CORE SKILL - CERTIFIED AGILE FACILITATOR® (CAF)

Rating 5/5 "Exceptional couple of days , jam packed with learning and great content that I will use straight away. I think all leaders at any level, teachers and facilitators need to do this course!!! So incredibly valuable and it brought a lot of self awareness to how I show up" Rating 5/5 "Sam is a brilliant facilitator and this course was a great insight into what makes a great facilitator. I came away with new tools and techniques that I can take away and apply in my next workshop or meeting" Rating 5/5 "I loved how engaging Sam was. He really made us feel like we were in the room with each other from the commencement of the virtual training on Thursday morning. I really enjoyed the activity of planning a workshop, understanding the background planning and being able to execute within a very short timeframe. It was a great opportunity to also learn off my peers within the training course. I really liked the training course and have recommended it to family, friends and colleagues" Rating 5/5 " As someone who considers themselves naturally shy, I often have to facilitate sessions with people of different personalities. Sam's class exceeded my expectations. He didn't just provide techniques or tools on how to facilitate during a session; he focused on the importance of preparing before a workshop and ways to connect and engage participants to achieve desired outcomes." Rating 5/5 " Overall, it was engaging and practical. More importantly, I come out of this course feeling more confident in facilitating sessions." Rating 5/5 "Really learned valuable insights into facilitation preparation, planning and execution. I have done facilitation before reasonably well, but this will take me to another level. I was wary of the drawing section (I cannot draw a straight line) but I really enjoyed it and surprised myself thanks to Sam's tutelage"

Overview

Start here. Facilitation is a core skill for every Scrum Master, Product Owner and Agile Coach, and is very useful in almost any role. The Certified Agile Facilitator® (CAF) course is recommened for anyone who wants to build their confidence and competence in facilitating groups or teams towards collaborative and meaningful workshop or meeting outcomes.
Facilitation plays a key role in supporting groups as they collaborate, create, and make decisions. This course provides training for individuals interested in developing their facilitation mindset and knowledge. It equips you with a toolbox of skills and exercises to maximise the productivity of your group sessions, whether they are conducted in person or virtually.
The course covers various learning objectives, including understanding the role and responsibilities of a facilitator, adopting a neutral facilitator mindset, effectively guiding teams through conflicts, recognising the unique needs of different teams, ensuring that all voices are heard, establishing psychological safety, applying facilitation skills before, during, and after an event, cultivating self-awareness as a facilitator, employing visual facilitation techniques to engage participants and make an impact, and practicing facilitation in real scenarios.
Overall, the CAF course is designed to help you become a proficient and effective facilitator, empowering you to lead groups and teams towards successful outcomes while embracing agile principles.
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Who should take this course?

The CAF course is designed for individuals who have a passion for facilitation and want to make a real difference in their careers, industries, and teams. Facilitation is recognised as a crucial skill in today's modern world. The course is suitable for various types of individuals, including those who aspire to become empowering and impactful facilitators, Scrum masters aiming to become Certified Scrum Professional® - ScrumMaster (CSP®-SM), Agilists working towards becoming Certified Agile Coach® (CEC or CTC), individuals who want to enhance their career prospects through facilitation skills, and anyone who believes in creating happier teams and improving meeting experiences.

What will you learn?

This 2 day CAF training course focuses on developing skills in agile coaching and facilitation. It begins by discussing the concept of facilitation, including what it is, when to use it, and the qualities of a good facilitator. The participants are then taught to prepare for a facilitation session by understanding its purpose, desired outcomes, group dynamics, context, and group norms. They also learn to assess the level of psychological safety within the group and create a facilitation session plan using a canvas.
The course emphasises the importance of setting the stage before the session begins. This involves familiarising oneself with the facilitation space, getting into the right mindset, and delivering effective opening words to engage participants. Additionally, the use of hooks or icebreakers is explored to create a positive and interactive environment.
During the session, participants are taught how to manage the flow of the session and maintain energy and engagement. They learn to utilise their voice, energy, and movement effectively as facilitators and discover various techniques to keep participants involved.
The importance of inclusion is emphasised, and participants learn how to be inclusive facilitators. They are introduced to the concept of different personas in a group and strategies for handling conflicts that may arise. The course also focuses on developing listening skills, exploring emotional intelligence models, and decoding emotions through micro-behaviours.
We then prepare for and conduct a group facilitation session. Participants receive feedback on their performance to enhance their facilitation skills. They also learn about three facilitation orientations and the four C's of session planning.
Visual facilitation is another topic covered in the course, highlighting the power of using posters to engage participants. Examples of posters for facilitation are provided, and participants have the opportunity to practice creating their own. Additional resources for learning visual facilitation are suggested.
Group decision making is addressed, discussing the challenges associated with making decisions as a group and exploring the roles of decision-makers and consensus-building techniques such as diverging and converging.
The course concludes by reviewing real agile coaching workshop scenarios and reflecting on ways to make them more engaging. Participants learn from these scenarios and gain insights into effective session closure techniques.
Overall, this training course equips participants with the necessary skills and knowledge to become effective agile coaches and facilitators. They learn how to create engaging facilitation sessions, foster inclusivity, manage group dynamics, and make informed group decisions. The course emphasises the importance of effective communication, active listening, and understanding emotions to create a positive and productive facilitation environment.
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