Vancouver Facilitator
An experienced, neutral facilitator for your Vancouver leadership team, board or department.
We create sessions that are greater than the sum of their parts, guided by award-winning facilitators.
- 110,000+people facilitated globally
- Award-winningfacilitators
- Metro Vancouverin person, virtual or hybrid
We design sessions that leave teams with shared clarity, specific commitments, and the momentum to follow through.
Trusted by teams across the public, private and non-profit sectors
Calgary
How to choose a facilitator, including how to assess us
Vancouver has no shortage of people who will facilitate your session, and that is the difficulty. The market is crowded, the title is unregulated, and almost everything you can read before booking is written to sound reassuring. So this page is a buyer's guide rather than a pitch. It sets out what separates a good facilitator from an expensive one, and how to test for it on a first call, with us or with anyone else.
Our facilitators travel to Calgary regularly. If what you're weighing up is the service rather than the person, our Vancouver facilitation page sets out how sessions are designed, which formats exist and what each one produces. For work beyond the Lower Mainland, our British Columbia page covers province-wide engagements.
How to choose
Six things to test before you book anyone
Ask these of every facilitator you speak to. The answers separate them faster than any proposal will.
Will you tell me not to book this?
A facilitator who has never talked a client out of a session is either very lucky or not listening. Ask directly what would make them say no. If the answer is nothing, you are talking to someone whose incentive is to run a day rather than to solve your problem.
Who is actually in the room on the day?
In a crowded market it is common to be sold by one person and facilitated by another. Ask who runs the discovery, who designs the session, who is in the room on the day, and who writes the summary. If those are four different people, ask why.
Whose content is it?
A facilitator guides the process and your team brings the content. A consultant brings the content. Both are legitimate, they are not the same purchase, and a fair number of people sell the second while calling it the first. Ask which one you are buying.
What happens when it gets difficult?
Ask for a specific example of a session that went sideways and what they did about it. Anyone experienced has several. A facilitator with only success stories has either had a short career or is editing heavily.
What does the day produce?
Get the answer before booking, in writing. A summary, a decision record, commitments with names and dates. If the answer is a photograph of sticky notes and a promise to circulate something, you already know how the fortnight afterwards will go.
Do I get to meet them first?
You are hiring a person to hold a room full of your most senior people. Insist on a call with whoever that will be, not an account manager. If it is difficult to arrange before you commit, treat that as information.
Every engagement we run is shaped around your team. Share what you're working on and we'll build the right session around it.
Share what you're working onHow We Facilitate
Sessions that turn conversation into a plan your team can actually run with
There's no prepared script. We guide the process, your team brings the expertise, and together we build toward a plan your people helped shape and will actually use.
We publish those questions because we are comfortable answering them. The facilitator guides the process and never the content. Your team knows the business; we know how to run the conversation. Facilitator-guided, participant-led, which is a working method rather than a slogan.
Get in Touch
Why work with us
Three ways teams here engage a facilitator
Every engagement is customizable, but most start in one of these shapes.
Quarterly or monthly
Ongoing Partnership
A facilitator who gets to know your team over time, so trust deepens and development compounds instead of starting fresh each session. Mostly virtual, anchored by one or two in-person days a year.
Best for: making development a habit rather than a one-off.
Ask about a partnershipMulti-day, immersive
Multi-Day Offsite
Extended session for strategic planning, leadership development or a culture shift. When we're flying east anyway, two days costs far less per day than one.
Best for: bigger decisions that need room to breathe.
Talk about an offsiteHalf-day to full-day
Single Workshop
A focused session built around one goal, whether that's a decision, a kickoff, or a skill like communications or building trust and psychological safety.
Best for: teams that know exactly what they need to work through.
Ask about a workshop
How we facilitate
A clear path from first call to follow-through
Each engagement follows a similar path, and includes the same care, from your first call to the work that carries on after we fly home.
-
Discovery
A call with the facilitator who would run your session, not a salesperson. This is where to test the six questions above.
-
Design
Customized session design, built around your team, not a template.
-
Facilitation
An experienced facilitator in the room or online, and in the room the day before.
-
Materials
Materials and tools your team can keep using afterward.
-
Follow-up
A summary with commitments and clear next steps.
-
Support
Optional support to help momentum carry past the session.
Why facilitation?
How a team works together shapes everything it creates.
$100 Million
is the yearly cost for big companies for staff being in pointless meetings.
65%
of senior managers say that meetings keep them from completing their own work.
58%
of Americans would rather go to a doctor's appointment than attend a work meeting.
75%
of decision-makers feel that collaboration needs to be improved in their companies.
Forrester Research, 2021
Outcomes
What your team walks away with
Better decisions, made together
Decisions the whole room actually gets behind, instead of quiet disagreement that surfaces later in the parking lot.
Real buy-in
Because people helped shape the outcome, they leave genuinely invested in it, not just told what was decided.
Stronger team connection
The kind of trust that lets a senior group disagree in front of each other, which is difficult to build and easy for the wrong facilitator to break.
Action that sticks
Clear commitments and ownership that carry into Monday morning, not just good intentions on the day.
Fresh thinking and better ideas
Space for your team's best thinking to surface, including ideas that might never have come up otherwise.
A record everyone can point at
A written summary of what was decided, who owns it, and by when. Useful when half the group has to brief a site that wasn't in the room.
Client stories
Real teams, real outcomes
These aren't all Vancouver engagements, and we won't pretend otherwise. They're the kinds of sessions we run and the outcomes teams point to afterward.
What our clients say
It was a pleasure to work with Will and Positive Impact. I was both inspired and empowered to co-deliver a meaningful offsite. Their positive incite into leadership performance and emotional resilience gave me clear direction and tactical tools I could apply to my workplace right away. I thoroughly look forward to working with Will again.
- Haley Daniels
Olympian and Motivational Speaker
Thanks for your incredible support, kindness, professionalism, and realness.
It was my sincere pleasure and privilege to work with you on our event.
You are a unique and special human, and I’m grateful that our paths crossed on this project, and look forward to the next time.
- Shauna Grinke, MBA, CPHR
Vice President - People and CultureThe workshop was an incredibly valuable experience for our team — the facilitator created an open, engaging environment that encouraged honest discussion and collaboration. The content was thoughtfully tailored to our team’s specific goals, making the session both relevant and actionable. We’re excited to continue partnering with Positive Impact to build on the great momentum sparked in this session.
- Shannon Charbonneau
Account Director
Treetop Marketing and Promotion Inc.
I’m leaving our session with a sense of optimism that I haven’t had in a while. It was time extremely well spent! I am sure that we all feel much closer and more connected.
- Participant
MDA Geointelligence Engineering Leadership SummitThe environment that was created made me feel comfortable to participate and collaborate with my colleagues. It was very well organized. I liked the outcome of the brainstorm sessions and warmup activities.
- ParticipantThe level of engagement and pace of the training was excellent. Like the fact that this workshop was trainer-guided, but participants lead!
- ParticipantFantastic facilitating most importantly Will understood when to let us talk and when to corral us back on track. Excellent value this afternoon.
- Engagement Workshop Participant
100% Satisfaction Guarantee.
We stand behind the quality of our work with complete confidence. If you're not fully satisfied with the results, we'll make it right.
Your trust matters more to us, and our guarantee acknowledges our belief that you deserve to feel confident in every investment you make with us. That's a standard we hold ourselves to, every time.
Ready to talk about your team?
Get in TouchAround the city
Where sessions happen, and what usually fits
Metro Vancouver is a bridge-and-tunnel problem, so where you meet is a real decision. It is a smaller one than who holds the room, which is what the rest of this page is about.
| Region | Organizations based there | Format that usually fits |
|---|---|---|
| Downtown and Yaletown | Technology, financial and professional services, law, resources head offices, creative and media | In person. Transit-accessible and the deepest pool of meeting space in the province. Punishing for anyone driving in at peak. |
| Burnaby, New Westminster and the Tri-Cities | Technology and telecom, post-secondary, health authorities, manufacturing and distribution | In person, and often the fairest compromise for a group drawn from across the region. On the SkyTrain line and far easier to drive to. |
| Richmond and the airport corridor | Logistics and distribution, aviation, food processing, technology, Asia-Pacific facing businesses | In person, and the obvious choice when anyone is flying in for the day. Easy parking, and against the traffic for most downtown attendees. |
| Surrey, Langley and the Fraser Valley | Health and education, municipal bodies, manufacturing and trades, agriculture further east | In person. Worth choosing when the bulk of your team already lives out here, which is more often than downtown offices assume. |
| The North Shore and Sea to Sky | Technology, film and creative, marine and ports, municipal teams, retreat venues north of Horseshoe Bay | In person for a day, multi-day if you carry on up the highway. See our Whistler page for retreats. |
A local detail that matters
The two ways hiring a facilitator goes wrong here
The first is hiring a consultant who facilitates. They arrive with a framework, walk your team through it, and leave you with their conclusions in your language. Sometimes that is exactly what you wanted, and it is a perfectly good purchase. It is not facilitation, and the giveaway is that the output could have been written before the session.
The second is hiring an entertainer. The day is energetic, the exercises are inventive, everyone enjoys themselves, and nothing is decided. This one is harder to complain about afterwards, because the feedback forms come back positive and the failure only becomes visible a month later when nothing has changed.
Both are easy to buy in a market this size, because both look impressive in a proposal. The test that separates them from a facilitator is the one in the cards above: whose content is it, and what does the day produce. A facilitator brings the process and leaves your team's thinking in your team's words, with decisions attached to names. If you ask those two questions on the first call, you will know within about five minutes which of the three you are speaking to.
Featured Workshops
Each of these is led by one of the facilitators below, and you meet them before you commit to anything.
COMS Communication Styles
COMS is our own communication styles assessment, grounded in research and facilitated by our team. It gives your people a shared way to talk about how they each work, so different styles become an advantage instead of a source of friction.
It gives a facilitator something concrete to work with in the room. Instead of asking a group to be more open, we can name why two people keep misreading each other and let them check it themselves.
Eight questions, one simple grid, and a reference the whole team can point at months later.
Learn more
Strategic Planning
This is where your team gets a real say in shaping and carrying out the organization's direction, landing on initiatives that actually move forward.
The facilitator's job in a planning session is to keep a capable group from talking itself into a list of twenty priorities. That means being willing to press when a room is avoiding the choice, which is easier for someone who does not work there.
A strategic plan is a living, breathing document. We stay involved as it plays out over the following months and years.
Learn more
5 Dysfunctions of a Team
This session takes a good team and helps make it excellent. We draw on Patrick Lencioni's well-known framework, approached through an appreciative inquiry lens that starts with what's already working.
It lands well with leadership groups who have known each other a long time and are extremely polite about it. Politeness is not the same as trust, and an outside facilitator can name that in a way a colleague cannot. The five behaviours, trust, conflict, commitment, accountability and results, are all on the table.
Your people walk away with shared language for how they work together, and a plan for moving forward that they built themselves.
Learn more
Our Core Team
Great content is only made better by great facilitators
Will Chambers
Founder & Facilitator
Award-winning facilitator and Founder of Positive Impact, with sessions delivered to tens of thousands of people. Will focuses on strategy, leadership, team dynamics and communication, turning concepts into clear, committed action.
More about Will
Lindsay Davis
Coach & Strategist
Award-winning coach and entrepreneurial guide, with experience spanning rural entrepreneurs in Africa to multimillion-dollar companies. Helps leaders focus on what matters most and build the resilience to anticipate challenges and move through them.
More about LindsayMichael Lorsch
Facilitator & Learning Consultant
Brings facilitation and learning design from theatre stages to executive boardrooms, including in-house work with lululemon. Blends mindfulness, relationship systems and human-centred design to keep people at the centre of every session.
More about Michael
Jason Maraschiello
Coach & Facilitator
Certified life and corporate coach, mindfulness and meditation teacher. Uses mindfulness and effective communication to help people set manageable goals, find work-life balance and build the support to follow through.
More about Jason
For work in Vancouver we assign one lead facilitator who runs your discovery call, designs the session, delivers it and stays with you through the follow-up. You will not be sold by one person and facilitated by another, which is the second question in the list above and one we would rather answer with an arrangement than an assurance. Beyond the core team, we draw on a wider network of facilitators and subject-matter experts, matched to the goals, sector, and people of each engagement.
Before you book
Worth reading first
Six pieces that answer the questions most teams have before a first session.
- The service How our Vancouver sessions are designed and what they produce Read the guide
- Wider footprint Facilitation across British Columbia Read the guide
- Choosing well The 13 definitive skills of a good facilitator Read the guide
- The role What is a facilitator's role Read the guide
- Honest advice When not to hire a facilitator, and what to do instead Read the guide
- The case 15 vital reasons to hire a facilitator Read the guide
Frequently Asked Questions
Hiring a facilitator in Vancouver
How do I tell a facilitator from a consultant?
Ask whose content the day runs on. A facilitator guides the process and your team supplies the thinking, so the output is your team's conclusions in your team's words. A consultant brings a framework and an answer. Both are legitimate purchases and they cost different amounts and produce different things, but a fair number of people sell the second while calling it the first. The giveaway is an output that could have been written before the session.
Who would actually facilitate our session?
One named lead facilitator, and you meet them before you commit to anything. They run your discovery call, design the session, deliver it and stay with you through the follow-up. In a market this size it is common to be sold by one person and facilitated by another, so it is worth asking every firm you speak to who does each of those four things. If the answer is four different people, ask why.
What would make you tell us not to book?
If the decision is already made and the session is meant to sell it. If the real problem is a conflict between two specific people, which is mediation rather than facilitation. If you need expertise we don't have, including a session that should be led by someone with a background we can't offer. And if the time available is too short for what you've described, we'd rather tell you that than run a compressed day that opens something we cannot close.
Can we meet the facilitator before we commit?
Yes, and we'd rather you did. The discovery call is with the person who would run your session, not a salesperson, and there's no obligation attached. It's also where we'd tell you if we think facilitation isn't the right answer. Losing a booking on that call costs us less than running a day we don't believe in, and it is the single most useful test you can run on any facilitator, us included.
What if we've had a bad experience with a facilitator before?
Say so on the first call, in detail. It usually points at something specific: someone who pushed their own content, a day that ended without decisions, or an exercise that felt like it was done to the group rather than with them. Knowing which one it was changes how we design your session and what we commit to. It also tells us which of our own habits to be careful about with your group.
What experience do your facilitators have?
Our founder is an ICF ACTP certified coach with more than a decade in sales and marketing at Coca-Cola before founding Positive Impact, and studied High Impact Leadership at the University of Cambridge. Across the team we have delivered sessions to well over a hundred thousand people, in corporate, public sector and non-profit rooms. What matters more for your decision is fit, which is why you speak to the actual facilitator before booking.
Where should we hold the session?
Wherever costs your group the least commuting, which in Metro Vancouver is often not downtown. If most of your team is south of the river or out in the valley, a downtown start at 9:00 means a long morning for a lot of people and it shows in the first two hours. Burnaby and the Tri-Cities are frequently the fairest compromise, and Richmond makes sense when anyone is flying in. We'll ask where people are actually travelling from before anything is booked.
What happens after the session?
You get a written summary with the decisions made, the commitments people made out loud, and who owns what by when. The same lead facilitator handles that, so nothing is lost in a handover. We can stay involved afterward if you want support keeping the momentum, and we will say plainly if we think you don't need us for that part.
Let's talk about your team
Tell us what you're working through and we'll put you on a call with the facilitator who would run it, so you can judge the fit before committing to anything. We'll tell you honestly whether facilitation is the right tool and who would run it and what it would look like.
Get in Touch
