Cohort 4

Transform stuck meetings into breakthrough moments, cultures of conflict into group belonging, and workplace ambiguity into strategic action

Kate Krontiris

Charley Johnson

Master the Craft of Group Facilitation

Google

Omidyar Network

Humanity United

More in Common

Center for Tech and Civic Life

The Facilitation Leadership Lab has become “Master the Craft of Group Facilitation.” We’re rebranding and refocusing our course because after running four cohorts on Maven and supporting organizations like Humanity United and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, we’ve learned what’s most valuable about it: the craft of leading and facilitating groups through complex and fraught dynamics, so that they can achieve their purpose. We’ve all been in stuck meetings that fail to achieve their goals, planning processes that are hijacked by conflict and/or unproductive group dynamics, and strategy retreats that focus on all the wrong issues. By the end of this two-week, live, online course,&nbsp;you’ll be able to lead groups to turn: 💫&nbsp;Group confusion into focused strategy: Develop actionable and purposeful strategies that address the roots — not symptoms! — of group challenges, while bringing the group along with you. 🛠️ Broken processes into purposeful planning: Implement intentional planning processes, sequence key issues, set purposeful agendas, and navigate high-stakes decisions. 💡 Stuck meetings into breakthrough moments: Generate movement, surface divergence, and clarify decision rights. 💛 Cultures of conflict into group belonging: Make productive use of difference and conflict, release unhealthy group dynamics, and manage challenging colleagues. Master the Craft of Group Facilitation is a live, online, cohort-based course for rising and established leaders who want to master the craft of leading and facilitating groups. You’ll learn and practice proven facilitation skills in a lab-like environment so that you can lead a group through complex and fraught dynamics, and help them achieve their purpose. You’ll also receive 1:1 coaching with instructors, and access to a peer-learning community with 100+ leaders from organizations like Humanity United, Google, Center for Tech &amp; Civic Life, More in Common, and many more. Enroll today!

Facilitating groups is a craft anybody can learn –  we’ll help you master it.

Civil society leaders who want to master the craft of group facilitation and level-up their organization.&nbsp;

Operators and product managers who are tired of all the ‘people &amp; process stuff’ getting in the way of key outcomes.

Managers of cross-functional teams or partner-facing leaders who want proven tools to facilitate groups to achieve their purpose.

🤔 Who is this course for? 

What you’ll get out of this course

You’ll learn proven facilitation skills, practice them in a lab-like environment, and receive personalized feedback from the instructors.&nbsp;

Master 18 key facilitation skills you can implement immediately

You’ll have access to a practical workbook by your side to navigate complex group dynamics in the future.&nbsp;

A 60+ page workbook full of 20+ tip-sheets, check-lists, and exercises to refine your craft
 

Participants will join a peer-learning community with 100+ leaders from organizations like Humanity United, Google, Center for Tech &amp; Civic Life, More in Common, and many more.&nbsp;

Access a private peer-learning community to support your ongoing facilitation and leadership development.
 

You'll have the opportunity to engage 1:1 with the instructors in a free coaching session after the workshop is complete.

1:1 Coaching

You’ll develop a ‘Customized Facilitation Plan’ to address key issues at your organization, guided by the instructors.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Hands-on Capstone Project

You’ll learn techniques and frameworks for everything that needs to take place before the gathering: building trusted relationships between the facilitator and participants, identifying the core group challenge, determining the purpose and ideal outcome(s) of the gathering, and setting the agenda.

Session 1: Setting the agenda

You’ll learn the skills — active listening, reframing and reflecting, addressing conflict, generating movement, and closing — to hold the space necessary for a successful gathering.&nbsp;

Session 2: Holding the space

You’ll cultivate the interpersonal practices — building an awareness of one’s intersectional identity and personal conflict orientation — as well as key skills like managing challenging principals to navigate complex facilitations and difficult conversations.&nbsp;

Session 3: Building understanding across difference

This session takes us from facilitating a gathering in the room to solving a problem in the world. You’ll learn skills and frameworks for diagnosing the present problem, building utopias and dystopias, and piloting strategies to help organizations think beyond their current reality and build a collective vision for the future.

Session 4: Visioning & world-building

✏️  Course syllabus

Vice President of US Programs, Ford Foundation

Executive Director of USC Annenberg Innovation Lab

UX Research Lead, Google Search Social Responsibility 


Managing Director, Digital Impact Alliance

Describing work with Kate for a global philanthropic organization

What people are saying

Meet your instructors 

Session 1: Saturday, Aug 2, 12:00 - 4:00 pm ESTSession 2: Sunday, Aug 3, 12:00 - 4:00 pm ESTSession 3: Saturday, Aug 9, 12:00 - 4:00 pm ESTSession 4: Sunday, Aug 10, 12:00 - 4:00 pm EST

August 2-10

In between the two weekends, participants will be given ‘homework’ that they can use to practice the skills they’re learning with course participants and deepen their understanding of the frameworks.

‘Homework’

📅 Course schedule

Facilitation is an embodied craft that requires practice in dynamic contexts. Apply your new skills and frameworks via interactive exercises, and receive personalized feedback.

Practice in a lab environment

This course is your passport to a thriving peer-learning community that will continue after the course comes to a close.&nbsp;

Peer-Learning Community

Get input or feedback on a complex facilitation you’re preparing. Or debrief one that you just led!&nbsp;

Access the Facilitation Leadership Lab ‘workbook,’ a set of tools, frameworks, and templates that you can use during and after the course to support your ongoing facilitation work.&nbsp;&nbsp;

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