Harnessing the productivity of groups by enabling effective working

Group working is an essential part of organisational life, and a group’s effectiveness is often increased by the facilitator working with them. As facilitator, you help a group to share their knowledge, explore issues, generate ideas, solve problems, resolve conflicts and develop buy-in to outcomes. You help to bring different people together to produce results greater than those that could be achieved individually.

This highly practical programme provides a thorough grounding in how the facilitator works with a group and the techniques and frameworks for effective facilitation. You will explore how to let the group concentrate on ‘content’ whilst you focus on what is to be achieved and manage the ‘process’. Whether you are a manager or have a role working with groups in or across organisations, you will learn how to help groups become a positive, productive force, building ownership and consensus, helping to drive change. 

Why should you attend this programme?

• Greater personal impact and confidence as a facilitator
• A range of approaches that are useful to a facilitator and as an active member of groups
• Greater skills and professionalism in focusing groups quickly and effectively on common purpose and results
• The ability to overcome difficulties within groups to ensure that the agreements and decisions achieved in that group setting are authentic and enduring
• Enable the groups you work with to be more productive and effective.

Programme content

• The role of the facilitator
  - How can the facilitator add value to the group?
  - Nature and scope of the role
• Facilitative preventions
  - Managing the early stages when working with a group
  - Establishing group rules - the contract between the group members, and between the group and the facilitator
• Process management
  - Understanding what happens in groups
  - Effective process management – balancing completion of the groups’ task with optimising the climate
  - Managing difficult situations and dynamics
• Facilitative interventions
  - Behavioural choices available to the facilitator when intervening in the group
  - Techniques for facilitating group problem solving and decision-making
  - Achieving closure with groups
• Practical skills workshops.

Who is it for?

You are a manager, executive or professional who needs to successfully influence and communicate with people in a range of situations. You would like to build on your existing skills to enhance your impact, personal effectiveness, credibility and gain buy-in from others.

"I think this programme has been fantastic! It has taken me out of my usual comfort zone but by doing so has given me more confidence and practical ability in facilitation."

Nicola  Palmer           
Junior Management Consultant           
Berkshire Consultancy Ltd

This programme is a core module in Roffey Park’s Post Graduate Diploma in Facilitation.

Programme Director

Andy Firth
BA (Hons), PGDip, NVQ4