Being able to facilitate discussions and meetings of all kinds is increasingly being seen as a critical skill for managers and other professionals. From problem solving to project reviews to planning meetings, being able to gather the perspectives of different stakeholders and reach an agreed consensus is central to successful team working and decision making. This experiential, practical and engaging course will give participants a solid understanding of the facilitation process. They will discover the importance of focusing on process, clarifying outcomes, maintaining direction, establishing ground rules and managing time. They will learn how to create an environment where people feel comfortable sharing their views, how to be firm and efficient without causing upset and avoid common pitfalls including following their own agenda rather than the group’s. Your people will leave with lots of tools they can use immediately to help teams collaborate more effectively together.
Learning objectives
By the end of the session participants will:
- Understand the role, responsibilities of a facilitator and what makes someone really effective
- Know how to encourage high levels of participation and keep the discussion on track
- Know how to make links between ideas and varying viewpoints
- Know difference between facilitation and chairing a meeting/managing a project
- Know how to help groups reach decisions they can buy into
