Facilitate discussions and plan, organise and run effective meetings

It’s always worth considering alternative approaches to engage attendees in meetings. Facilitation training is essential to build effectiveness. Developing meeting skills can can make a big difference in all organisations. This facilitation and meeting skills course is run by experienced facilitators who will share the secrets of their success, describing in detail what to do to achieve effective results every time. Handling and effectively facilitating diverse and sometimes difficult groups can be challenging and taxing. That’s why having a range of facilitation skills techniques and exercises will increase your confidence and the impact of the meeting or session.

Benefits of this course

• Develop highly effective facilitation skills and techniques to maximise the effectiveness of meetings through effective planning, delivery and follow up:
• Identify why people appear to spend most of their time in unproductive meetings and how to overcome this.
• Agree the purpose of your meetings and recognise the value of these to you, your team and organisation.
• Learn the art of facilitation in its truest sense, gaining group participation, collaboration and attention.
• Be really clear on the benefits of great planning and how to do this in real time.
• Shape your meetings to account for your audience and agreed outcomes.
• Define roles and responsibilities when chairing, recording and facilitating a meeting.
• Save time and energy by adopting new approaches to where, when and how you hold your meetings.

Who should attend facilitation training?

Anyone who plans and delivers meetings at any level, from formal board meetings to informal discussions, who wants to save time, energy and resources and avoid unnecessary conflict. Those who facilitate meetings and discussions of any size, who would like to develop their skills in order to become more effective.

Course content

It will help to develop highly effective facilitation skills and techniques. This maximises the effectiveness of meetings through planning, delivery and follow up. It concentrates on:

• Effective meetings – making meetings more proactive, productive and effective.
• Powerful facilitation – gain group involvement and participation; and resolve challenges and conflict. 
• Structure and format – beginning, middle, end; formal versus informal; and choosing the best type of meeting. 
• Roles and responsibilities – delegating tasks; chairing a meeting; minute taking/Secretariat and facilitator roles. 
• Dealing with challenges – overcoming objections and challenging situations; managing attendees and audiences; and keeping your meeting on track 
• Maximise time – failing to plan is planning to fail; different approaches; reaching agreeable conclusions.