We create two main types of facilitation experiences for our clients: facilitated learning experiences and facilitated meetings. While both draw on strong design and facilitation skills, they serve different purposes. Sometimes clients hire us to help a group learn something new, build skills, or reflect on practice together. Other times, they bring us in to guide a meeting process such as a planning session, consultation, retreat, or collaborative discussion.
In this post, we’re focusing on the custom learning experiences we design and facilitate. We create many of these workshops for non-profits, associations, post-secondary institutions, and government organizations that want professional learning to feel engaging, practical, and relevant to their participants.
Because every audience is different, we shape each workshop description, design, and facilitation approach to fit the group’s context and needs. Below are a few examples of recent custom workshops we’ve facilitated for clients. In a future post, we’ll share some examples of our custom meeting facilitation work as well.
Fostering Student Engagement with Liberating Structures (Two 2-hour sessions | virtual)
This was a two-part virtual workshop series designed to help post-secondary educators increase student engagement using Liberating Structures. Across the sessions, we introduced faculty to these simple, adaptable activities that can increase reflection, participation, and idea generation in both online and in-person learning environments. We helped the group experience several Liberating Structures firsthand while applying them to real teaching questions, such as using AI in education and assessment practices.
Facilitating with Impact (3-hour session | virtual)
This was an interactive workshop focused on helping a non-profit group strengthen their facilitation and training skills in practical, immediately useful ways. In the session, we helped participants explore what makes a learning experience effective, reflect on their own beliefs and strengths as facilitators, and consider how to create sessions that feel welcoming, engaging, and purposeful from the start. We also introduced strategies for designing stronger virtual learning experiences, surfaced some of the common tensions and contradictions that show up in training events, and supported participants in identifying areas for growth in their own facilitation practice.
Dynamic Teaching: Unleashing Classroom Engagement with Liberating Structures (1 day | in person)
This was an in-person workshop for a post-secondary faculty group focused on using Liberating Structures to create more engaging and inclusive classroom experiences. In the session, we helped participants learn the core concepts, principles, and design elements behind Liberating Structures while experiencing several of the activities firsthand. Together, we explored how these adaptable methods can support discussion, brainstorming, collaboration, and creative thinking in both virtual and in-person teaching contexts. We also discussed how to adapt specific structures for their own classrooms and pointed faculty toward resources and communities to support their continued practice.
Facilitating Engaging Learning Experiences (2.5 hours | in person)
This was an in-person workshop designed to help non-profit facilitators strengthen their facilitation practice and think more intentionally about how they create meaningful learning experiences for adults. In the session, we helped the group explore the values and beliefs that shape their facilitation, consider how facilitator presence influences the group experience, and identify practical strategies connected to key facilitation skills. Participants also reflected on their own strengths, thought about what groups need in order to learn well, and identified personal goals for continued growth in their facilitator role.
Instructional Skills Workshop (3 days | in person)
This three-day in-person workshop was designed to help a group of non-profit facilitators strengthen their design and facilitation skills. Over three full days, we guided participants through the well-known Instructional Skills Workshop framework, including the use of BOPPPS lesson planning elements, and supported them as they planned for and facilitated three short 10-minute mini lessons each. A core part of the experience was helping participants give, receive, and apply feedback in order to refine their facilitation choices, build confidence, and grow their skills in creating effective, participatory learning experiences.
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If you’re planning professional development for faculty, trainers, or facilitators, we’d love to help you create something custom for your group. Reach out to Beth to start a conversation about the kind of workshop or series—in person or online—that would best support your people.