Facilitation Skills Course

Throughout the year, MAD consultants frequently offer sessions of our popular facilitation course. This course will help participants plan meetings that engage people in constructive and productive ways and build effective in-person and online facilitation skills. Participants will also receive Sam Kaner’s Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making, which is full of key concepts and practical tools to help increase participation in group discussions and decision-making. Both novice and experienced facilitators will benefit from the course. MAD also offers customized, in-house consultation and trainings for facilitation skills.

During these courses, you will learn to:

  • Decide whether to have a meeting and who needs to be included.
  • Design, conduct, and evaluate effective meetings.
  • Establish operating agreements for successful meetings, both in person and online.
  • Apply group processes and frameworks for managing change and making decisions.
  • Organize the flow of topics so that meetings have a beginning, middle, and end.
  • Plan pre- and post-meeting practices that increase the likelihood of success for your group.
  • Use remote meeting technology to enhance productivity and connections.
  • Identify appropriate approaches to difficult situations.
  • Use basic skills, such as brainstorming, listening, documenting meeting information, and decision-making.
  • Identify your own facilitation style and build confidence with leading meetings.

Upcoming course

  • When: May 12-13, 2026; 8:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days 
  • Where: In person! Rosewood Office Plaza, Roseville, MN 55133
  • Cost: $950 (includes book and course guide)
  • Course Name in ELM: G10MADFSC-41

Registration

Note: To attend courses, you must be registered online prior to the course start date. Before you register, please follow your agency's procedures and policies regarding encumbering funds for the course.

If you are a state employee, register by logging in to your Self Service portal and select Enterprise Learning Management (ELM). Select Find Learning, and then enter "Facilitation" in the Title box to search for the course. Select Enroll. If you have any questions about the course or would like to request an accommodation, please email Management.Analysis@state.mn.us.