Skilled mediators can facilitate issue workgroups so that discussions are productive. 

Sometimes our mediators are asked to facilitate discussions among small or large groups of people who are not in a dispute but who believe that their discussions about certain issues will be more productive if they are led by a neutral facilitator. Our facilitators work with the conveners to develop appropriate questions for the group, design the process and facilitate the discussions so that the group produces the desired product from the discussions. Often part of the process is to develop a sense of priorities among the members of the group but not a consensus. The convener can then use the work product to address the problem under discussion.

These are examples of facilitations our mediators have conducted:

Special Education Advisory Group. This group was convened by the Cincinnati Public Schools to discuss changes/improvements to the Cincinnati Public Schools Special Education Program. The work product was used by the CPS Special Education leadership to improve services to the children in special education.

Hamilton County Environmental Priorities Project. This was a two-year project convened by Hamilton County in which workgroups organized by environmental topics developed and prioritized approaches to issues like water and air quality, sustainable development, and sprawl. The workgroups sent representatives to a Consensus Forum that reached agreement on priorities for governmental and citizen action.

Ohio EPA Solid Waste Division Strategic Plan. We designed a process to gather input from interested parties around the State of Ohio for the Solid Waste Division to use in developing its strategic plan. Facilitated stakeholder meetings were held in five locations in Ohio. The senior staff of the Solid Waste Division then developed the strategic plan based on the work product of those meeting.