Facilitating & Leading in Groups is for anyone wishing to make their communication and interaction with others more effective.

Who is the program for?

Facilitating & Leading in Groups is a learning package which can be tailored to client needs:
  • With application from one-on-one contact to large group processes, for any conversation that matters
  • Not just people who stand up in front of a group as the obvious leader of a discussion or workshop, but also those who are happy to help a group from within the group
  • Not just in big rooms with whiteboards, but also over coffee tables and on telephones
  • Not just dealing with events while they are happening, but also designing interactions to maximise the chances of successful outcomes.

How is it delivered?

The core of the package includes:
  • A total of six days of face-to-face interactive delivery
  • Pre-consultation for in-house sessions to enhance tailoring of content and resources to participants' needs
  • A comprehensive resource pack; and
  • Coaching and mentoring between sessions to enhance application of learning.
Potential useful extensions include:
  • Pre-session engagement and preparation (face-to-face or distance) through which participants develop case study material to support learning during the session
  • An additional day focused on grounding learning through case study analysis, scenarios and role plays
  • An additional day focused on cross-cultural communication and application e.g. Australian Indigenous or Maori culture
  • A follow-up advanced session of one to two days after 3 to 6 months for deepening learning and reinforcing application
Interactive delivery is by highly experienced facilitators who have demonstrated skills in adult training and learning support, and direct experience in the corporate, government and not-for-profit sectors. The leaders have delivered forms of this training in all States & Territories of Australia, and internationally, for more than fifteen years.

Learning Outcomes

As a result of the Program, each participant will have developed:
New capacities
  • New insights and perspectives on communication and the underlying dynamics of human processes
  • New skills and tools to explore awareness & understanding, tap into creativity, build cooperative relationships, and develop agreement and commitment
Practical application
  • The ability to apply new learning, as a leader/facilitator of process, or as a participant in process, from one-to-one interactions to larger groups
  • A plan for real-life application of key methods and understandings, and for continued coaching or mentoring
Strengthened engagement & relationships
  • Enhanced confidence to engage with diverse parties and complex situations to build towards creative and constructive outcomes
  • Strengthened relationships with peers, colleagues and others through sharing of practical experience and engagement in exercises which assist participants to become a resource to each other.

Adel Mod 5 hand wave
Image © Mark Butz

Learning Experience

The learning experience includes:
  • Demonstration and unpacking of skills and techniques
  • Individual and team/group practice and reflection
  • Giving and receiving feedback
  • Working to an individual learning contract
  • Coaching and mentoring of individual facilitation in practice (action learning)
Experiential and adult learning principles support the learning and application of tools and techniques by grounding these in actual work projects of participants. This format builds competence and confidence in the continued use of facilitation methods and deepens understanding of the profound role of facilitation in leading change.

At the end of the training each participant will have a statement of attendance, a comprehensive set of course notes, worked examples, and proposals for application and practice of their learnings in real-life situations.

They will also have access to mentoring from highly experienced facilitators.

Core Structure

SESSION 1: Solid Foundations
DAY 1
  • Essential participatory process
  • Conversations that matter (ORID)
  • Questions that work
DAY 2
  • Workshops
  • Levels of agreement
  • Dynamics of humans in process
DAY 3
  • Rapid Action Planning
  • Designing and staging effective events
  • Real-life applications

SESSION 2: Broader-Deeper-Stronger
DAY 4
  • Scanning contexts - diagnosing needs
  • Understanding history and environment
  • Some variations in gathering data
DAY 5
  • Some variations in processing data
  • Some variations in Workshops
  • Strategic Thinking-Action-Review (f-STAR™)
DAY 6
  • Strategic Thinking-Action-Review (f-STAR™) [cont’d]
  • Real-life applications



‡ ORID is the property of the Institute of Cultural Affairs.
‡ f-STAR™ is the property of Mark Butz.


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