★★★★★

One of GR Consulting’s business goals is to expand our editing and proofreading services. So the following qualification gained by Lenore is timely.

Congratulations Lenore on completing the Certificate of Editing & Proofreading.

You have demonstrated an in-depth understanding of the editing and proofreading process, including using mark-up language, correct use of grammar, punctuation, and spelling, style guides, and using concise language conventions.

I was particularly impressed with your attention to detail (mark-up copy) and ability to use active, concise language to condense long-winded sentences and paragraphs throughout your assessment!

The evidence submitted demonstrated that you have satisfactorily met the learning and performance criteria for your course. You have shown complete and comprehensive understanding of the subject matter and achieved all goals for the assessment tasks. Your assignment responses are excellent, well-researched and thorough.

– Dawn, Tutor, Australian Online Courses, Greenslopes, August 2023.

★★★★★

Our relationship with has positively benefited our collaboration meeting. Having Gerry facilitate took away the responsibility off the staff to run the meeting and instead allowed for staff to be equally involved in participating in conversation and activities.

Gerry and I prior-planned the structure of the meeting where I explained what I hoped to achieve during the meeting and drew on Gerry’s experience to utilise his tools and techniques to ensure my goals were reached.

Most of this group of people have now worked together for several years and Gerry was able to identify their strengths and provide space for their involvement in the direction and outcomes of the meeting.

There were no issues with individual input into the sessions of the meeting as there was plenty of process variety within the day to stimulate the group.

The energy in the room at the end of the second day remained high and I was very proud of how well we worked together to identify and discuss the opportunities and challenges ahead of us.

— Program Coordinator, March 2023

★★★★★

The feedback below was given anonymously by participants who attended an initial project collaboration meeting facilitated by Gerry.

“Good to have a facilitator.”

“Excellently run thank you!”

“All good - great idea to get project, extension staff and service providers together.”

“Great facilitated session - engaging and interactive.”

“Thanks Gerry. Excellent job!”

“Thank you for a great day - it was very constructive and we have a great jumping point to start new collaborations.”

— Evaluation responses (Feedback from participants at a Project Collaboration Meeting, August 2022)

★★★★★

"Gerry was a pleasure to work with from start to finish. He has a knack for asking the right questions to get to the nub of what you want to achieve and customises the design of the workshop accordingly. He was really open to our suggestions on the draft agenda and delivery plan and the whole process was positive and collaborative.

Our workshop had participants attending in person and on-line and even when the technology threatened to derail proceedings, Gerry was a cool head and kept the show on the road. We generated some excellent outputs that will really help the Society with its strategic planning.

If you’re looking for a highly experienced facilitator who cares about people and who understands rural issues, I thoroughly recommend GR Consulting."

— Dr Dionne Walsh President, Australian Rangeland Society, November 2021

★★★★★

"We engaged GR Consulting to assist with designing a process to inform the development of a new project proposal. This involved designing and facilitating two interactive online sessions to specifically obtain feedback from the project’s operational team (spread across three states).

One of the techniques Gerry used during these sessions was a 1-Star and 5-Star user experience activity for the delivery team to clearly identify what could make a difference to practice change for users of our website, webinars and eBulletin.

Gerry also designed and facilitated a face-to-face workshop with our operational team and advisory committee. However due to COVID-19 travel restrictions the workshop had to be designed to cater for both face-to-face and online interstate participants. Gerry did this seamlessly and used technology and techniques to integrate the online participants into the small and whole group processes used.

★★★★★

“In September last year, GRC reported on data collection for a project and included visual snapshots which interpreted the significance of the data in the report. This is what the client replied when they saw the final report!

From: Andrew Perkins
Date: Friday, 11 September 2020 at 14:30
To: Gerry Roberts, Morgan Gronold
Cc: Lenore Roberts, Rhonda Rojas
Subject: RE: QFPI Cluster Fence Rounds 1 & 2 Group Sessions’ Report - pls let me know when you've received it

Dear Gerry, Lenore and Rhonda

That is absolutely spectacular.  Thanks so much for the finishing touches. 

I will send you feedback from DAF when we get it.

Kind regards

Andrew ”

— Andrew Perkins Director, Hall Chadwick Chartered Accountants Business Advisers, Brisbane, September 2020

★★★★★

”Once again Gerry Roberts has well and truly exceeded our expectations and facilitated a workshop that has delivered exactly what we wanted (i.e. getting useful feedback from a range of users of our communication tools).

As always, Gerry was easy to work with and spent sufficient time to gain a full understanding of the purpose and outputs required for the workshop. He then used this knowledge and information to design a useful process to give us the necessary outputs while also matching this to the users and our team members who were attending.

In particular, Gerry was able to include the team members so that they heard directly what the users said without influencing any of their ideas. Through being very approachable and sharing personal anecdotes, Gerry was also able to create an environment where all were confident that they could talk freely.

★★★★★

"I have sought the services of Gerry Roberts now on multiple occasions as facilitator for workshops. Gerry's most recent work for me involved facilitating our team get together.

Gerry spends as much time as required with me to get a clear purpose of the output I require from the workshop. He then set about engaging with all staff to ensure each person's views are heard and understood, and from that he built a process and agenda which satisfied mine and staff needs.

His style is relaxed, but professional at all times. Gerry creates an environment that is highly conducive to open discussion, and has clear actions at the completion.

I highly recommend Gerry."

— David Arnold CEO, RAPAD, February 2020

★★★★★

" I wanted to put pen to paper to thank Gerry and recommend him to anyone looking for practical help to improve your knowledge, skills and capabilities so you can better deliver for your organisation or business. 

Some might call it professional development or capacity building but to me what Gerry provides is much more than just that. Imagine having someone you can go to, to help you overcome your workplace or project obstacles. Someone who doesn't solve them for you but instead takes a step back and looks at the bigger picture and provides you with practical, actionable steps and skills, so you can do it yourself thus leaving you far more capable for next time. 

Gerry continues to help me take my vision of what I want to happen and build a framework around it so it can deliver better results faster than if I was simply left to my own devices. He takes the long view of building up skills and abilities so you can make everything you do better rather than needing you to come back to him with every problem you face.

★★★★★

"Dr Roberts was engaged by the health service to facilitate a workshop on a very specific topic relative to organisational culture and came with the recommendation of respected colleagues.

The topic of presentation was not entirely familiar to Dr Roberts and he committed to undertaking a significant amount of research which best placed him to conduct meaningful preparatory conversations with members of the leadership team ahead of the workshop date.

The level of his due diligence in understanding the topic was excellent and he sourced accurate and relevant supporting resources for use as pre-reading and as tools to reinforce learning and discussion on the day.

Dr Roberts' preparation and facilitation skills provided me with valuable guidance in terms of setting attainable outcomes from the 1-day workshop and we were subsequently able to agree to an informed decision for future action.

★★★★★

"The feedback below was given anonymously by participants who attended a collaborative work planning meeting run by Gerry.

At the end of the day, the participants rated the usefulness of the meeting on achieving the desired purpose and outputs at 6.75 out of 7 (where 1 = not at all useful and 7= highly useful).

In response to the meeting evaluation question, One comment I'd make about today's workshop is …

"Great day and very useful as we (do) have very similar end goals."

"The workshop was a great way in getting us to start thinking and working as a broader team."

★★★★★

“Gerry Roberts recently provided facilitation and extension design services to assist me with developing and running a planning workshop.

Gerry was very easy to work with – being adaptable, efficient and responsive to my requirements. Gerry worked hard with me to clarify what I wanted from the workshop and assisted with developing an agenda that would effectively lead the team to the desired outcomes.

Gerry’s insights into adult learning, extension and facilitation were very beneficial to develop processes used throughout the workshop to guide participants enthusiastically towards outcomes and innovative ways to deliver project services.

We all know workshops and meetings can be tedious and unproductive, but this one was both enjoyable and fruitful.”

— Workshop Organiser, February 2019

★★★★★

"I’ve been to a few training workshops over the years where stuff has been presented by people who are full bottle on extension theory but have had little experience in on-the-ground extension - this is frustrating.

In contrast, the extension training Gerry delivered at the extension tools workshop in Charters Towers was good. It is refreshing to have someone present a workshop who has had and is still having a successful career in extension.”

—Participant, Extension Tools Workshop, August 2018

★★★★★

"Below are some comments given in anonymous feedback from participants who attended a workshop run by Gerry about how to work effectively with stakeholder groups.

At the end of the workshop, 15 of the 16 participants believed that they could now make more informed decisions on how to work with a group and 14 of the 15 indicated that they planned to make changes in how they worked with stakeholder groups as a result of the workshop.

 “Good coverage of the range of issues/challenges/opportunities when working with groups”

“Very good insights and examples given throughout the day”

★★★★★

"In response to the workshop evaluation question, One comment I'd make about today's workshop is ....., here is how participants responded:

“Very well organised and thought out workshop. Plenty of opportunity to make comment.”

“Very productive day and equal engagement from everyone in the room.”

 “Long but necessary and we got there through excellent facilitation and group participation.”

“The value in group discussions.”

★★★★★

“I can highly recommend Gerry Roberts from GR Consulting. Gerry was engaged by RAPAD to facilitate a workshop in Brisbane of around 25 participants from Government and the private sector to investigate the next steps for RAPAD's renewable energy vision. 

Gerry worked closely in the lead up to the workshop with RAPAD to design and refine a workshop process that suited our needs. The process he developed well, delivered the outcomes we desired.

The high quality level of Gerry's work gives us no hesitation in recommending Gerry's services to anyone and we look forward to working with him again in the future.”

— Morgan Gronold Senior Regional Development Manager, CW Qld Remote Area Planning and Development Board RAPAD, February 2018

★★★★★

"Really generated good discussion and brought forward good and tangible ideas. Thanks for the facilitation Gerry.

Gerry is a very good facilitator especially keeping people on track.

The positives participants wrote about the workshop included:
- The facilitation, close to time and achieved the outcome.
- Good cross section of ideas coming forward, being able to feed off other people's ideas to come up with new ideas.
- The way the ideas developed and the way people committed.
- Build on own ideas and to make them better with other's input.
- Got everyone involved and creative juices flowing.
- Opportunity to contribute, sharing ideas and the range of ideas presented.
- Good for groups to come to combined decisions.”

— Evaluation responses (From participants at a workshop on future directions, Charleville, September 2017)

★★★★★

“Gerry Roberts of GR Consulting provided us with a very thorough and comprehensive evaluation review and report.

Gerry was extremely conscientious in finding out exactly what we wanted and then went above and beyond to obtain a variety of feedback in the time allocated.  He was also very clear about the information we needed to provide to him.  Plus any changes we wanted throughout the process were no trouble and easily incorporated.

A detailed evaluation review report was submitted on time and to a high standard.  And I have no doubt that the recommendations made by Gerry will improve the project."

— Evaluation Review and Report for a Project Leader, Charleville, 2019

★★★★★

“Gerry Roberts of GR Consulting was engaged by Outback Queensland Tourism to facilitate a workshop for Tourism Development Officers from local Councils across the Outback.

Gerry liaised closely with OQTA to design and refine a workshop process that suited our needs, including the preparation of contact letters.
We were provided with tips and recommendations of how to use the process steps most effectively with our group.

This process worked well to deliver the output we desired. The high quality level of Gerry's work gives us no hesitation in recommending Gerry's services."

— Peter Homan General Manager, Outback Queensland Tourism Association

★★★★★

"I can highly recommend Gerry Roberts from GR Consulting. We recently contracted him for the third consecutive year to complete evaluation surveys of grazier participants for the Grazing BMP Project. Gerry assisted in designing the evaluation to meet current project needs while also adding to and complementing existing datasets.

On this occasion we also employed Gerry to compile a report of the findings for use by the project partners and funders. Gerry assisted in identifying appropriate key outcomes to meet the needs of the project and the final report was presented in a useful and professional manner with collected data reported in a meaningful and practical way, easily understood and interpreted by all project stakeholders.

The report provided invaluable insight into the data that evaluation of the raw product would not have provided. We will use Gerry’s services for such evaluation and reporting again.”

— Bronwyn Roberts Grazing BMP Project Manager, Fitzroy Basin Association Inc

★★★★★

"I am a professional development sceptic. I have been in education for 28 years and have attended PD that has left me wondering “How can I use this” or “So, what now?” 

I will be the first to admit that I attended the MBTI personality types  - faculty group communication and interaction PD, led by Gerry Roberts, with a high level of scepticism as to the ‘value adding’ it would provide to my approach as a school leader when communicating with my colleagues. 

I was pleasantly surprised and relieved to be part of a program that offered an insight into the ways of working with diverse groups and evidence based practice on how to get the most positive outcomes from faculty groups. It was practical, informative and fun! 

Gerry’s extensive knowledge and passion for this work created a positive learning environment, which became infectious. I am hoping he will work with our leadership team again.”

— Kym Webb, HOD, Longreach State High School

★★★★★

“We employed GR Consulting to design, prepare and deliver a workshop for the Board Directors and Senior Executives to expand their knowledge of how to strategically develop the desired culture in the Central West Hospital and Health Service (CWHHS).

The workshop made it possible for us to focus on developing the culture we want, based on the values and principles we know are important for health service delivery. The experienced facilitation gave us practical ways to formulate a positive direction and identify how best to develop a culture that is agreed by all, embraced by management and owned by employees. It was not something we could otherwise easily do ourselves.”

— Ed Warren Chair, CWHHS Board, Longreach

★★★★★

"A Community Group that I am associated with decided to seek professional help to assemble a “Community View” on the Wild Dog Issue to attract Government attention.

It was felt that we needed a submission that was credible, representative, researched and written in “Government language.”

Dr Gerry Roberts of GR Consulting was approached to discuss the project which led to adopting a plan that included consultation with our community.

The highlight of the project was Dr Roberts handling of the Community Consultation. He managed to break down barriers with sincerity, empathy and sensitivity to draw responses from the respondents that were open and genuine about their problems associated with the Wild Dog Issue and their future in the Industry.

In good time, Dr Roberts delivered reports that not only fulfilled the initial expectation of providing a credible representative and well researched communication to Government, but also a record of a community bonding together to face the future.

Thank you Dr Gerry Roberts, for a job well done.”

— John Beattie Arno, Isisford