Making Questions Work

Managers, leaders, facilitators and others who work with groups learn through experience that effective questioning is the engine that drives productive group processes. Questions can provide a format for gathering information, clarifying feelings and expectations, probing for examples, checking inferences and building consensus for decision making.

Facilitation Workshop: Basics: Roles, Responsibilities, Values and Techniques

This workshop is for individual employees who have some experience facilitating (e.g., one- year or less or have done a few sessions) and who want a practical approach to core facilitation skills. Objectives for this session are:

a. to enhance your role as a facilitator

b. to increase understanding of a specific client group

c. to build skills for maximizing involvement and productivity

d. to support effective decision making

e to review and confirm facilitation values

f. to set learning goals for professional development as a facilitator

These objectives and the following preliminary agenda will be refined based on a needs assesment with participants.

9:00	Welcome and introductions Purpose, objectives, agenda Norms for working together (Objectives b, c, d, e, f)
9:20	Role of the Facilitator: (Objectives a, c, d) - participant-observer stance - leader/manager/enabler - facilitation skills inventory
10:30	Break
10:45	Maximizing participation and productivity (Objectives a, b, c, d) - knowing a group: assumptions and key considerations - skills for conscious questioning
12:30	Lunch
1:15	Facilitation methods (Objectives d, e, f) 3 useful tools
3:00	Break
3:15	Making Decisions: what works when (Objectives d, e) Setting Learning Goals (Objectives f)
4:30	Closing

"Making Questions Work' is a value driven, content rich and fast paced one day workshop that makes you wonder where the day went. Dorothy Strachan facilitated this course with the energy, the enthusiasm and the authenticity that comes from her 29 years of professional experience in the field of process design and organizational interventions."

Mireille Massue, Course Reviewer, Training Media Review

Advanced Facilitation Workshop: 5 Process Frameworks for 1800 Questions

This 1.5 day workshop is for experienced facilitators (3 years +) who want to refresh and enhance their skills. Objectives for this session are:

a. to learn and practice using 5 process frameworks for designing and facilitating sessions that

enable group development and productivity

b. to select or develop questions to support both planned and spontaneous facilitation challenges

involving these 5 frameworks

c. to become comfortable using the book “Making Questions Work” (Jossey-Bass/Wiley) as a

desktop resource for facilitation (each participant receives a copy of this book)

d. to review and confirm facilitation values

e. to set learning goals for professional development as a facilitator

These objectives and the following preliminary agenda will be refined based on a needs assesment with participants.

	*Day 1*	*Day 2*
9:00	Welcome and introductions Purpose, objectives, agenda Norms for working together	Agenda: Review/Preview
9:20	Making Questions Work: desktop resource Framework #1: Openings	Framework #4, cont’d Issues-based Planning
10:30	Break	Break
10:45	Framework #2: Enabling Action	Framework #5: Closings Facilitation Values Learning Goals Feedback Closing
12:30	Lunch
1:15	Framework #3: Thinking Critically
3:00	Break
3:15	Framework #4: Naming and Addressing Issues Facilitation Values
4:15	Feedback on the day
4:30	Closing

Resources

Participants will receive a copy of the book "Making Questions Work " by Dorothy Strachan.

About the Presenter

Dorothy Strachan is a partner in Strachan-Tomlinson, a process consulting firm based in Ottawa, Canada. She has been a professional facilitator since 1974. Dorothy's practice is in three main areas: process design and facilitation, organizational interventions such as strategic planning and team development, and the creation of customized workshops and learning programs. She is the author of several publications in areas such as leadership development, facilitation, strategic planning, and effective coaching in high-performance sports. Strachan-Tomlinson has a special interest in the health sector.

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