SURE Fire Meetings

 Michael Culliton

SURE-Fire Meetings: How to use Dialogue Education to engage people in meetings they’ll actually look forward to.

Two-day course for anyone involved in organizing, designing or facilitating meetings.

It’s a universal sentiment:  all organizations need meetings and no one likes them. Typical complaints are that meetings are “boring” or “unproductive” or “a waste of time” – and often with good reason.

But what if you could transform your meetings into sessions that were engaging, purposeful and dynamic? What if people left the room feeling motivated and inspired and with clear direction about their objectives?

In this SURE-Fire Meetings course, you’ll discover how to transform your meetings into energizing and productive experiences through Dialogue Education™ (DE). DE is a learner-centered system that uses the power of dialogue to bring participants into active relationship with the content of a learning experience. These same methods transfer beautifully to the conference room by designing meetings to be more collaborative, lively, relevant, and purposeful.

Through this workshop you will:learn the principles and practices of DE, including the value of dialogue, safety and respect in a meeting environment

• learn how to apply the DE system in your design, facilitation and evaluation of business meetings
• turn meetings into engaging collaborations in which participants experience mutual learning and decision-making
• create opportunities for meaningful participation and engagement by all of your meeting participants
•  learn how you and your colleagues can work together to make clear decisions that everyone will support
• learn techniques for evaluating the process and results of your meetings
• transform your organization’s culture with the sustainable effects of DE-based meetings: stronger unity among colleagues, enhanced dedication to a shared mission, and greater clarity of objectives and goals
• be one step closer to becoming a Certified Dialogue Education Practitioner

About the course

The SURE-Fire Meetings workshop is recommended for anyone involved in organizing, designing and/or facilitating meetings. 

This is offered as a two-day course, but we are happy to adapt it to shorter or longer timeframes as requested.

This course is based upon the field research and teaching of Dr. Jane Vella and the collective experience of Global Learning Partners' network of experienced associates.

By the end of the workshop, you will have:

• Explored the SURE-Fire elements of the learning-centered approach to meetings
• Identified and practiced using the three phases of meetings:  preparation, facilitation and follow-up
• Identified the steps needed to prepare for a successful meeting
• Reviewed and practiced using a meeting preparation template based on Global Learning Partners' 8 Steps of Design process
• Identified ways to make meetings more engaging for your participants
• Incorporated different styles of information-processing into your meeting design
• Reviewed ways to get input from meeting participants and planned how to use them in a meeting
• Examined various levels of decisions made in meetings and explored how to address them
• Chosen the best model of decision-making (Roberts Rules, Formal Consensus) for your organization
• Rated your skills at using vital group facilitation techniques
• Reviewed and practiced methods to evaluate meetings and follow-up afterwards
• Synthesized your learning
• Predicted what learning you will transfer into your organization

SURE-Fire Meetings is also offered as a customizable, in-house course for your business, institution, or organization. We’ve taught in many languages and are happy to try to accommodate your language preference. Please contact us to explore the possibilities for working together.

Class size: up to 20 (due to participative, learning-centered approach)
 Length: 2 days
 Prerequisite:  None

FAQs

When Can I Book Travel & Lodging? 

We advise waiting to book non-refundable travel or lodging. When the course reaches the registration threshold, the facilitator will contact you to say it is safe to book non-refundable travel and lodging.  

What is the Cancellation and Refund Policy? 

Should you need to cancel, contact Buffy Root: buffy@globallearningpartners.com. Cancellations more than 45 days before start date: 1) $125.00 cancellation fee to cover expenses incurred by GLP; and 2) remaining balance issued by check, NOT credited to credit card. Cancellations fewer than 45 days before start date: NO REFUND.

Are Participant Substitutions Permissible? 

Yes!  These are welcome up to 30 days before the start date.