Lead gatherings that facilitate change

At the core of change is a conversation. Every meeting, every project, off-sites, retros, and standups are just this: a group of people having a conversation…Organizations, after all, are made of conversations.

Facilitative Leadership is the capacity to design and host transformative moments of real dialogue.

The Facilitation Masterclass

is an intensive coaching experience for facilitators for all types to deepen their practice and skills in designing conversations that matter.

This is not a beginner's bootcamp. This is an intensive, cohort-based learning experience, limited to 20 participants, to bring your facilitative leadership practice to the next level.

The Masterclass can be offered for your team. There are no current public cohorts being offered.

Become a purposeful conversation designer and facilitator.

Group conversations can be well designed, or it can be designed according to outmoded, habitual patterns.

You’ve been to those gatherings and know that more is possible!

Often, when folks start their facilitation journey, they search for facilitation frameworks - agendas, tools…the right icebreaker to kick things off. Collecting tools and frameworks isn’t enough, though. You have to put them into practice, which is a challenge in the fast-paced context most of us work in.

Trying new methods and ways of showing up, with a real challenge and real stakeholders can be really, really frightening.

That’s why I created the Facilitation Masterclass: You need a safe space to develop more skill, effortlessness and confidence as a facilitative leader.

More than Workshop, Deeper than an Online course:

Join the Facilitation Masterclass Community

  • 6 virtual hosted sessions over 12 weeks.

  • Get 12 months of access to monthly Facilitation Friday community meetups and 2+ years of meeting archives.

  • Access to a network of professionals dedicated to their facilitation practice who will be there to give honest feedback to help you grow  

This was a transformational class for me

It challenged me and how I approach facilitation. I now work differently and I am creating learning experiences that engage my participants in a new way and encourages the co-creation of knowledge. I highly recommend taking it!

Julia Heatherwick, Leadership Development Advisor, Education Specialist, Humboldt State University

An Overview of the Six Sessions

Session 1 - Understand how to structure and lead a powerful gathering from the inside out 


Session 2 - Leverage Collaborative Sensemaking frameworks in action to help you create your own model of what a facilitator “really” does


Session 3 -  Unpack key universal facilitation challenges while we reimagine brainstorming


Sessions 4 + 5 - Practice Labs - Work in small groups running experiments and feedback sessions in a co-learning

experience: This is your opportunity to practice and push your edge, intentionally, in a safe space.

Experiments can be trying out a new tool, an agenda, or a radical approach to gathering. Attendees have experimented with using somatic intelligence for problem-solving, trying out a new series of prompts, and pushing their edge on slowing down or speeding up group work…all in a safe space with talented and enthusiastic peers


Session 6 - Bring it all together: Create your own one-pager to consolidate your wisdom as a facilitator

The Masterclass is a space for transformation on three levels:

Sparking Human with Lines emanating from their core

BEING

THE FACILITATOR’S MINDSET

There are as many approaches to facilitation as there are facilitators. 

Everyone has to decide what they want to bring into the room. 

We spend significant time on your identity and your edge as a facilitator because shifts in being are a powerful lever of change

thought bubble

THINKING

STRUCTURE & TOOLS

Learn the fundamental elements of gathering and powerful structures to help you architect gatherings with impact. 

We’ll unpack the magic and pull back the curtain to help you see the hidden arcs of facilitative experiences.

There are also digital, self-paced learning materials to help you expand your toolkit significantly

a hand

DOING

INTENTIONAL PRACTICE 

Learning requires doing. We spend about half of our time in intentional practice and reflection. This is a space to push your edge and try something new. 

It’s also expected that you’ll make time in your work to put what you’re learning into practice. Join an optional peer coaching group and monthly facilitation Friday sessions to get maximum benefit from the community

 

The Learning Philosophies behind the masterclass

Human Conversations are complex. So, Leading transformations large and small is complex work…and there are rarely simple solutions to complex challenges.

So, learning to lead through complexity isn’t about collecting more and more patterns, it’s about shifting the pattern of your thinking.

To do so, I draw on two key models of learning: The Kolb Cycle of Learning and Triple Loop Learning.

Drawing on the Kolb Cycle ensures that we’re not locked into “chalk and talk” mode…we’re always learning through action, reflection and experimentation.

The Triple loop learning model helps us focus not just on what to do, but how to think differently to manage situations and yourself when things don’t go as planned…which they rarely do!

These shifts in thinking, the ability to improvise and adapt and to plan sessions in a radically new way require shifts at the level of being - in short, the masterclass will help you show up as the facilitative leader you need and want to be, since we work on all three levels of triple loop learning: Being, Thinking and Doing.

 

What Do I Get Besides The Class Time?

In addition to the live, online sessions, participants will also get:

  • We’ll meet every other week. The first and last sessions are 3 hours, the rest are two hours each. If you need to miss a session, they will be recorded and transcribed.


    Sessions are recorded and transcribed, but attendance at all sessions (and for the full time of each session) is encouraged.

    Weekly Study hall sessions co-facilitated by the cohort

    The course takes place over 12 weeks. Expect to spend 3-4 additional hours per week between assignments, video learning and peer coaching sessions.

    We will be using Zoom as our primary tool with exercises taking place within Zoom and also in other tools like Mural and Google Docs and Slack

    Each cohort will be divided into working groups and peer coaching groups. Peer coaching groups are optional and meet during the week in between sessions. Working groups meet during some of the sessions to run simulated facilitation sessions under supervision.

    Group will have assignments to complete between sessions - online facilitation challenges to practice together.

  • This is not a giant, impersonal webinar. This workshop will be limited to 20 participants to allow you ample time to practice and get feedback. This is not a "chalk-and-talk" or "sage-on-the-stage" format. The sessions will be highly interactive with multiple facilitation simulations, activities and collaborative sessions. You'll leave having had the chance to try on a variety of new facilitation approaches in a safe space. All materials referenced are on the Online Companion, which you’ll have access to for one year from your course.

  • This is a learning experience designed for people who are growing as facilitators as well as experienced facilitators who are willing to have a beginner's mind to reimagine the fundamentals and push their boundaries.

  • Folks who want things spoon-fed to them, and who aren’t open to doing the work between the sessions to meet with other members of the cohort, watch the course materials or to try things out in realtime.

    Also, Folks who are completely new to facilitation, who want to learn the basics of facilitation will find this experience overwhelming.

 

Bring the Facilitation Masterclass to your team

“Our full team of seasoned and novice facilitators benefitted from Daniel’s coaching.

He masterfully created a training design that allowed us to learn from him and from one another, and transform our facilitation mindsets. Now, our team members can choose from a variety of new tools and techniques to meet their facilitation needs.

Tanisa Adimu. Georgia Health Policy Center Assistant Project Director

I was consistently blown away by Daniel's depth of knowledge.

If you’re a leader with similar aspirations to me — to make every meeting magical — this masterclass is for you! You’ll learn plenty of frameworks. Better yet, you’ll learn that facilitation is often a dance with your inner self.

Frankie Iturbe, Program Manager, Newsela

Getting feedback from other talented facilitators is invaluable!

"Regular” participants don’t know all my tricks so the community made a huge difference to me.

Thomas van Zuijlen, Agile Coach, co-host of AgileCamp.nl

The masterclass gave me the confidence to facilitate.

It helped me lead more effective feedback sessions, and it helped me to uncover my own unique way of facilitating with warmth and kindness. I'd encourage anyone who wants to explore facilitation on a deeper level to join!

Diana Quartey, Senior Organizational Development Specialist, SS&C Technologies

Scholarships

In recognition of the system racism in our world and in the United States, I offer up to three full scholarships to People of Color to attend the masterclass. Preference will be given to US-based African Americans.

Partial scholarships are available to the self-employed, or those working in sustainability or non-profit work.

Refund and cancellation policy

Up until 14 days before the masterclass starts, you can request a full refund. After 14 days before the masterclass starts there are no refunds or transfers offered.