DESIGN YOUR FACILITATION STRATEGY
Gain confidence in your facilitation skills by learning how to build and plan purposeful workshops
Workshop planning can be grueling, especially when you’re not confident in your approach. Overcome doubt and emerge an effective workshop planner and facilitator.
In this course, you will move from disliking agenda planning and feeling disjointed in your facilitation plan to confidently building a workshop strategy.
By the end of this course you will:
- Use people-centered design to improve workshop planning
- Define the purpose and objectives of your session
- Adjust your plan for your audience
- Assemble your workshop plan systematically using building blocks, considering alternatives for different audience needs
- Validate the plan through feedback and craft a Run of Show plan to prepare for delivery
Learners will leave with:
- A workshop planning template with building blocks you can use and reuse to plan future agendas
- A personalized agenda and workshop plan for large, high-risk, and/or distributed efforts
- A personalized run of show to ensure smooth delivery
This course is for:
Consultants: Leading their clients throught collaborative work efforts.
Managers: Helping their teams plan and achieve better outcomes.
This course is for you if...
- You run a lot of meetings, but have very little time to properly plan.
- You’re curious about how to use your in-meeting or workshop time more effectively and efficiently.
- You want to connect the teams you facilitate to the larger organizational purpose and leave each session with clear outcomes.
- You’re familiar with design thinking, co-creation, or have facilitated using frameworks but struggle to keep things on track when conversations or questions derail your agenda.
- You would like to invest in a better meeting or workshop strategy.
- You’re looking for best-in-class guidance on balancing the elements of meeting facilitation and workshop design: learning styles, asynchronous vs. live, presentation vs. collaboration, group vs. individual, visual facilitation and frameworks.
Course Features and Benefits

While the course is fully virtual and will be delivered via Zoom and MURAL, you’ll be able to connect with and learn from fellow participants. The group will be divided into small cohorts, with whom you’ll be working and discussing, in addition to the full-group activities and discussions.
About the Learning Experience
- Learn from expert practitioners
- Asynchronous video content to view at your own pace in your own time (zone)
- Three hands-on, live-instruction session with your course instructor to learn by doing and get support
- Real-time guidance and feedback to troubleshoot and practice key skills you can immediately apply to your organization
- Benefit from rich discussions, support, and inspiration from other professionals attending the course
- This class is designed to be an open and collaborative environment where you and other learners will be able to see each other’s work.
Ongoing Benefits
- Lifetime access to course portal and materials including MURAL templates
- The tools and frameworks for leading the activities in your daily practice
- Access to new tools, bonus content, and course updates as the course evolves
- First look at new course offerings
- One on one, 30-minute consultation on your project with an expert practitioner
BEFORE DAY 1
Prework
• Identify a challenge or opportunity to explore with a workshop involving multiple stakeholders. You’ll use this scenario throughout the course to work through the design process and be ready to facilitate it by the course’s end.
• One 30-minute new learner orientation
DAY 1
DAY 2
DAY 3
Preparation is the key to success
- Explore what makes facilitation good (or bad)
- The importance of preparation
- Identifying your session scenario
Async Video Lecture
Design for success
- Double-sided Pencil
- Activity methods
Async Video Lecture
Strategy validation and logistics
- Refinement Checklist
- Accessibility Lens
- Run of Show
Async Video Lecture
Purpose and people
- Defining purpose and objectives
- Knowing your audience
- Workshop design canvas and core principles
Live Group Instruction
Building your session strategy
- Plotting the methods
- Mapping to the audience and objective
Live Group Instruction
Create a Run of Show
- Present your plan and live feedback
- Build your Run of Show
- Course wrap-up
Live Group Instruction
Your Instructor

Malarie Juricev, Director of Consulting
As Director of Consulting at XPLANE, Malarie leverages her 20+ years of expert facilitation experience to design and lead discovery workshops for our clients.
Malarie is passionate about modeling and sharing the power of effective facilitation, which she sees as a balance of preparation and agility. She champions a digital-first mindset and the power of virtual collaboration technology as a way to create a truly inclusive environment for all participants.
What Our Learners Say

“However experienced you think you are, you will come away from the Design Your Facilitation Strategy course with both an increased sense of confidence, and a new way of approaching this vital skill!“
—James Thomas, Founder, Four Forces Consulting Limited
FAQ
Q: Why should I trust XPLANE?
A: XPLANE has been helping leaders worldwide tell impactful change stories since 1993. Frequently, clients come to XPLANE with an overwhelming amount of data, and look to us to simplify and construct the information into a narrative people can better understand and align around.
Our storytelling methods have successfully helped organizations’ employees (1) buy-in to a new culture, (2) adopt a new process or methodology, (3) get them aligned around a new vision, and more.
With over 25+ years of trying and learning on real projects with our clients, we’re eager to share our methods and resources with you to help you create impactful stories for positive change.
Q: I’m super busy. How many hours will I need to invest? What’s the estimated course hours and assignment time?
A: Our course is built to fit your busy schedule. It’s spread out across three days, and during the course you will have access to:
- Asynchronous video content to view at your own pace in your own time (zone).
- AND three hands-on, live, group-instruction session with your instructor to practice key skills, answer questions, and provide you with additional feedback on activities.
More courses to improve your ways of working
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In this three-day course, you will move from feeling frustrated you can’t get people on board with change to applying a powerful process that moves people from alignment to adoption and a customized strategy activation plan for your organization. Learn more.
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