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.

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. 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.

Benefits for Individuals:

• Gain the skills and expertise to become an effective facilitator, capable of operating in a wide variety of situations.
• Develop an understanding of a structure and framework to help you introduce a facilitated approach to improvement, innovation and change in an organization.
• Learn a wide range of practical and usable tools and techniques, which can help facilitate groups to handle uncertainty, and provide processes to enable the group to solve problems and develop answers to key questions.
• Manage project team members and enable them to identify key issues.
• Develop robust solutions through creative thinking and effective selection of options.
• Launch projects effectively by defining the objectives and key outcomes of a project or programme.
• Complement all other professional qualifications by learning skills which produce results faster and more effectively.

Benefits for Organisations:

• —Assist organisations to tackle difficult challenges using best practice facilitation methods.
• —Ensure robust solutions can be delivered in an effective, timely and constructive way that won’t compromise on the key issues.
• Enable organisations to involve and engage people at all levels, using a collaborative approach to facilitate change.
• Ensure the delivery of projects on time, to budget and within time scales.
• Implement a common language to improve communication and understanding both within teams and throughout an organisation.

Foundation Level

The objective of the Foundation course is to impart sufficient knowledge and understanding of the Process Iceberg® Facilitation Methodology to enable participants to facilitate effectively – events, workshops and meetings in the context of projects, business analysis, change, operational effectiveness and business process improvement.

Practitioner Level

The objective of the Practitioner module qualification is to confirm you have achieved sufficient understanding of how to apply and tailor facilitation principles and practice in situations addressing Tasks in Uncertainty, and managing groups that might not have sufficient Process experience. A successful Practitioner candidate should, with suitable direction, be able to apply facilitation principles to small groups as they work on real tasks. They will have learnt a range of models, tools and techniques and more importantly be able to ‘hear’ which one to use in ‘live’, real situations.