Meetings That Work: Meeting Facilitation Training

Meetings That Work

Practical tools to design and lead effective meetings.
Load up on tools, templates and best practices to lead meetings with clear purpose and great outcomes. Design retreats, conferences and other great events.

Design and Facilitate Effective Meetings

Prerequisite : None *

Meetings That Work is included in 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.

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.

This course has been endorsed by the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) as part of the Professional Facilitator Program to lead you to become a Certified Professional Facilitator (CPF). MTW alone covers many of the competencies required by the IAF.

As with all ICAA training, this course is delivered by professional facilitators who actually demonstrate the materials, lead reflections to learn collaboratively, provide real life examples from experience, and set you up to practice with others using a suite of tools. Sometimes you might work on interesting case studies. Sometimes you work on your own case. The high quality manual is full of useful materials: underlying theory, short readings, step-by-step instructions, templates, and worksheets. As a result you will have the confidence to use your new understandings immediately with clients of your own.

Choose your preferred type of learning in courses that are: In Person (IP), Live Online (LO). Descriptions of the differences are explained in an expandable section near the bottom of this web page.

Price is in CAD$1,445.00. (approximately US$1011) Applicable tax is extra.

You can see the schedule of In Person and Live Online courses from the “See Dates or Buy Course” button.

You can take an Introductory-Level, Self Directed Online MTW at half price $750 (approximately US$540) until September 15, 2026. See tab below.

Benefits

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 group

Pricing for Introductory Level Self-Directed Online courses

Course Format Certificate Included Price
2-Day In-Person (GFM, MTW, FCC) YES $1,445
2 Day Live Online (GFM, MTW, FCC) YES $1,445
3 Day In-Person or Live Online (TST) YES $1,895
Self-Directed Online (GFM, MTW, or FCC) YES $1,445
Self-Directed Online (TST) YES $1,895
Introductory Self-Directed Online(GFM, MTW or FCC) NO $750
Introductory Self-Directed Online (TST) NO $950

 

 

Take the Introductory Level Self Directed MTW as a self-directed course. Do it according to your own schedule and at your your own pace on our learning management system Instructure Canvas. It includes:

  • Downloadable manual
  • Videos of classroom interaction and methods demonstration
  • Downloadable templates
  • Examples of real client work
  • Quizzes and games.
  • Assignments for yourself and in groups that you convene.

Get all the demonstration, theory, application, practice and design of our regular courses, You will confidently be able to use everything you learn immediately with your clients or in-house in your organization.

There is no certificate of completion for this course, nor are your assignments graded by an instructor. There is no free hour of telephone support.

You can upgrade anytime to the Certificate Level Self-Directed MTW to get feedback on your assignments from our trainers, a Certificate of Completion and one hour of coaching.

Register for $722.50 on the "See Dates or Buy Course" Button.  Look to the bottom of the list for the Introductory Level course. This offer stands until September 15, 2026

Day One

Participation and involvement

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

Planning Agenda

  • Elements of dialogue
  • Asking questions
  • Planning for agenda items in meetings
  • Creating facilitation plans for agenda items

 

Day Two

Designing meetings and events

  • Keys to healthy communication
  • Preparing for meetings
  • Creating meeting designs
  • Meeting planning

Facilitating Meetings

  • Stages in the group’s journey
  • Facilitator’s role
  • Dealing with difficult situations
  • Personal action planning
  • 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.

You can choose to take this course In Person (IP),  Live Online (LO) or Self-Directed (SD). The codes IP or LO or SD show in the course name when you register.

In Person (IP) classes are instructor-led events occurring in the same room on specific dates with one group of people. You have a deep level of dialogue with face-to-face practice in breakout groups, get paper manuals and books, use pen-and-paper worksheets and exercises and enjoy breaks and lunches together. Instructors demonstrate methods using flipcharts, index cards, marker pens and wall chart visuals . The experience for participants can be similar to working with a client in a live setting. There is no practice of online tools.

Live Online (LO) classes are instructor-led events occurring at the same time with the same people, using our learning management system and online platforms, primarily Zoom and Mural. The course covers the same material as an IP course but uses online tools with plenty of small group exercises. Manuals and books are downloadable as PDFs that can be printed out if you want.  There are no programs or apps to download. Participants need a computer with a large screen (a cell phone won't work well), a high speed internet connection, and earphones or earbuds. We do not actively “teach” online tools, but participants get so see and experience the ones we use during the course.

All course graduates are encouraged to follow-up with some 1:1 coaching and join communities of practice we have set up to help extend and reinforce learning.

To purchase this course

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