Facilitation training

Meetings That Work (SD) self directed

Practical tools to design and lead effective meetings
Learn online at your own pace with classroom videos, with personal assignments and with downloadable texts and examples.

Design and Facilitate Effective Meetings

Prerequisite : None *

Meetings That Work is part of the Professional Facilitator Program, and the Advanced Facilitator Program.

Get more from meetings than you ever thought possible with best practices from professional facilitators. Turn meetings into “events” that people want to attend, increase participation and get the best input and results from everyone.

This self-paced, self-directed course contains all the theory of the in-person and the online versions.

Theory

The manual is downloadable in this self-directed course.

Theory is expanded through readings and videos of classroom lectures and interaction during in-person courses. These videos remain available for a year.

Templates are included to prepare for real client work. The templates carry key theory within them.

Demonstration

There are videos of instructors using the method in actual classroom case studies. This demonstrates best practice use of the method. These videos remain available for a year.

Stages, steps and procedures of the method is explained in detail.

Application

This self directed course includes examples of products from actual clients as pictures, PDFs or powerpoints, so you know what can be achieved. These are downloadable.

Practice

The course includes assignments that help build confidence in your use of the tools and methods. Assignment can be done by yourself, or with a group you convene on your own for enhanced learning.

Your assignments can be uploaded to receive comments from ICA instructors or facilitators. You can contact them for further explanation.

Price is CAD$1,345 plus applicable tax.

Benefits

Meetings That Work is for anyone who leads or attends lots of meetings and will provide you with professional tips, templates and practical tools to increase commitment to action, and handle difficult or controversial items.

Design and run great meetings

  • Create engaging agendas
  • Construct meaningful processes
  • Increase group participation and productivity
  • Make group decision making more effective

 

Create a Participatory Environment

  • Use diversity to make everything interesting
  • Deal with difficult situations
  • Get the very best results
  • Develop teamwork and follow-through

Gain Confidence as a Facilitative Leader

  • Learn best practice tools and techniques
  • Enhance meaningful participation
  • Communicate more effectively in groups

Participation and involvement

  • Great meetings
  • Participation at its best
  • Levels of involvement in decision making
  • Facilitating brainstorming

 

Planning Agenda

  • Best practices in agenda design
  • Asking questions
  • Planning for agenda items in meetings
  • Creating facilitation plans for agenda items
  • 72 meeting tools

 

Designing meetings and events

  • Keys to healthy communication
  • STEPS model for preparation
  • Elevating meetings to "events"
  • Best practices in design

 

Facilitating Meetings

  • Stages in the group’s journey
  • Facilitator’s role
  • Dealing with difficult situations
  • Organizational leaders and managers responsible for strategic and operational planning meetings.
  • Project managers responsible for guiding a whole project cycle.
  • Team leaders responsible for organizational operations and project implementation.
  • Community leaders responsible for planning and implementing action campaigns.
  • Government officials responsible for program development, project implementation and policy formation.
  • Facilitators responsible for enabling group productivity.

Plan, prepare for and facilitate productive meetings with best professional tools and approaches available.

  • Dialogue approach
  • Ladder of participation
  • Effective flipcharting
  • Product oriented agenda design

Play the role of meeting facilitator more effectively and get results that generate confidence and motivation in the whole team. Turn meetings into events.

  • Process and its elements
  • Tips for effective communication
  • Event design and orchestration
  • STEPS model

Throughout the course, there are valuable tools, contexts and guidelines that will deepen your capacities as a leader, facilitator and coach.

  • 72 facilitation tools
  • Seven intelligences
  • Working with difficult behaviours.

Testimonials

"The Professional Facilitator Program is a comprehensive, well thought out program to develop effective facilitators. The materials are well laid out, comprehensive, and clear. Experiential learning is very evident and trainee engagement is effective. This is a program that even experienced facilitators would benefit from. We have no hesitation in recommending this program for IAF Comprehensive Endorsement."

Gary Rush and Lindsay Sumner CPF

"I am surprised at how many teams and organizations still have meetings with no agenda. Meetings are among the largest time wasters when done poorly and are the catapults to success when done well. Meetings That Work is a gem of a course that breaks down meetings in all their components and teaches you how to do them the right way."

Emma Sobel

"Meeting That Work was impactful and I came away with increased knowledge and skills in architecting and planning better meetings. The course also provided me with useful frameworks and tools to be able to engage clients more proactively in planning as well as to improve participation and outcomes. The learning experience was a good mix of theory, sharing of real-life experiences and hands-on application."

Heather Worosz