PARTNERING FACILITATION is a facilitated business process designed to: enhance efficiency and improve effectiveness, reduce costs and process timelines, improve the quality of products and services, and cultivate positive, long-term working relationships both within and outside of an organization.

SMITH/Associates have provided partnering and facilitation services to a wide range of public and private organizations, including the Department of Defense and National and State Agencies.  We have facilitated over 350 environmental and organizational partnering meetings, more than 300 construction partnering sessions, and numerous other organizational and interagency meetings. 

A CUSTOMIZED APPROACH
At SMITH/Associates, we recognize that differing circumstances require differing approaches and that collaborative planning and problem-solving are founded in trust and effective communication.  We understand that each situation is unique and ensure a customized approach to achieving client objectives.  Our approach includes:

• An awareness of the environments in which we work.  We do not serve as technical experts but rather as a bridge to link experts in various fields and specialties to effectively complete a project or reach a goal. 
• Spending time understanding a particular group’s history and current situation to determine which approaches will be most beneficial to meeting both short and long term goals.   
• A concentrated effort to keep groups connected and engaged.  We do more than just show up to facilitate an event.  We coordinate agendas and meetings, develop and present training sessions, provide event management services, and conduct public outreach as required utilizing face to face meetings, teleconferences, e-mail, and web-based resources.
• An understanding that partnering is not an event, but is instead a purposeful process based upon shared data and information about the project, the participants, and the culture within which the work is executed. 
• A focus on goal achievement and results.  We concentrate on the way decisions are made, meetings are managed, problems are solved and participants interact with each other. 

SMITH/Associates have extensive experience with project, operations, and construction based partnering. We lead meetings, build teams, moderate discussions, manage conflict, raise issues, evaluate meeting success, draft agendas, record action items, identify lessons learned and track assignment actions and responsible parties.