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Description

Facilitating Working Groups on Consulting Assignments: Framing, Producing, Concluding

Turn yet another meeting into a session that delivers clear decisions and usable outputs

  • 2 days — 14 h
  • In-person or virtual
  • Foundation
  • Up to 6 participants

On a consulting assignment, the working group is often the only forum in which the consultant can surface the diagnosis and secure validation of the proposed direction. Yet it quickly turns into a platform: participants defend their own department, the quietest people hold the most useful information, the sponsor expects a deliverable, and the session ends without a clear decision or a dated commitment.

Two days to equip you for this facilitation work: framing the sponsor's request, designing the session flow, collective production techniques, handling difficult situations and formalising outputs. Each participant designs and facilitates a session in front of the group, then reruns it after debriefing.

Learning objectives

  • Clarify the sponsor's request and the working group's mandate
  • Design a facilitation sequence that produces an identified deliverable
  • Select collective production techniques suited to the objective
  • Manage behaviours that block the group's output
  • Formalise outputs and commitments at the close of the session

What makes this programme different

Each participant facilitates a real session, recorded and then reviewed with the group
Difficult situations are role-played by participants briefed in advance
A session facilitation template is built and taken away in a format ready for use on assignment

Programme

1Framing the Request

Knowing what the group must produce

  • Clarify the sponsor's expectations and the group's mandate
  • Select participants according to the objective pursued
  • Define the expected deliverable and its level of validation
  • Set ground rules and confidentiality of discussions

2Designing the Session

Building the flow before entering the room

  • Break the session into divergence and convergence phases
  • Select production techniques suited to each phase
  • Calibrate timings and plan transition points
  • Prepare materials and real-time capture of outputs

3Facilitating and Regulating

Getting output from a group that resists

  • Open the session and establish your facilitator stance
  • Draw out silent participants and contain those who dominate
  • Address inter-departmental conflicts and challenges to the mandate
  • Hold the course when the group drifts from the objective

4Closing and Leveraging

Turning the session into decisions that are followed through

  • Secure validation of outputs at the close of the session
  • Write minutes framed around decisions and commitments
  • Report back to the sponsor without breaching trust
  • Organise follow-up between sessions

Who is it for

Internal and external consultants · assignment leaders · organisation managers and auditors who facilitate working groups as part of consulting assignments.

Prerequisites

No prerequisites

Dates & locations

36 scheduled dates between November 2026 and December 2027. Seats are confirmed in the order enquiries are received.

November 2026

December 2026

January 2027

February 2027

March 2027

April 2027

May 2027

June 2027

September 2027

October 2027

November 2027

December 2027

None of these dates suit you? We open additional sessions on request, and any programme can be run privately for your team.

Practical details

Before the programme
Online positioning questionnaire. Your development objectives are shared with the trainer, who tailors the practical case studies to your context.
Teaching methods
Theoretical input, workshops and practical case studies. Digital course materials and method sheets provided.
Assessment
Multiple-choice tests and role-play exercises. Assessment of learning at the start and end of the programme, with immediate and 60-day follow-up evaluations.
After the programme
One year of access to the e-learning platform. Self-assessment of the skills acquired and a 30-day follow-up session with your trainer.
How to register
Registration online or on the basis of a quotation.
Lead time
11 working days after confirmation of registration.
Accessibility
Accessible to people of determination. Contact our accessibility coordinator to design a suitable solution: contact@mpf-academy.ae
Start dates
Rolling intake: in addition to the scheduled sessions, this programme can start on request.