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Description

Meeting Facilitation: Setting the Objective, Driving Participation and Locking In Decisions

Turning meetings that overrun and decide nothing into short sessions that produce real follow-through

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

Meetings take up an ever-growing share of the working day and often deliver very little: a vague agenda, attendees with no reason to be there, discussion that drifts, a decision postponed for lack of time. Everyone leaves with their own version of what was said, and the item reappears on the agenda next time.

Two days to prepare meetings with an explicit objective, run discussions while managing time and difficult behaviours, encourage participation without losing control, and close on written decisions with named owners and deadlines.

Learning objectives

  • Define the objective and format of a meeting before calling it
  • Prepare a timed agenda setting out the expected deliverables
  • Run discussions while managing time and speaking turns
  • Get the group to produce results using suitable facilitation techniques
  • Close with a record of decisions including owners and deadlines

What makes this programme different

Each participant facilitates a real meeting replayed by the group with observers
A full session devoted to the behaviours that block a meeting
An agenda and decision-record template built and then tested in the room

Programme

1Decide Before You Invite

A useful meeting starts with its preparation

  • Meeting objective and expected outcome
  • Choosing the format: information, production or decision
  • Selecting the participants who are genuinely needed
  • Timed agenda and documents circulated in advance
  • Alternatives to holding a meeting

2Running the Discussion

Holding the frame and the clock

  • Opening, framing and restating the ground rules
  • Managing speaking turns
  • Refocusing after a digression
  • Managing time segment by segment
  • The note-taker and timekeeper roles

3Getting the Group to Produce

Participation is not the same as chatter

  • Idea-generation techniques in sub-groups
  • Structured round-table and weighted voting
  • Working on a shared visual support
  • Facilitating a virtual meeting
  • Handling minority views

4Deciding and Following Through

What remains once the meeting ends

  • Wording a decision that leaves no ambiguity
  • Assigning actions and deadlines
  • Record of decisions circulated promptly
  • Tracking actions from one meeting to the next
  • Difficult behaviours in the closing minutes

Who is it for

Managers, project managers, department heads and anyone required to facilitate working meetings.

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.