Facilitative Leadership: Guiding Groups from Discussion to Decision

Online Course + Live Practice

Facilitative Leadership:
Guiding Groups from Discussion to Decision

A practical facilitation toolkit for planners and leaders who convene groups around complex, contentious, and consequential topics.

4 hours self-paced 1-year access Monthly live practice sessions

Built For

People who regularly convene groups around complex topics

City & regional planners running community engagement sessions and public hearings

Department heads & project managers steering cross-departmental initiatives

Elected officials & nonprofit leaders navigating contentious conversations with multiple stakeholders

Anyone who needs a room full of smart, invested people to actually reach a decision

The Course Journey

From first principles to real-world practice

Each module builds on the last — moving you from understanding group dynamics to designing and facilitating your own sessions with confidence.

Module 1

The Rules of the Game

Learn Lewin's model of group process. Understand how groups actually function — and why most meetings don't. Evaluate where your groups get stuck.

Group ProcessSelf-AssessmentLearning Journal

Module 3

Participation Styles

Take the Participation Style Inventory to discover your default tendencies. Study the profiles and learn how different styles shape — or derail — a conversation.

InventoryStyle ProfilesReflection

Module 4

The Diamond of Participation

Master the diverge-emerge-converge framework. Learn decision methods and walk through a complete process from brainstorm to decision.

Decision MethodsProcess DesignWalkthrough

Module 5

Meeting Planner Practice

Put the frameworks into action. Design a real facilitation plan you can use the following week — with structure, timing, and technique baked in.

Hands-OnTemplates

Module 6

Content Neutrality

Explore the facilitator's hardest discipline: staying neutral on content while guiding the process. Self-assess your tendencies and practice catching yourself.

Self-AssessmentNeutrality Practice

Module 7

Observing the Group

Sharpen your observation skills. Learn to separate what you see from what you infer — through interactive practice labs, culture lens exercises, and real-time scenario tools.

Practice LabsDrag & DropInteractive

Modules 8 & 9

Dynamics Simulation & Bringing It Online

Practice diagnosing group dynamics using a facilitation framework. Then design your own experiential session — ready to deliver in your context.

SimulationFrameworkCapstone

What You'll Walk Away With

Practical skills, not just theory

✎

Process design frameworks for real meetings

Structure sessions before you walk into the room so conversations go somewhere.

⚖

Manage voices without shutting people down

Techniques for balancing dominant speakers and drawing out quieter ones.

❖

Move groups from discussion to decision

The diverge-emerge-converge framework applied to real decision methods.

🌎

Consensus-building for contentious settings

Methods that work in public hearings, council chambers, and cross-departmental teams.

📈

Interactive practice labs with real scenarios

Drag-and-drop exercises, self-assessments, simulations — not just reading.

📝

Facilitation templates and checklists

Meeting planner tools you can customize and reuse immediately.

Included With Your Enrolment

Live simulation practice sessions

This is where the learning becomes real.

🎭

Monthly Live Sessions

Test-drive facilitation strategies in real time with fellow course participants. Fun, challenging, and immediately useful.

Rhys Bevan John
Actor & Simulation Host

Alison McEachern
Course Creator & Facilitator

Practice the interpersonal side of facilitation

Once you've completed the course, register for monthly live practice sessions where you'll work through common group dynamics scenarios in a safe, supportive environment.

Practice managing real-time group dynamics with live actors
Test strategies for dominant personalities, silence, conflict, and resistance
Attend as many sessions as you like during your one-year access
Sessions run once a month — small groups for meaningful practice
Hosted by Rhys Bevan John (actor) and Alison McEachern (course creator)
Get immediate, personalized feedback on your facilitation approach

Enrolment

One course. One price. One year of practice.

^$249

One-time payment · 1-year full access

Complete self-paced course (4 hours)
Interactive practice labs and simulations
Facilitation templates and planning tools
Monthly live practice sessions for 12 months
Self-assessments and learning journals

CEU / CM credit application pending. Designed to meet continuing education requirements for licensed professional planners.

Facilitative Leadership:Guiding Groups from Discussion to Decision