Carrying out any type of business analysis requires a mix of one-on-one interviews and facilitated workshops, whether in-person or connected, so skills in gathering, presenting, and validating information in group sessions have become essential for analysts and architects.  This is the case whether the job at hand is a situation analysis, process mapping, requirements discovery, data modelling, or any other initiative that requires input from multiple participants.

Even for an experienced professional, though, facilitation can be a daunting prospect. “How can I initiate the session without silly inclusion activities?” “How can I keep an active group on track and productive?” “How can I deal with the inevitable disagreements or difficult participants?” Luckily, there are specific ways to deal with these and other situations.

Unlike general purpose “manage your meetings” courses, this workshop was developed expressly for business analysts, process and application architects, and project leaders. Backed up by 35 years of facilitation experience, it will introduce core facilitation techniques.

Key topics include:

• The importance of pre-session interviews – what to ask, what to listen for, and what to ignore.

• How to structure a session plan.

• The surprising value of “venting” early in a session.

• Five essential techniques for the facilitator.

• Proven session agendas, and a review of actual session outcomes.

One-sentence description

Whether you are conducting an in-person or virtual session, a small number of simple, powerful, and learnabletechniques can make all the difference to the session’s success.