Description

Develop the ability to confidently guide requirements sessions and collaborative workshops.

Business analysts play a central role in eliciting, clarifying, and validating both business and technical requirements. Strong facilitation skills are essential for keeping discussions productive, ensuring stakeholder alignment, and driving toward actionable outcomes.

This dynamic two-day course equips you with practical strategies to plan, lead, and adapt facilitation sessions of all sizes. Through interactive exercises, case scenarios, and guided practice, you will strengthen your ability to engage stakeholders, encourage participation, and navigate challenging group dynamics. You’ll also explore specialized techniques for virtual collaboration, conflict resolution, and structured decision-making. By the end of the course, you will have the confidence to manage requirements meetings from start to finish—designing effective agendas, guiding group discussions, building consensus, and capturing results that move projects forward.

What you will learn:

• Explain the value of facilitation within the business analysis discipline
• Design and prepare an effective requirements workshop
• Build clear agendas and identify potential risks ahead of time
• Apply a range of facilitation tools and techniques to suit different meeting goals
• Lead productive sessions in both in-person and virtual environments
• Use advanced methods for brainstorming, prioritization, and decision-making
• Recognize and manage conflict to keep discussions focused and constructive

Course Outline:

1. Foundations of Facilitation

• What Facilitation Really Means
• The Business Analyst as Facilitator
• When to Facilitate (and When Not To)
• Advantages of Strong Facilitation Skills
• How Facilitation Supports Requirements Elicitation and Analysis

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2. Preparing for a Successful Session

• Why Preparation Matters
• Defining the Objective and Desired Outcomes
• Using a Session Planning Framework
• Understanding Participant Roles and Dynamics
• Identifying Risks and Planning Responses

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3. Core Facilitation Tools & Techniques

• Designing Agendas that Drive Results
• Common Facilitation Techniques
  • Brainstorming and Variations
  • Gap Analysis
  • Force Field (T-Chart) Analysis
  • Process and Data Models
  • Impact/Effort Matrix
  • Multi-Voting for Prioritization

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4. Leading a Session in Action

• Key Behaviors of Effective Facilitators
• Creating a Safe and Productive Environment
• Techniques for Guiding Group Discussions
• Balancing Input Across Participants

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5. Facilitating in Virtual & Hybrid Environments

• Challenges of Distributed Meetings
• Tools and Practices for Online Collaboration
• Keeping Remote Participants Engaged
• Best Practices for Hybrid Sessions

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6. Advanced Facilitation Approaches

• Brainwriting (Silent or Anonymous Brainstorming)
• Root Cause Analysis (Fishbone, Five Whys)
• Criteria-Based Grids for Evaluation and Selection
• Applying Models and Diagrams in Group Settings

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7. Managing Conflict and Group Dynamics

• Types of Conflict and Their Value
• Differentiating Constructive vs. Destructive Conflict
• Techniques for Resolving Participant-to-Participant Conflict
• Addressing Conflict Between Facilitator and Participants

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Workshop throughout the course:

• Develop a Complete Facilitation Plan
• Build a Realistic Meeting Agenda
• Practice Facilitating Multiple Meeting Scenarios
• Apply Root Cause Analysis in a Group Context
• Use a Criteria-Based Grid for Decision-Making