Facilitation and Group Dynamics Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Project Managers, Team Leaders and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-CS-186

Before you join: Participants should have experience attending or contributing to workplace meetings, workshops, project reviews or stakeholder discussions.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Facilitators are often asked to lead meetings where priorities conflict, authority is uneven and participants bring different levels of confidence, information and commitment. Without a clear process, groups can spend hours discussing issues without reaching a decision, allow a few voices to dominate, or agree to actions that are never carried out. Skilled facilitation creates conditions for purposeful participation, sound decisions and visible accountability while remaining neutral about the content.

This course develops the practical methods and group psychology needed to facilitate workshops, planning sessions, project meetings, consultations and problem-solving forums. Participants learn to contract with sponsors, define decision rights, design agendas from required outputs, establish working agreements and select methods for idea generation, discussion and prioritisation. The course examines group development, status, conformity, conflict, resistance and groupthink. It also builds communication skills for listening, questioning, reframing, managing disagreement and responding to difficult behaviours without losing control of the process.

Training uses short instructor briefings, realistic cases, facilitated meeting simulations, peer observation and structured feedback. Participants practise leading key stages of a session, including openings, discussions, decision points and closures. They receive a reusable facilitation toolkit containing session-design templates, intervention prompts, decision records and a personal application plan for an upcoming workplace meeting. The five-day course is delivered in classrooms in 50+ cities or live online, with approximately 6.5 contact hours each day. Participants who complete the course receive a certificate of completion.

The course suits managers, project professionals, consultants, HR practitioners and technical specialists who need to bring groups to useful conclusions without relying solely on positional authority.

What you will be able to do

  • Design facilitated sessions using backward design, stakeholder analysis and agenda architecture
  • Contract with sponsors on purpose, outputs, participation boundaries and decision rights
  • Diagnose group development, power dynamics, conformity and groupthink from observable behaviour
  • Use ORID questioning, active listening and neutral reframing to guide discussion
  • Apply inclusive participation methods including brainwriting and Nominal Group Technique
  • Intervene constructively in conflict, resistance, dominance and emotionally charged exchanges
  • Select decision rules and document commitments through decision logs and action records
  • Create a personal facilitation plan for an upcoming workplace session

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Lead meetings with clearer purpose, structure and decision boundaries
  • Handle dominant, silent or resistant participants with practical process interventions
  • Gain language for reframing disagreement without taking sides
  • Build confidence facilitating mixed-seniority and cross-functional groups
  • Apply a prepared facilitation plan to an upcoming workplace session

For your organisation

  • Shorter meetings with clearer outputs, decisions and accountable owners
  • More balanced participation from technical, operational and stakeholder groups
  • Earlier resolution of conflict, resistance and unclear expectations
  • Better documented decisions and follow-through on agreed actions
  • Stronger internal capability for workshops, consultations and change initiatives

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define the facilitator role and agree clear conditions for a productive session.

  • Facilitator, chair and subject-matter expert roles distinguished before session design
  • Purpose, outputs and decision rights framed through a clear contract
  • Neutrality boundaries established when sponsors hold preferred outcomes
  • Process ownership separated from content ownership and final accountability
  • Psychological safety conditions identified without avoiding productive disagreement
  • Ethical facilitation addresses confidentiality, power and informed participation

Participants can design a session agenda that links objectives, methods and required outputs.

  • Backward design links meeting objectives, outputs, methods and timings
  • Stakeholder analysis surfaces interests, influence, resistance and needed representation
  • Agenda architecture sequences divergence, convergence, decisions and commitments
  • Opening scripts set purpose, participation norms and decision boundaries
  • Room layouts and online settings matched to interaction patterns
  • Contingency plans address late arrivals, missing data and sponsor interventions

Participants can recognise group dynamics and adapt their facilitation approach accordingly.

  • Tuckman's group development stages shape facilitation choices and expectations
  • Group norms form through repeated behaviour, reinforcement and boundary testing
  • Social loafing, conformity and groupthink diagnosed from observable behaviours
  • Status, expertise and identity shape participation and influence
  • Informal coalitions affect information flow, challenge and decision quality
  • Power dynamics surfaced through participation patterns, language and interruptions

Participants can use questioning, listening and reframing to guide productive group dialogue.

  • ORID questioning moves groups from observations to decisions
  • Active listening uses paraphrase, summarising, silence and precise follow-up questions
  • Ladder of Inference checks assumptions before positions harden
  • Neutral reframing separates stated positions from underlying interests
  • Plain-language prompts reduce ambiguity in complex technical discussions
  • Nonverbal signals monitored without overinterpreting individual behaviour in groups

Participants can select and apply methods that distribute participation and capture diverse views.

  • Round-robin and brainwriting methods distribute airtime before open discussion
  • Nominal Group Technique structures idea generation, ranking and priorities
  • Stakeholder voices invited without putting individuals on the spot
  • Silent writing captures views from reflective and multilingual participants
  • Pair and triad formats build confidence before plenary contributions
  • Participation data identifies recurring imbalance, interruption and withdrawal

Participants can address disagreement and disruptive behaviour while maintaining process control.

  • Thomas-Kilmann modes selected according to stakes, relationships and time
  • Interest-Based Relational approach separates people, issues and options
  • Conflict interventions distinguish task disagreement from relationship tension
  • De-escalation language names process problems without assigning blame
  • Polarised claims tested through evidence, assumptions and shared criteria
  • Escalation thresholds define when facilitation requires sponsor intervention

Participants can guide groups to clear decisions and record accountable follow-through.

  • Decision rules compare consensus, consent, consultation and authority
  • RACI clarifies recommendation, approval, consultation and information responsibilities
  • Multi-criteria decision analysis makes trade-offs visible and testable
  • Consent decisions address objections that are reasoned and material
  • Decision logs record rationale, owners, deadlines and dissent
  • Closure tests confirm commitment, next actions and communication needs

Participants can intervene appropriately when participant behaviour disrupts the session.

  • Dominant contributors redirected using process interventions and explicit airtime limits
  • Side conversations converted into shared questions without public embarrassment
  • Emotionally charged remarks acknowledged before returning to the task
  • Resistance explored through concerns, consequences and workable conditions
  • Disruptive behaviour addressed privately, proportionately and with clear boundaries
  • Remote disruption managed through chat, hand-raising and breakout protocols

Participants can adapt facilitation methods for online and mixed-location groups.

  • Platform features selected for interaction, documentation and decision visibility
  • Hybrid participation safeguards prevent room participants from dominating remote colleagues
  • Digital whiteboards organise contributions, clusters, voting and action tracking
  • Camera, chat and audio norms reduce unequal access to discussion
  • Online energy managed through pacing, breaks and varied response channels
  • Technical failure protocols preserve participation when tools or connections fail

Participants can evaluate their facilitation and prepare an evidence-based application plan.

  • Facilitation observation criteria assess process, inclusion, clarity and outcomes
  • After-action reviews capture evidence, insights, adjustments and ownership
  • Participant feedback distinguishes satisfaction, learning transfer and meeting value
  • Personal facilitation plans target upcoming meetings, risks and interventions
  • Peer feedback converted into specific behavioural commitments and review dates
  • Session records link decisions to owners, milestones and follow-up

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Facilitation contracting checklist
  2. Backward-designed session agenda template
  3. ORID question bank
  4. Group dynamics observation guide
  5. Decision log and action record
  6. Personal facilitation application plan

Who should attend

  • Project Managers — need cross-functional groups to resolve issues and commit to actions
  • Team Leaders — need to run productive meetings without relying on formal authority
  • Consultants — need structured methods for client workshops, consultations and planning sessions
  • HR and Learning Professionals — need to facilitate employee, leadership and change discussions
  • Programme Managers — need stakeholder groups to make timely, documented decisions
  • Technical Specialists — need to explain complex issues and guide mixed-expertise groups

Skills and tools covered

Session designGroup dynamics diagnosisInclusive participationConflict interventionDecision facilitationVirtual facilitation

Tools and standards

Tuckman's group development model, ORID questioning framework, Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, RACI matrix

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course combines short briefings with cases, group exercises, facilitation simulations and structured reflection. Participants analyse meeting briefs, diagnose group behaviour, design agendas and practise interventions for common facilitation challenges. Simulations cover opening a session, drawing out participation, handling disagreement, reaching decisions and closing with commitments. Peer and instructor feedback uses observable criteria for process, communication and inclusion. Individual application planning connects the methods to a forthcoming meeting, workshop or stakeholder session.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience attending or contributing to workplace meetings, workshops, project reviews or stakeholder discussions. They should be comfortable discussing work issues with colleagues and willing to receive structured feedback on their communication style. No previous facilitation qualification, psychology background, formal management role or public-speaking experience is required. The course assumes that participants can identify a real meeting, workshop or decision forum they may need to facilitate after training. Experience of virtual meetings is useful but not essential.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should have experience participating in workplace meetings, projects or stakeholder discussions. No prior facilitation course, management title or formal psychology training is required.

Bring details of one forthcoming meeting, workshop or consultation that you may facilitate. A brief agenda, stakeholder list or current challenge is useful, but no formal preparation is required.

It is suited to professionals who need groups to discuss issues, make decisions and commit to actions. Typical participants include project managers, team leaders, consultants, HR professionals and technical specialists.

Presentation training focuses on delivering a message to an audience. This course focuses on designing and guiding a process through which participants contribute, resolve differences and reach a documented outcome.

You can use the contracting questions, agenda template, participation methods and decision log in your next meeting. The final module produces a personal plan for a specific upcoming session.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided between instructor input, cases, group exercises, simulations, feedback and application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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