we will be able to provide a proposal based on the work required.