Professional Facilitation Skills 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 7 Nov 2026 Course code SD-CS-109

Before you join: Participants should have experience contributing to, chairing or supporting workplace meetings, workshops or project 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 asked to help groups reach decisions, solve problems and agree actions when priorities differ, time is limited and participants hold unequal levels of authority or technical knowledge. A meeting can lose value when objectives are vague, dominant voices set the direction, discussion moves too quickly to solutions, or decisions have no owner. Skilled facilitation creates a clear process in which participants contribute relevant evidence, test assumptions and commit to practical next steps.

This course develops the methods required to design and lead purposeful workshops, meetings and decision sessions. Participants learn to contract with sponsors, define outcomes, select participation methods, structure agendas and guide groups through divergence, convergence and commitment. They practise questioning, active listening, visual capture, consensus building, conflict handling and interventions for difficult group behaviour. The course also addresses hybrid and online sessions, including participation design, digital etiquette and contingency planning.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with realistic cases, facilitated group work, simulations and structured peer feedback. Participants plan and facilitate selected parts of a session, receive observation-based feedback and refine their approach. They leave with a facilitation plan and reusable templates for session design, stakeholder preparation, decision making and follow-up.

The course suits professionals who chair cross-functional meetings, lead workshops, support change programmes, manage projects, consult with stakeholders or need groups to make sound decisions without relying solely on positional authority.

What you will be able to do

  • Design outcome-led workshop agendas using divergence, convergence and commitment phases
  • Contract with sponsors using a facilitation brief, stakeholder map and success measures
  • Apply ORID questioning to move groups from facts to informed action
  • Use active listening, paraphrasing and neutral reframing to clarify group contributions
  • Manage participation using structured rounds, small-group methods and visual capture
  • Build agreement through criteria-based decision methods and consensus testing
  • Intervene constructively in conflict, resistance and disruptive group behaviour
  • Produce a post-session action plan with owners, deadlines and review arrangements

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Run meetings with clearer purpose, participation rules and decision routes
  • Handle dominant speakers and quiet participants without losing neutrality
  • Prepare workshop agendas that fit the group’s decision and available time
  • Gain evidence-based feedback on personal facilitation behaviours
  • Build confidence leading discussions with senior and cross-functional stakeholders

For your organisation

  • Shorter decision meetings with explicit outcomes, owners and deadlines
  • Better use of specialist knowledge during project and operational workshops
  • More consistent workshop quality across teams and business units
  • Earlier identification of stakeholder concerns, assumptions and delivery risks
  • Stronger commitment to actions because participants shape the decision process

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can distinguish facilitation from chairing, presenting and managing while maintaining process neutrality.

  • Facilitator, chair and subject expert roles distinguished through accountability boundaries
  • Process neutrality maintained while participants retain ownership of content decisions
  • Psychological safety established through working agreements and respectful participation norms
  • Power, hierarchy and stakeholder interests assessed before selecting participation methods
  • Ethical handling of confidentiality, sensitive information and undisclosed conflicts
  • Facilitation stance balanced between purposeful direction and non-directive inquiry

Participants can define a facilitation brief that aligns sponsors, participants and intended decisions.

  • Sponsor interviews identify business purpose, constraints, authority and desired decisions
  • Facilitation brief specifies outcomes, scope, participants, roles and success measures
  • Stakeholder mapping reveals influence, interest, expertise and likely objections
  • Decision rights clarified using RAPID roles before workshop design begins
  • Pre-session data gathered through interviews, surveys, documents and issue logs
  • Risks assessed for attendance, conflict, information gaps and sponsor expectations

Participants can build timed agendas that move groups from purpose to agreed action.

  • Backward design links business outcomes, decisions, activities and follow-up actions
  • Divergence, convergence and commitment phases structure productive group thinking
  • Agenda timing includes transitions, breaks, contingency and decision checkpoints
  • Participant numbers, room layout and materials matched to chosen methods
  • Opening sequences establish purpose, relevance, roles and working agreements
  • Parking-lot protocols protect agenda focus without dismissing important issues

Participants can use neutral communication techniques to clarify thinking and deepen group inquiry.

  • ORID questions progress from observable facts to reflective meaning and decisions
  • Open, probing and clarifying questions expose assumptions without leading participants
  • Active listening uses paraphrasing, summarising and accurate emotion acknowledgement
  • Neutral reframing converts blame statements into solvable process or requirement issues
  • Ladder of Inference identifies data, interpretations, beliefs and conclusions
  • Silence used deliberately to create thinking time and invite considered responses

Participants can select and guide participation methods suited to different group sizes and purposes.

  • Structured rounds ensure every participant contributes before open discussion begins
  • Think-pair-share develops individual thinking before collective evaluation
  • Nominal Group Technique generates, clarifies and ranks options systematically
  • 1-2-4-All sequences broaden participation from reflection to whole-group dialogue
  • Small-group breakouts use clear tasks, roles, outputs and reporting instructions
  • Visual capture separates ideas, themes, evidence, decisions and actions visibly

Participants can help groups organise information, identify patterns and develop workable options.

  • Affinity mapping clusters observations into themes without premature judgement
  • Root cause analysis uses Five Whys and fishbone categories appropriately
  • Assumption testing separates known evidence from beliefs requiring validation
  • Problem statements define affected parties, conditions, impact and desired change
  • Force-field analysis identifies drivers, restraints and feasible interventions
  • Option framing records benefits, risks, dependencies, costs and implementation conditions

Participants can guide groups to transparent decisions using agreed criteria and decision rules.

  • Decision rules distinguish consultation, consent, consensus, voting and delegated authority
  • Criteria matrices compare options against weighted requirements and constraints
  • Fist-to-Five checks readiness, concerns and support for proposed decisions
  • Consensus Workshop Method moves from ideas to clusters, titles and shared priorities
  • Gradient of Agreement reveals reservations before commitments become final
  • Decision records capture rationale, dissent, owners, deadlines and review points

Participants can intervene early and fairly when behaviour or conflict prevents productive discussion.

  • Thomas-Kilmann modes inform responses to competing, avoiding and collaborating behaviours
  • Process observations name participation patterns without attributing motives or blame
  • Dominant contributions redirected through time limits, rounds and targeted invitations
  • Quiet participants invited through advance reflection, pairs and written input
  • Conflict reframed around interests, evidence, criteria and shared outcomes
  • Ground-rule breaches addressed promptly using impact statements and agreed boundaries

Participants can adapt facilitation design for online and hybrid participation without excluding remote contributors.

  • Platform selection considers breakout rooms, polling, whiteboards and access controls
  • Hybrid room protocols equalise speaking turns, visibility and shared visual materials
  • Digital working agreements cover cameras, chat, muting and response expectations
  • Online energy managed through shorter cycles, varied interaction and timed breaks
  • Anonymous polling surfaces concerns where hierarchy limits open contribution
  • Technical contingency plans assign support roles and alternative participation channels

Participants can assess their facilitation performance and prepare a practical plan for an upcoming session.

  • Facilitation observation criteria assess clarity, neutrality, participation and time management
  • SBI feedback identifies specific situations, behaviours and participant impact
  • Self-assessment compares intended process choices with observed group responses
  • Personal facilitation style reviewed for strengths, habits and development priorities
  • Upcoming session plan defines outcomes, stakeholders, agenda and decision methods
  • Follow-up arrangements confirm action tracking, sponsor review and lessons learned

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

What you take back to work

  1. Facilitation brief template
  2. Outcome-led workshop agenda template
  3. ORID question bank
  4. Participation method selection guide
  5. Criteria-based decision record
  6. Personal facilitation application plan

Who should attend

  • Project Managers — need cross-functional groups to resolve issues and commit actions
  • Team Leaders — need to run productive meetings without dominating discussion
  • Change Managers — need stakeholder workshops that surface concerns and build ownership
  • Business Analysts — need requirements sessions that produce clear, agreed decisions
  • HR and L&D Professionals — need to lead development and consultation workshops
  • Internal Consultants — need a repeatable process for client problem-solving sessions

Skills and tools covered

Workshop designGroup process managementConsensus buildingNeutral questioningConflict interventionAction planning

Tools and standards

ORID, RAPID, Nominal Group Technique, Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument

How the course runs

Training methodology

The instructor uses short briefings to introduce facilitation models, followed by case work based on meetings, project workshops and stakeholder sessions. Participants analyse agendas, frame questions, select decision methods and practise interventions in small-group simulations. Rotating facilitator roles create repeated opportunities to lead, observe and give structured feedback. Scenarios include competing priorities, dominant participants, unresolved conflict and weak action ownership. Individual application planning connects course methods to an upcoming workplace session.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience contributing to, chairing or supporting workplace meetings, workshops or project discussions. They should be comfortable discussing business issues with colleagues and recording basic actions or decisions. Familiarity with their own organisation’s meeting practices, stakeholder groups and current work challenges will help them apply the material quickly. No formal facilitation qualification, public speaking background, psychology training or prior knowledge of named facilitation frameworks is required. The course is not designed as a presentation-skills or mediation qualification.

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 attending, supporting or leading workplace meetings or workshops. No previous facilitation course or formal qualification is required.

Bring details of an upcoming meeting, workshop or stakeholder session that you need to lead or improve. A laptop is useful for online delivery; classroom materials are provided.

It is suited to project managers, team leaders, change managers, analysts, HR professionals and internal consultants. It is particularly useful for people who guide groups without having formal authority over all participants.

Presentation skills focus on delivering a message, while this course focuses on helping a group think, decide and act. Meeting management often covers administration and chairing; this course gives methods for participation, sense-making, conflict and consensus.

You can use the facilitation brief, agenda structure, question bank and decision record for project workshops, planning meetings and stakeholder consultations. The final module helps you prepare an application plan for a real upcoming session.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30, with about 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided among instructor input, case analysis, group facilitation 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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