Facilitation skills

Course summary

This course looks at principles, values and techniques for dynamic, participatory and experiential facilitation. There will be opportunities to apply the tools and techniques and practice facilitation yourselves.

Participants will develop their skills in planning and preparing one-day sessions, meeting the needs of participants through a range of participatory facilitation techniques for varied and stimulating meetings and problem-solving. Dealing with challenges and challenging behaviour will also be addressed.




Course outline

A facilitator is a coordinator, leader, thinker, negotiator, timekeeper, recorder, referee, neutral observer. This course will help you develop the skills to take on these different roles. · Over the two days you will cover:

• the art and values of facilitation
• processes including needs assessment, establishing aims and objectives and evaluation
• the skills of the facilitator
  • planning
  • listening
  • questionning
  • balancing
  • negotiating
  • timekeeping
  • clarifying
  • including and involving
  • stretching and challenging participants
  • ensuring that problems are identified and dealt with
  • synthesising
  • recording
• facilitation tools including role-play, blue sky discussion, using analytical models, games and story-telling
• facilitation for meetings, consultation, consensus-building, breakout groups and plenaries
• team-building
• problem-solving, including handling challenging behaviour
• cross-cultural work and equal opportunities

Who is this course for?

The course is for anyone who needs to facilitate discussion including team leaders, project managers and those who want to add to their communication skills.


What will this course help me do: learning outcomes?

By the end of the workshop, you will have learnt tools and techniques to help you develop your own effective facilitation style. You will understand how to motivate different people, how to facilitate productive discussion, and reach agreement on action. You will have developed your skills in supporting participants to think clearly and creatively, and work together productively.