Facilitation

These courses have been designed to assist people who need to use more facilitative methods to motivate staff and communicate key ideas. A facilitator works with groups of people to enable them to interact more effectively in a range of situations including workplace change initiatives, meetings, organisational planning and community development. Good facilitators are experts at stimulating discussions, generating ideas, clarifying situations and - most importantly - producing outcomes.

This suite of courses provides an opportunity to build on the experience of new and experienced facilitators. They provide realistic, relevant techniques and strategies that reflect the context of the potential facilitator. They also address the situation where the facilitator may need to manage inappropriate behaviour and difficult situations. Human Resource professionals, Managers, Trainers and those who work in the voluntary sector recognise that facilitation skills are a critical part of their professional toolkit.

Human Resource Professionals are business partners who work cross-functionally to champion change. As organisational facilitators they must bring together resources, focus attention and involve the right people, to ensure the success of the strategy.

Many managers learn by trial and error that the skills need to engage people are different from those required to assign work or plan a project.

Trainers are now responsible for matching the strategy to the capability of the organisation. This requires a greater understanding of the context and the change required, combined with the ability to recognise and respond to resistance.

People who work in the voluntary sector must develop techniques to harness the collective knowledge and abilities of the volunteers and committee members. This encourages active participation and ensures all voices are heard.