Facilitation is a common word used in many differing contexts. However, being an effective facilitator for a group, or knowing how to facilitate meetings/events, doesn’t happen just like that. It actually is a highly skilled activity that demands a deep knowledge of a set of proven principles and concepts.

Consider the challenges faced in today’s busy resource constrained working environments and ask yourself:

• Have you ever been to an event, workshop or even a meeting where the objectives and outcomes weren’t well understood and staff walk away cynical of the value achieved?
• Have you ever wondered how some organisations struggle to achieve timely outcomes forgetting the need for a lengthy time consuming multiple meetings?
• Why do scheduled meetings take longer than expected?
• How can you be sure your message has been heard?
• How effective are you at hearing and providing feedback in your daily life?
• How do we effectively use the skills and experience of different personalities within our team or across functional teams?
• Ever spent time brainstorming on a whiteboard to find out you have become the owner of that element?
• Can the meeting room hinder outcomes and group dynamics?

Tacit knowledge can certainly assist in the delivery of outcomes, however generally organisations desire a more concrete approach to delivering workshops or meeting outcomes. The likelihood that a process is not formally in-place to guide events, meetings and workshops to efficiently manage staffs time is fairly high.
Facilitation then is a method of easing the way forward, it isn’t just a technique; it can be considered an art, a science and should certainly use appropriate but targeted tools.

The APMG Facilitation Certificate Course

This course is based on the syllabus defined by APMG and developed in collaboration with Tony Mann, an internationally-recognised leader in the area of Facilitation with more than 20 years experience in the field. The author of several books, Tony has developed a robust methodology that provides the structure to enable specialists and managers to be able to facilitate effectively. The Process Iceberg® Facilitation Methodology, as it is known, has been applied in a broad variety of organisations and situations. Its pragmatic, practical approach has gained a wide range of adherents in the public and private sectors throughout the world.
The Facilitation training program and qualification is offered at both Foundation and Practitioner levels. The objective of the program is to provide participants with the skills, science and art of facilitation and to give the organisation a capability that will:

• Enhance productivity
• Enable problem solving to be more effective
• Increase the ability to undertake business processes improvement and ensure engagement from people
• Enhance project management delivery
• Encourage buy-in and commitment in IT settings.

The certification is relevant to all sectors and types of situations where people come together to tackle issues, resolve organisational problems and develop effective solutions. The target audience includes all those with a role in organisational development, project management, IT management and change management.