Facilitation and Workshops
Facilitation that elevates clarity, connection, and commitment
When the conversation matters and the stakes are high, you need more than a good meeting. You need the right process, the right questions, and someone who can navigate complexity with calm authority.
As an accredited facilitator and workplace expert, Michelle Gibbings helps leadership teams have the conversations that unlock progress, especially when the path forward feels unclear or contested.
She creates the conditions for people to engage with honesty, test ideas constructively, and make decisions with clarity and conviction.
The result? Stronger alignment, better ways of working, sharper follow-through, and sustainable momentum.
What changes because you worked with Michelle
The right facilitation does more than fill a day offsite. It accelerates progress, strengthens capability, and shifts how teams work together long after the session ends.
Michelle's approach elevates:
- Engagement and shared ownership – so the work doesn't rest with the loudest voices, and everyone steps up with intentional contribution.
- Decision quality – so trade-offs surface early, choices are made with discipline, and sound judgement drives action.
- Alignment and commitment – so priorities land with clarity, roles are understood, and momentum carries forward.
- Leadership capability – so your team leaves equipped with better ways of working, not just a good outcome from one day.
Tailored by design, focused on impact
There is no one-size-fits-all formula in effective facilitation. Every organisation and team has its own context, constraints, and complexity.
Michelle designs each session to suit your purpose, people, and culture. She balances warmth with direction, inclusion with pace, and depth with pragmatic wisdom.
The goal is consistent: a well-run process that turns discussion into clear decisions, practical agreements, and next steps people will follow through on.
When facilitation makes the difference
Facilitation delivers most value when the work is important, the views are varied, and your usual meeting rhythm won't get you there.
Michelle is often called in when:
- Decisions are stuck, contested, or carry high consequences.
- The leadership team needs sharper alignment on strategy, priorities, roles, or ways of working.
- Trust has dipped, and conversations are becoming careful, political, or surface-level.
- Stakeholders need genuine engagement, not just information.
- You need momentum and commitment, not just discussion and a to-do list.
Typical sessions
Michelle facilitates sessions such as:
- Strategic planning and execution alignment.
- Leadership team alignment and ways of working.
- Team days that build trust, collaboration, and effectiveness.
- Collaborative decision-making and priority setting.
- Stakeholder engagement and consultation processes.
- Offsites and planning days where the issues are complex and the time is tight.
The process
For high-stakes workshops, it pays to involve your facilitator early.
When Michelle is engaged from the start, she gathers the right intelligence, shapes the agenda around what really matters, and designs a process that fits your environment and time constraints.
How it works
- Clarify the outcomes
Michelle begins with a detailed consultation to understand your objectives, what success looks like, the issues to be addressed, and the decisions to be made. - Design a fit-for-purpose session
Working with you and key stakeholders, she designs a tailored approach that aligns with your desired outcomes, organisational culture, and participant expectations. This includes the right pre-work, questions, session structure, and facilitation methods to support honest discussion and practical progress. - Facilitate with precision and responsiveness
In the room, Michelle keeps the session on track while staying alert to what is emerging. She knows how to work with competing views, unspoken tensions, and shifting priorities without letting the session drift or become performative.
She creates a space where people can contribute fully, ideas are tested respectfully, and the group can make progress on the issues that count.
- Embed the outcomes
After the workshop, Michelle debriefs with you to capture key insights, decisions, and next steps, so momentum carries into the days and weeks that follow.
Why work with Michelle
Michelle brings calm authority, commercial pragmatism, and a sharp understanding of team dynamics. She is skilled at helping groups move from noise to clarity, and from discussion to decision, while protecting relationships and building trust.
In complex environments, progress depends on the quality of your conversations. Michelle helps you design and lead those conversations with intention, so you can step ahead and step up when it matters most.
When you work with Michelle, you can expect:
- A facilitation approach tailored to your context and outcomes.
- Clear guidance and strong process design from the start.
- Inclusive, focused facilitation that draws out the best thinking in the room.
- Structure that supports progress, not process for process’ sake.
- A session that produces clarity, decisions, and practical next steps.
Ready to elevate your next leadership and team conversation?
Contact Michelle to explore how facilitation can accelerate your organisation and team's progress.
Testimonials
Michelle works with various organisations globally to accelerate progress by driving leadership that is aligned with values, impact and the future of work. Read some of their reviews below, written in their own words…
“Michelle has partnered with Morrows for several years, advising our Managing Directors and senior leadership team through significant change. Michelle quickly understood our business and designed tailored coaching and facilitated sessions that delivered greater alignment of strategic priorities, resulting in clearer decision-making and effective execution. Her professional, thoughtful approach grounded in clear insight and genuine care has consistently added measurable value to our organisation. We greatly appreciate the positive impact Michelle has had on our team.”
Laurel Moulynox, Managing Director, Morrows
"Hanes has worked with Michelle Gibbings for several years through executive coaching, strategy and team facilitation, and running the Dare to Lead program. At every point of interaction, Michelle is engaged, responsive, adaptive and insightful. We receive fabulous feedback on her facilitation style from session participants. She is a highly skilled practitioner and a joy to work with. I would highly recommend her."
Sandra Blackburn, Group General Manager - HR, Hanes Australasia
Michelle works with a range of organisations globally to help them achieve lasting change. Read some of their reviews below, written in their own words…
"MIPS regularly engages Michelle to provide leadership, organisational development, team facilitation and executive coaching support. She is always a delight to work with: professional, organised, and focused on delivering exceptional outcomes.
Michelle combines her corporate experience, her straight talking style and her leadership skills to engage all her stakeholders in a way that suits her audience and the organisation which has engaged her. Michelle is highly engaging, generous with her time and always current in her thinking and approach. I would highly recommend her."
Natasha Anning, CEO, Medical Indemnity Protection Society (MIPS)
"Michelle's workshop laid an essential foundation for the kind of culture we’re building at OzGrav, where psychological safety isn’t just a concept but a lived experience. Michelle created space for senior leaders and members to reflect, engage, and understand our role in shaping an environment where people feel safe to speak up, share ideas, and ask for help. It helped set clear expectations for how we work together – with empathy, integrity, and trust. It set the tone for a culture of internal learning and leadership development that continues to evolve across OzGrav. That shared experience continues to shape how we approach difficult conversations, team dynamics, and leadership across the Centre."
Lauren Carter, Business and Equity Specialist, ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav)
"Having known Michelle for many years, I was excited to have the opportunity to have Michelle facilitate a session with the VACC policy team. From the outset, she was easy to work with and spent time understanding my objectives and the current team dynamics, to design a fit-for-purpose session plan. The pre-session planning was instrumental to its success.
On the day, Michelle was exceptionally well-prepared, responsive and adaptive.
Michelle has an amazing ability to very quickly, create a safe and connected environment – essential for a workshop of this nature. I was thrilled with the outcomes of the day and I know the team genuinely valued the session based on feedback.
Michelle is a consummate professional with a deep understanding of organisation and team performance. This sets her apart from others in her field.
If you are looking for an experienced facilitator, I would highly recommend Michelle."
Dr Imogen Reid, Lead, Strategy and Policy, VACC
"Having engaged Michelle a number of times, we are very impressed with her ability to facilitate groups of all sizes with natural ease. Michelle has worked with our Senior Leadership Team and also with our wider team of over 80 staff members, on all occasions, Michelle provided extremely valuable sessions. Her ability to draw out key outputs and actions from these sessions that then flow through to results is second to none. Her collaborative approach to these sessions sees Michelle really get to know the team and our needs. She facilitates interactive, open and meaningful sessions that we would highly recommend to any sized team."
Chris Walsh, Chief Information Officer, John Holland
I worked with Michelle when she was the lead facilitator at a multi-day event that I managed. I was impressed with her professionalism, ability to connect with the audience and hold the room, and to set the right tone for the days. She is a delight to work with – responsive and adaptive. I would highly recommend her.
Kym Rowles, VAN Community Manager, Macquarie Group
"When Director of Change Management and Culture at the Australian Digital Health Agency I engaged Michelle to help transition the Agency for continued success using Culture and Collaboration as the fundamental drivers. Michelle was able to support the agency over this 12 month journey. She was a key facilitator for many of our senior leadership forums and helped to shape and deliver core leadership outcomes. As part of this work, she was also asked to leverage her extensive expertise and experience to provide executive's discrete opportunities to broaden their capabilities via one on one executive coaching arrangements. Michelle is delightful to work with. She’s highly organised, practical in delivery and insightful in how she pulls key elements together, and able to build strong rapport, trust and relationships with leaders. I’d highly recommend her."
Wendy Leegel, Director of Change Management and Culture, Australian Digital Health Agency
"Having known Michelle for a number of years, and having seen her present at conferences before, I was very keen to have her work with the GRC Solutions team. Michelle is a delight to work with – thorough, responsive, clearly a master of her craft and dedicated to ensuring that the session hits the desired objectives. I am delighted with the outcomes delivered and the team really valued the session. I would have no hesitation in recommending her".
Julian Fenwick, Managing Director, GRC Solutions
"The aged care sector is undergoing significant change. To support providers in their adoption of these changes the North Metro Community Care Alliance invited Michelle to run a change management workshop to upskill their understanding and ability to support their organisation through the change. We received fantastic feedback from the attendees. Michelle is clearly an expert in her field and has the amazing ability to connect and engage with the audience. It was a highly successful session and we would definitely use her services again."
Samantha Sharp, Manager Aged and Community Support - Moreland City Council, and Chair of the North Metro Community Care Alliance
"I first met Michelle when I was working at Coles. Michelle was engaged by Coles to provide leadership development to the HR practitioners at the annual HR conference. I found Michelle to be an incredibly engaging and inspirational speaker and to this day I recall distinctly one element of her training that she delivered at this conference that had a significant impact on me at that time.
With the strategic pillar of building and supporting high performing teams, I thought Michelle would be perfect to work with the Spotlight Retail Group executive team on leadership and self-management. However before she got the opportunity to do this, a greater need arose and that was to provide a two-day workshop to our 130 plus store managers and some of our more senior leaders from our Support Group.
The two days were a resounding success and I personally received a lot of feedback from the store managers about how much they enjoyed Michelle’s facilitation and content. One store manager wrote to me and said “I thought Michelle was fantastic! She made the conference more productive”.
Personally, I find Michelle to be authentic, engaging, inspirational, incredibly intelligent and well-read, with an innate ability to use her knowledge to tell a story, make a point and link it to the learning outcome.
I know this is only the start of our flight path at SRG and I’m confident that Michelle will continue to pilot our plane to support and enable our strategic pillar of building and supporting high performing teams. I can’t recommend her highly enough to anyone who is looking to achieve leadership excellence personally or within their leadership teams."
Christine Connor, Head of Human Resources, Spotlight Retail Group
"The Regulation team has used Michelle on a number of occasions to facilitate team and strategy planning sessions. She is exceptional at bringing the team together, ensuring the objectives of the session are met, and keeping the discussion on track and the team engaged throughout the process. She is able to work with participants at all organisational levels and is adept at understanding their needs to ensure they are able to contribute their best to the session. She keeps the sessions focused, stimulating and productive. I highly recommend her."
Renate Vogt, General Manager Regulation, Citipower and Powercor
“We worked with Michelle on our team dynamics and stakeholder engagement. She brings a unique skillset in balancing individual focus and development while progressing the team as a whole. I would not hesitate in recommending to use Michelle.”
Carlo Cataldo, Chief Risk Officer, ME Bank
“Michelle’s passion for, and knowledge of, change management and transformation is exceptional and I highly recommend her expertise.”
Donna McAuliffe, Head of Change and Digital Adoption at National Australia Bank
“We engaged Michelle to provide a series of sessions around the country for our Financial Advisors as part of their ongoing professional development. These sessions focused on equipping advisors with the skills and techniques to best manage their teams and themselves in a complex, ever-changing environment. Michelle’s session was engaging, thought-provoking and highly practical. We received fantastic feedback from the participants who walked away feeling inspired and energised to thrive through change! I’d highly recommend Michelle as a speaker and facilitator.”
Learning Design Manager, Major Financial Services Organisation
“I engaged Michelle to run a series of sessions with my leadership team and broader team to help build the team’s engagement and capability. The sessions were well designed, expertly executed and achieved the desired objectives. I received fantastic feedback from the team, who found the sessions stimulating, thought-provoking and practical. The team walked away with new ideas and learnings and focused to deliver on our strategic outcomes. Michelle was very easy to work with – accommodating, organised and intent on delivering value. I’d highly recommend her as a facilitator and trainer.”
Michael Clark, Executive Director, Technology & Innovation, Fair Work Ombudsman
"I engaged Michelle to run a series of sessions with our frontline and head office staff as part of our capability development programs. The sessions were designed to provide employees with insights and practical skills to help them create their winning edge and thrive in a changing world. Michelle was delightful to work with - flexible, responsive and very attuned to our needs. The sessions were exceptionally well received, with comments such as:
- Best facilitator of the series. Very engaging style
- Sharp and easy to digest
I am looking forward to working with Michelle again."
Wendy Lightfoot, Capability Consultant, ANZ Institutional
"Her consensus approach to facilitating group decision making was essential to identifying and reaching agreement on group objectives. Her outgoing personality brings energy to her workshops which helped provide momentum to the project. Michelle is effective at engaging with stakeholders in a professional business environment."
Adam Zaborszczyk, Senior Sustainability Officer, City of Melbourne
"We had recently re-organised bringing together technology and consulting teams that had previously worked fairly autonomously. Michelle Gibbings was engaged to facilitate an offsite with the new team and help us begin aligning around our new strategy/culture and charting the path forward. She was delightful to work with – flexible, focused and generous with her time. Running sessions for a diverse audience of 100 people requires expert planning and execution. In addition to the formal objectives, we also wanted each individual to leave with some new tools to help develop their careers. Michelle bought great energy and insight to the day as our speaker. The event was a huge success. I highly recommend Michelle as a speaker and facilitator."
Steven Willson, Chief Technology Officer, AMP