November 19, 2024
City Manager's Office
DATE: November 19, 2024
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Shasa Curl, City Manager
Patrick Seals, Administrative Chief
Kaitlen Burnom, Management Analyst
Subject:
Approval of Qualified Consultant List for Group
Facilitation, Retreats, and Mediation Services
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The establishment of the qualified consultant list allows the City to negotiate and enter into contracts with
approved consultants for facilitation-related services in an efficient and timely manner. Each department will be
responsible for funding these services from their
respective operating budgets (400201)
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
None
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
In an effort to support City departments in successfully receiving various group facilitation services, the City Manager’s Office released a Request for Qualifications
(RFQ) on September 10, 2024, to create a prequalified
pool of firms and organizations who can facilitate and
strengthen the working relationships within City
departments.
AGENDA
REPORT
November 19, 2024
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
ADOPT a resolution approving a consultant list of ten
firms to provide retreat and team building, working group facilitation, and conflict resolution and mediation service pursuant to contracts in an amount not-to-exceed
$50,000 per vendor, per fiscal year for Fiscal Years
2024-2025 through 2027- 2028 – City Manager’s Office
(Patrick Seals 307-8016/Kaitlen Burnom 621-1240).
DISCUSSION:
City staff is requesting City Council adoption of a resolution to approve City on-call or as-needed group facilitation-related consultants from a pre-qualified list of eligible consulting firms, or organizations (Attachment 1).
The City Manager’s Office would like to support City staff and sanctioned coordinated partnerships with skilled and qualified facilitators to strengthen the working relationships and communications within departments, boards and commissions, community collaboration, and stakeholders with the goal of leveraging group facilitation promising practices, techniques and expertise. More specifically, group facilitator activities would include but not be limited to
1. Retreats/ Team Building: Create activities that enhance organizational effectiveness by improving communication, fostering collaboration, and building strong relationships among team members. The goal of providing these activities is to develop a more effective, cohesive, and motivated team, ultimately contributing to success and productivity
2. Meeting/ Group Facilitation: Engage members in best practices for brainstorming, group flow, and dialogue to improve productivity, motivation, and rapport of teams. The goal of the facilitator during these discussions will be to guide and support groups in achieving their objectives effectively and efficiently.
The facilitator will provide structured discussions, enhanced collaboration strategies, inclusive participation, and will prevent meetings from becoming unproductive or prolonged.
3. Conflict Resolution and Mediation: Incorporate methods and approaches to handle and resolve disputes. Address and resolve underlying issues that may cause conflict within groups. Provide participants with strategies and tools that prepare them should future conflicts arise. Engage in facilitating discussions between conflicting parties to help reach mutually acceptable agreements through structured dialogue.
November 19, 2024
The City Manager’s Office issued a Request for Qualification (RFQ) on September 10, 2024, through the City of Richmond's BidsOnline system (Attachment 2). All responses were submitted by October 1, 2024. Each proposal included information on pricing, experience, qualifications, references, and experience in providing facilitation services to public agencies. Eleven (11) firms responded to the RFQ, and after the review of the proposals by City staff from the City Manager’s Office, Human Resources, and Office of Neighborhood Safety (ONS). The following ten (10) firms scored an average of 70 or higher out of 100 (Attachment 4). Staff are recommending that the firms listed below be placed on a pre-approved vendor list:
Coach to Discover Seed Collaborative
Empress Set-up for Success
Kearns and West Spark Decks
Partners in Public
Innovation The Consulting Team
Place Works Richmond Community
Foundation (RCF)
The City Manager’s Office staff will make each proposal accessible to all departments staff to review and select a consultant from the list of pre-approved consultants, as needed. If approved, City will be able to negotiate and enter into contracts with approved consultants for an amount not to exceed $50,000 per vendor, per year for fiscal years 2024-2025 through 2027-2028.
If the not-to-exceed amount of $50,000 per year, per vendor is reached, the City will be required to take any additional contract(s) before City Council for approval. City Manager staff will inform all consultants and City staff of the requirement.
If needed, the qualified consultant list for facilitation-related services may be modified to include new vendors at the end of each fiscal year. This will be done by reissuing the RFQ through the BidsOnline system. At that time, a modified list will be brought before City Council for review and approval.
SYNERGISTIC POLICIES:
None at this time
November 19, 2024
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – City Council Resolution for Qualified List of Group Facilitation Providers Attachment 2 – Request for Qualifications (RFQ)
Attachment 3 – BidsOnline Project Report
Attachment 4 – Rating Scoring Sheet