G022
PRACTICAL FACILITATION SKILLS

NOTE: The workshop content described below will be delivered through ZOOM ONLINE on two consecutive half-day sessions. Agendas and other relevant workshop documentation will be sent to you by the workshop instructor at least three days prior to the date of the first session.

WHY SHOULD YOU ATTEND?

Whether you work in the public, private or voluntary sector, teamwork has become a critical success factor in achieving organizational results. And a skilled facilitator armed with a diverse facilitation tool kit can ensure that work groups are able to achieve maximum success. Not surprisingly, knowing how to organize a meeting and/or workshop and possessing and applying the skills required to facilitate and guide teams throughout their deliberations and ensure a successful and meaningful conclusion to their proceedings have become increasingly important to all managers and supervisors.

WHAT WILL YOU LEARN?

"Practical Facilitation Skills" will provide participants with the basic skills necessary to design and lead a wide variety of discussions, meetings and/or workshops. Specifically, participants will learn about:

• Facilitation basics;
• How facilitation helps groups achieve results;
• Establishing the foundations for facilitation;
• Using facilitation in your organization;
• Understanding adult learning styles and habits;
• How to design a meeting and a workshop;
• Tools for generating information and ideas and making decisions;
• Using visual aids;
• Managing difficult participants; and
• How to evaluate a facilitation process.

WHAT WILL YOU TAKE AWAY?

• Workbook
• Exercises and handouts

PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCIES

• Engagement: Working effectively with people, organizations and partners

Agenda
8:45 - 8:55	Introductions and Workshop Overview
8:55 - 9:30	Introduction to Facilitation Participants will discuss the meaning of facilitation, its value within the organization and be provided with a brief overview of the roles and responsibilities of the facilitator.
9:30 - 10:30	How to Design a Facilitation/Meeting Participants will learn how to design a facilitation/meeting agenda and learn how to use 'icebreakers' and the importance of opening, closing and evaluating facilitation processes.
10:30 - 10:45	Break
10:45 - 11:45	Basic Facilitation Skills: Verbal Techniques Participants will be introduced to some of the basic facilitation skills they will require, including: verbal and nonveral techniques and recording.
11:45 - 12:30	Exercise Based on an illustrative case study that will be provided by the CEC, participants will be asked to develop an agenda and facilitated approach for a meeting.
12:30 - 13:30	Lunch
13:30 - 14:00	Basic Facilitation Skills: "Reading" the Group and Consensus Building This session will investigate the importance of learning how to 'read' the group and how to move a group to consensus.
14:00 - 14:30	Generating and Organizing Ideas Participants will investigate the facilitation tools necessary for generating and organizing ideas and information, including: brainstorming, structured rounds, t-charts, affinity trees, timelines, flow charts, and matrix diagrams.
14:30 - 14:45	Break
14:45 - 15:30	Ranking and Evaluating Ideas Participants will learn about different approaches for ranking and evaluating the ideas and information generated in a facilitated process. The discussion will focus on the following methodologies: Multi-voting; ranking and prioritizing; nominal group technique; force field analysis; quadrant diagram; and decision matrix.
15:30 - 16:15	Exercise Working in small groups, participants will build an Affinity Tree. A representative from each group will present and discuss their Affinity Tree.
16:15 - 16:30	Wrap-up and Workshop Evaluation Participants will have an opportunity for final questions and clarifications on the workshop content and will complete a short evaluation.