The work we do demands the participation of many stakeholders – executives and managers, individual contributors, and architects and analysts of various stripes. One-on-one interviews are simply not enough to build a shared understanding of the current situation, and a shared vision of the future. Facilitated workshops are essential! But even for an experienced professional, facilitation can be a daunting prospect. “How can I initiate the session without silly inclusion activities?” “How can I keep an active group on track and productive?” “How can I deal with the inevitable disagreements or difficult participants?” Luckily, there are specific ways to deal with these and other situations.

This tutorial, designed expressly for analysts and architects and backed up by 35 years of facilitation experience, will introduce core facilitation techniques.

Key topics include:

• The importance of pre-session interviews – what to ask, what to listen for, and what to ignore;
• How to structure a session plan;
• The surprising value of “venting” early in a session;
• Five essential techniques for the facilitator, and how to deal with five tough situations;
• Proven session agendas, and a review of actual session outcomes.