Do you recognize this?
Consultations without a clear outcome
Decisions that are not followed
Lack of clarity regarding roles and responsibilities
Information that is not shared properly
Irritations that linger
Collaboration that costs energy
What is left unsaid guides how a team works together.
The foundation of every good collaboration is trust.
The foundation of trust is effective communication.
Professionals differ in personality, communication style and needs. That is not the problem. The problem arises when it becomes difficult to discuss those differences effectively. Many people have never learned how to collaborate when there is friction, give feedback, or have difficult conversations.
This shows up in meetings without progress, decisions that lack support, and tensions that are clearly felt but remain undiscussed. At first glance, little seems wrong, while beneath the surface a great deal is already happening. If this is not brought into the open, patterns remain under the radar for a long time, until they become visible in absenteeism, turnover, or decisions that lose their impact.
Pace works where collaboration starts to fray or slow down: in what happens between people, in roles and responsibilities, and in how conversations are conducted. This makes tension discussable, allows decisions to move forward again, and enables teams to handle difficult conversations better, both now and in the future.
There are various ways to improve collaboration. Pace offers three forms of guidance that reinforce each other and align perfectly with what a team needs. From growth and deepening to repairing friction.
For teams that have something to talk out and at the same time want to get better at having difficult conversations, Pace has developed a unique, evidence-based method: Synergizing .
Pace facilitates the group discussion, reveals what is holding the team back from collaborating effectively, and simultaneously provides guidance with live communication advice. Teams lay the foundation to continue having difficult conversations and improve their team culture.
For teams that want to gain insight into team dynamics, their own triggers and interactions, and receive tools to communicate more effectively.
In addition to training courses and in-company workshops, Pace also offers team coaching and individual guidance. Topics include: effective communication, giving and receiving feedback, and communication for leaders. Also suitable for team building.
Business mediation and employment mediation at Pace helps reopen the conversation. Specialists in complex issues where quick action is required.
The MfN-registered mediator facilitates conversations as an independent and impartial third party. Pace provides a safe environment to resume dialogue. Underlying emotions, misunderstandings, and concerns are given space, allowing clarity and trust to be restored.
When teams bring in Pace
In (management) teams and departments, you often see similar patterns:
– conversations are put on hold or avoided
– countries do not make decisions or recurring issues that are not resolved
– people hold back or drop out
– simple subjects become unnecessarily complex
– there is no major conflict, but there is palpable tension or distance
Sometimes teams have already tried giving feedback, yet still struggle to truly address each other. What is often at play is overdue maintenance: tension that was never truly voiced, but continues to drive behavior and collaboration.
The moment to engage Pace arises when it becomes clear that things are no longer working this way, or even sooner when you consciously want to take the temperature of the collaboration and prevent friction.
For example, with:
– changes such as a new (management) team, growth, merger or reorganization
– teams that have been working together for a longer time and want to understand what is happening beneath the surface
As long as this is not spoken aloud, endless meetings and topics keep recurring, tension builds up, and energy is lost.
For teams that want to understand what is going on and are willing to speak up about what is needed.
What this changes
You often see a difference in how the team speaks to each other as early as the first conversations.
Within a few months:
-
Decisions are made instead of being postponed
-
Discussions do not keep recurring
-
Agreements are clear and are honored.
-
Conversations lead to concrete steps
-
Tensions are expressed instead of avoided
-
Calm returns to the consultation, and there is clarity regarding what is and is not decided.
-
Teams keep this up, even under pressure
Not because there are no longer any differences, but because the team is learning to deal with what is at play.
Why Pace
Pace works on three things at the same time.
-
The immediate issue is resolved.
No postponing and no recurring discussions. Decisions are made and move forward. -
The team learns how to have difficult conversations.
Not in theory, but in their own day-to-day reality, also without support. -
The way the team works together becomes clear and consistent.
Roles, expectations and follow-through are explicit, so collaboration doesn’t depend on guesswork.
Pace combines what is usually offered separately: training, facilitation, analysis, real-time communication guidance, a proprietary assessment, and where needed, individual coaching.
No hypothetical cases. No advice afterwards. The work happens in the reality of the team, in the moment things become tense, unclear or uncomfortable. What remains unspoken is brought into the conversation. What others avoid is addressed. Directly, without judgment and without sidestepping.
Many trajectories stop at insight. In practice, little changes and the same topics return. Pace breaks that pattern.
The approach — Synergizing — works across three layers at once: awareness, organisational structure and communication.
It makes visible what happens in the interaction, and how roles, responsibilities and expectations shape the conversation.
The assessment provides a clear starting point: where friction sits and what is missing, so the work focuses on what has the most impact.
In practice, this means that built-up tension, sometimes from months or years, is finally addressed. Step by step, without making it bigger than necessary.
Within 3–6 months
– the core issue is resolved
– decisions are clearer and followed through
– conversations are more direct
– agreements are kept
– teams are able to handle difficult conversations, even under pressure
Pace enables teams to have the conversations they are no longer having, and teaches them how to keep doing that without support.
About Sibel Berkhout
Pace is founded by Sibel
With a background in employment law, mediation and management in the financial sector, she understands how collaboration holds up under pressure, where interests collide and where decision-making stalls.
What sets her apart is her ability to move quickly and grasp complex situations fast. She cuts through the surface, makes sharp analyses and sees what is actually driving behaviour.
At the same time, she creates a setting where people feel able to speak openly, even when it’s uncomfortable. In the conversation itself, she names what others leave unsaid and brings things back to the core, so discussions that would normally be avoided actually take place.
Most professionals are never taught how to work together or how to have the conversations that matter. Sibel treats communication as a skill, not a personality trait. Something you build, practise and strengthen over time, especially when the pressure is on.
Example from practice
A management team at an IT company came in asking for support with their communication.
At first glance, it seemed to be about feedback. In the conversations, it quickly became clear there was more going on.
One of the team members was on the verge of leaving. Tension had been building for some time, but remained unspoken.
During the trajectory, that tension was brought to the table. What had been avoided became discussable. Misunderstandings were clarified. Expectations were made explicit. That shifted the dynamic.
The relationship was restored, and trust returned. At the same time, the team learned how to have these conversations themselves. So the result wasn’t just resolving this situation, but building the capability to address what would previously be left unsaid.
“Within 3 sessions, we went from nearly falling apart to moving forward with trust and energy. If we ever need a 180-degree shift, we call Sibel.”
— Founder, IT company