It can be so disillusioning to have tension in your work place or your faith community or family business. People who once trusted each other now find it difficult to talk, or even be in the same room.  It just doesn't feel the same.  Eye contact is avoided and/or awkward.

​

There is hope, however.  

​

At Moving Forward we believe it is possible to heal conflict in a straight forward manner with integrity and honesty.  Why?  Because we've done it.  Churches and non-profits have successfully hired us to understand, resolve and move past conflict with a minimum of "residue" left over afterwards.

​

That is the key!  Yes, many conflicts can be dealt with in-house without outside help.  However, the cost of doing that is often too high with a post-conflict residue that leaves casualties and feelings-that-never-quite-go-away in its wake.  Too many people have a "pebble in the shoe".  People move on...but with a limp.

​

To put it simply:  IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO RESOLVE A CONFLICT WHEN YOU ARE A PART OF IT!

​

How can we help?  

​

We come alongside to help navigate a course ahead.  Here are some POSSIBLE steps we can use:

​

• Survey.  We take a survey so that everyone involved can feel heard.  Depending on the situation, this can be a limited survey with just the leadership board and/or the staff, up to the whole community or staff. This survey is strictly confidential!  Only Moving Forward has access to it.  The survey comes in two possible formats:​​

  • Online.  We use Survey Monkey.

  • Paper.  The survey is made available with a SASE attached with our address.​

​

• Face To Face Meetings.  Anyone who would like to meet with the Moving Forward Facilitator(s) can do so.  This often helps us to fill in the cracks and get a better understanding of the nuances of the situation. These are often one hour meetings with individuals and/or small groups.

​

• "Observations and Recommendations" Presentation with the Leadership Board (or Task Force, whole community, etc.).  

  • First we present our observations of the conflict.  We name the elephants in the room.  Usually, each side has some legitimate points and some blame.  The goal of the Observations is for everyone to feel, "I have been heard."  

  • Then come our Recommendations.  Our goal is to answer these questions... 

    • "How can we move forward and leave this behind?"  

    • "What immediate steps can we take to heal the wounds?"  

    • "Is there anything we can do now to prevent this from happening in the future?"

  • At this meeting, attendees are invited to give input into the Observations and Recommendations. Each person is given a half-sheet (card stock) piece of paper to write down their questions, disagreements and observations.  These are collected at the end of the presentation and then read out loud anonymously and responded to by the presenter.  The purpose of that is to have a unified effort for resolving and healing the difficulties.​

​

• Follow Up.  We are available for consultation and follow up work to help implement any changes and processes that came out of the Recommendations.  If you so choose, we won't leave you orphaned!

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​