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Creative Facilitation – An Introduction

Jo North — Sat, 15 Nov 2025 09:55:04 +0000

Creative Facilitation – An Introduction

Creative Facilitation is my most Favourite Thing – Ever!

I have a long history of creative facilitation! I first discovered the potential and creative opportunity that can be achieved from expert facilitation when I did my Masters in Business Administration (MBA) several years ago. I learned then that it is important and very possible to tap into the unique potential of people collaborating in group situations to achieve more together – and, once I started, I became absolutely hooked!

Photo: Dr. Jo North

Since then I have designed and delivered workshops, sprints, hackathons, strategy sessions, knowledge exchange events and more for literally thousands of people in all sorts of industries, all over the world, and I have honestly loved every single minute of working with them.

Even the most challenging topics and groups of people are wonderful, because they really stretch and develop the facilitator’s skills. Each and every event is a learning opportunity in its own right for every person involved, delegates and facilitator alike.

Photo: Delegates from different organisations collaborating on digital strategy at Northumbrian Water’s facilitated design sprint

Competence and Confidence

What’s important as a creative facilitator is to be able to walk into a room full of people, often who you don’t know, to be confident, make an immediate positive impact and get everyone engaged in connecting working with you and delivering fantastic outcomes as a team from the time available.

Excellent creative facilitators make it look really, really easy, but don’t be deceived!

Creative facilitation really is a skill and an art. With study and practice it can be learned, improved upon and developed, though, and everyone can improve their skills. Even the greatest and most experienced facilitators never stop learning!

So, here are just a few of my most important tips, tools, techniques and approaches all in one place to help you to become the most positively impactful facilitator that you can be, in a way that works best with your own authentic and unique personality and style. I will be going deeper into the skill and art of creative facilitation in my future blogs, so if this is something you want to learn more about, do sign up here for my free DIY Awayday Toolkit and to get free facilitation resources and news updates. Or, if you really want to develop your skills and practice, take a look at my Creative Facilitation Handbook.

If you have any specific questions about creative facilitation. I will be more than happy to help, and if your query is about something quite complex, I’m also always pleased to hop on a call.

Get Your Creative Facilitation Handbook Here

We can also facilitate your event for you, or you might like to join one of our Creative Facilitation Skills training programmes.

If you have any questions or would like to know more, please email me direct at jo@bigbangpartnership.co.uk

Right, let’s get started. We’ll begin with an introduction to the fundamentals of creative facilitation.

Photo: Delegates in action at one of my events

What is Creative Facilitation

What does ‘creative facilitation’ mean in practice?

Do you just ensure everyone’s introduced, and maybe kick off with a quick ice breaker exercise?
Is your main role simply to stand by the flip chart and note down all the ideas?
What preparation do you need to do?
How do you manage the event, and how exactly do you pull the whole thing together?

In many types of group situations, and particularly in complex discussions or those where people have different views and interests, good facilitation can make the difference between success and failure.

As a facilitator, you may need to call on a wide range of skills and tools, from problem solving and decision making, to team management and communications.

Definition of “Facilitate”

The definition of facilitate is “to make easy” or “ease a process.”

The definition of facilitate is 'to make easy' or 'ease a process'.
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Nerdy fact

Did you know…

…that the word ‘facilitate’ comes from the Latin facilitas, meaning ‘easiness’. So, as facilitators our role is to help ease the process of people thinking and working together in groups.

What a facilitator does is plan, guide and manage a group event to ensure that the group’s objectives are met effectively, with clear thinking, good participation and full buy-in from everyone who is involved.

Photo: Delegates in action at a PAPI event

Responsibilities of the Creative Facilitator

Some of the responsibilities involved in being a creative facilitator are:

Designing and running the session to achieve the agreed objectives.
Providing space and time for the team to discuss, explore, imagine, challenge themselves and each other, and make key decisions on the way.
Capturing and recording the outputs visually as the session develops, so that word and ideas don’t just disappear into the ether.
Keeping people on task when they wander off.
Supporting and encouraging.

Photo: Idea Time: The Live Experience!

Maintaining the energy of the people in the room where it needs to be for the task in hand. For example, playful and creative for idea generation, thoughtful and reflective for making important choices.
Providing the right activity, pace and perspective at the right time.
Managing time – so that what the team came together to do gets done.
Getting the group to work at an appropriate level of detail – neither too much nor too little.
Sometimes, the facilitator’s role may be to energise and almost entertain, to recharge the group. The facilitator is certainly the role model for the everyone else present when it comes to energy, attentiveness, active listening and engagement.

Start with the End in Mind

If you want to be a successful creative facilitator, before every event that you facilitate, ask yourself:

What words do I want the delegates to use to describe me as a facilitator at the end of the session?

Then think about how your behaviours and approaches will deliver that aspiration and use these words to ‘check in’ with yourself at points throughout your session to keep yourself on track.

Photos: some lovely comments from Michael and Atanu, delegates at recent #2050InnovationHub events I facilitated at Port of Tyne

Facilitating Group Sessions

To facilitate effectively, it helps to be as objective as possible. This doesn’t mean you have to come from outside the business or team, though. It simply means that, for the purposes of this group process, you will take a neutral stance. You will step back from contributing to the detailed content and from your own personal views, and focus purely on managing discussions, getting the best from everyone, and bringing the event through to a successful conclusion.

The secret of great facilitation is a group process that flows – and with it will flow the group’s ideas, solutions, and decisions too.

Your key responsibility as a facilitator is to create this group process and an environment in which it can flourish and achieve the its objectives from the session.

Facilitating groups presents unique benefits and opportunities. Some of these are shown here, and I am sure that you can think of others, too.

Some potential benefits

Diversity of thinking styles and approaches

Combined input from several different parties

Support networking and working beyond a single team

Sometimes greater political influence as a mixed than as single function team

Wider reach of initiatives

Some potential challenges

Decision-making processes can be slower

People have day-jobs and vested interests

Teams send a representative, this can change – levels of commitment / perceived importance may vary

Hierarchy outside the group may not apply within it – but expectations may differ

No direct authority – influencing and leadership require other strategies

Delegate Commitment and Motivation

Each delegate will bring different levels of motivation and commitment to participating in the workshop, which in turn can impact their behaviours and approaches, as you can see in the image below.

Image © Dr. Jo North: Delegates each bring different levels of motivation and commitment to facilitated events.

Supporters bring high levels of personal motivation and group commitment to the event. They want to contribute to the overall success of both the group and the task in hand and take pride and enjoyment in knowing that they have made a significant, positive difference as an individual.

Mavericks have low to medium group commitment, and high levels of personal motivation. They can appear unorthodox or independently-minded, sometimes original and nonconformist. Mavericks can play an important role in disrupting ‘group think’, and in challenging accepted norms.

Rebels have low to medium group commitment, and low to medium personal motivation. They are at worse unhappy about attending the event, and at best indifferent. Their aim is to get through the event, contributing as little as possible and avoiding having to take any actions as a result of the workshop.

Hostages have high group commitment and low to medium personal motivation. They want to be and be seen to be team players but are not really interested in the subject at hand. Hostages feel that they should attend to support their colleagues but would much rather be working on something else that is more of a personal priority for themselves.

Photo: Northumbrian Water Digital Design Sprint in action

Not everyone falls neatly into one of these boxes, of course, and the same delegate may move through different levels of group commitment and personal motivation at various points throughout the event, depending on factors such as how strongly they agree or disagree with their colleagues in the room, how interested they are in the topic under discussion at that moment, what else is going on outside the workshop, how tired, stressed, or otherwise they are feeling.

The reality that delegates have different levels of motivation and commitment is one that as creative facilitators we need to become accustomed to dealing with and finding our way through.

It is our job to work out how to get the best contribution we can from every individual, whilst giving them the best experience we can. We cannot influence what delegates have ‘brought into the room’ with them or change embedded views in just one workshop. What we can do is to do our best to listen, engage, enthuse and energise.

We cannot influence what delegates have ‘brought into the room’ with them or change embedded views in just one workshop. What we can do is to do our best to listen, engage, enthuse and energise.
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Work with Adult Learning Theory to Engage Delegates

Applying Knowles’ 4 key principles of adult learning theory across to your facilitation strategy can help to achieve this:

Involve your delegates in the planning and evaluation of their experience wherever you can.
Encourage people to actively share their own experiences to help the wider group.
People are most interested in working on subjects that have immediate relevance and impact to their job or personal life. Work with your delegates to find meaningful links between the workshop focus and their own roles and interests.
Engage people in problem-solving and solution-finding, as some people really enjoy the challenge and satisfaction that this brings.

Emotional Intelligence and Creative Facilitation

Being able to get the best outcomes possible from all your delegates means having and deploying high levels of emotional intelligence.

Psychology Today defines emotional intelligence as follows:

“The ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others. It is generally said to include three skills: emotional awareness; the ability to harness emotions and apply them to tasks like thinking and problem solving; and the ability to manage emotions, which includes regulating your own emotions and cheering up or calming down other people.”

I have created an emotional intelligence self-management process for facilitation (it can be used for many, many other roles or situations too), that I have shown in the image here.

I will walk through it step-by-step, and if you’d like to go deeper into the theme of emotional intelligence, which is also known as ‘EI’ or ‘EQ’, I recommend that you read the book by Daniel Goleman, because it is such an important element in being successful more generally.

Firstly, be aware that we are all experiencing emotions all the time. Even “emotionless” is an emotion! Sometimes our emotions help us to facilitate well, at other times they get in the way. The emotionally intelligent facilitator is able to tune into how they are feeling and put anything negative to one side for the purposes of the event so that they can then communicate more effectively, tune into and positively influence the group dynamic.

Can you think of any recent examples where you have used emotional intelligence effectively?

Now think of a couple of examples that would have benefited from greater emotional intelligence on your part. What happened, how did you feel and behave? What will you do better and differently in the future as a result?

Get Your Creative Facilitation Handbook Here

The Seven Key Skills of the Emotionally Intelligent Facilitator

As you may have observed in your reflections, the emotionally intelligent creative facilitator is able to do seven key things:

1. Build and maintain rapport

Build and maintain rapport with all the delegates, tuning in to how they are feeling, and what is resonating with them, and tasks or questions they are finding challenging. This means that you will be able to intervene appropriately to build on the positive energy, re-energise the group, or change pace and / or direction.

Some tips on building rapport are to match, without “copycatting”:

-Body language

-Voice

-Spoken language

In a group situation it is likely that people will have a variety of preferences, so you will be able to build rapport more readily with more people if you include variety in your own voice and spoken language.

You can also use body language to match the pace and energy of your group – either to keep the good energy going or take your body language in a different direction to get the group to change tack and signal change.

As a facilitator, you are communicating all the time, whether your think you are or not! The people in the room are continuously ‘reading’ what you say, how you say it and how you are generally being. Your own energy needs to be top notch and switched on throughout your event. You are role-modelling the energy and commitment that you want from the group to get the results that you all want to achieve.

2. Listen and observe with skill and attentiveness.

You will see and hear small signals, verbal and non-verbal information from delegates that will enable you to make great facilitation decisions that will help the group. As you are probably aware, most communication is non-verbal, through body language and facial expressions, so observing in order to ‘read’ what people are saying as well as listening to their words is crucial.

It’s also essential that you demonstrate to the group that you are actively listening and observing. There’s an old piece of management advice that is to imagine that everyone has the words “I want to be heard and valued” on their foreheads. Demonstrating that you are engaging with what people are saying will really serve you well as a facilitator, because they will connect more with you and feel more encouraged to contribute.

Here are some top tips for demonstrating active listening and observation when you are facilitating:

Maintain great eye contact with the person who is speaking (without staring them out, of course!).
Reflect back and briefly summarise what you have heard from the person who has been speaking.
Listen to the message and intent behind what is being said, especially when the person speaking is not the most articulate or diplomatic in making their point. It’s important when facilitating to make sure that truly hear what people are wanting to express.

3. Ask great questions.

Your rapport-building, listening and observation skills will also help you with the third key skill, which is to ask insightful, pertinent, helpful, thought-provoking and discussion-stimulating questions as appropriate at the right moments throughout your event.

Great questions open up thinking, discussion. They help get to the bottom of messy or challenging topics by probing. They focus the different minds in the room on joint problem-solving and opportunity-finding.

Great questions are open ones, and often start with one of the 5Ws and H:

Who…?
What…?
When…?
Why…?
Where…?
How…?

Photo: Poster on influencing created by delegates as a mini systems map

4. Be flexible, agile and adaptable.

You can have the best laid plans ever, but sometimes delegates need to spend more time on something that you’d allowed for in your schedule, or unexpected topics and insights come up that need airing. Fantastic facilitators create jazz rather than follow a score. A good design and plan are very necessary but knowing when to flex and having the skills and confidence to do so are absolutely essential. If not, you and your delegates will more than likely experience a dissatisfying and possibly frustrating event.

5. Thinking on your feet

This is a critical skill for facilitators and is definitely something that gets better and easier with practice and experience.

My biggest tip for being flexible when the workshop is in flow is to slow down to think within the moment by pausing, and also slowing down your speech a little. This will be barely imperceptible to delegates. You will just look like you’re reflecting for a second – which is a good thing.

Pause from Time to Time

If discussions really do take an unexpected turn, and you are wondering how on earth you’re going to get things back on track, or even change them to follow a new one, you could create yourself a bit more thinking time by setting delegates on with a short activity, while you revisit and maybe rejig your plan or timings. You could also give delegates an extra break for 5 minutes.

You don’t have to, but it’s also perfectly acceptable to share what you will be doing with the delegates: “Wow, that was a great session, and we’ve arrived somewhere really interesting. Let’s have a 5 minute coffee break – I’m going to have a quick think about how we can build on those discussions in the next session.”

“That took a bit longer than planned, all time well spent as it was a really insightful discussion. Let’s grab a quick 5 minute break, while I rejig a few timings for later to keep us on track.”

This keeps everyone informed, as well as demonstrating your flexibility.

One thing NOT to do if timings are getting tight is to grind on without breaks. Short breaks, as long as everyone sticks to the agreed start time, make people more productive and engaged.

There is plenty of research that demonstrates that we can really only stay focused for an absolute maximum of 50 minutes. As well as breaks, you can re-energise and refocus the group through switching up activities, getting sub-groups to swap round and work with different people from time-to-time and so on.

Photos: Some great feedback and recommendations from delegates on the Innovation in Action programme I facilitate for small businesses on behalf of PAPI and the University of York

Additional Creative Facilitation Tips

Record and visualise outputs

Capturing the work of the group as the event progresses is really important because it turns the nebulous conversation into tangible items that can be referred to throughout the day. The recorded outputs also provide a good record of what happened, what was decided and why for the group once the event is over.

The recording can be on flipcharts, notes – and I often photograph and / or audio record some sessions to make sure that I catch the rich detail, ideas and expressions that are important in some situations to include in the notes that I circulate to the people attending after the event.

Guide the group to achieve the event objectives

Of course, creative facilitation events have a purpose. It’s the role of the facilitator to design an appropriate process and then guide the group through that process to successfully attain your intended outcomes.

Photo: Dr. Jo North

Next Steps

I will be going deeper into the skill and art of creative facilitation in my future blogs, so if this is something you want to learn more about, do sign up here for my free DIY Awayday Toolkit and to get free facilitation resources and news updates.

Creative Facilitation Handbook – Click Here

If you have any specific questions about creative facilitation. I will be more than happy to help, and if your query is about something quite complex, I’m also always pleased to hop on a call.

We can also facilitate your event for you, or you might like to join one of our Creative Facilitation Skills training programmes.

If you have any questions or would like to know more, please email me direct at jo@bigbangpartnership.co.uk.

The post Creative Facilitation – An Introduction appeared first on The Big Bang Partnership.

The Creative Facilitation Handbook

Jo North — Sat, 15 Nov 2025 09:33:12 +0000

Design and lead workshops that actually deliver ideas, decisions and action.

A practical 80-page Creative Facilitation Handbook for facilitators, consultants and leaders who want their innovation workshops, strategy sessions and away days to be focused, creative and commercially useful, in-person or online.

Who the Creative Facilitation Handbook is for

This is for you if you:

Facilitate workshops, away days, innovation sprints, strategy sessions or team days.
Lead teams and want better ideas, better decisions and better follow-through.
Are already facilitating and want to strengthen your design, confidence and impact.
Are newer to facilitation and want a grounded, evidence-based guide from someone who has done this thousands of times. Creative Facilitation Handbook …

You do not need to be a “creative type”. You need a reliable process and practical tools. That is what the Creative Facilitation Handbook gives you.

What you’ll be able to do after using the Creative Facilitation Handbook

By working through the handbook and applying it, you will be able to:

Design complete creative workshops from a clear brief, not a blank page.
Choose the right activity at the right time, instead of defaulting to the same old post-its and group discussion.
Build rapport quickly and keep energy high in the room or on screen.
Listen and question at a deeper level, so people feel heard and conversations move forward.
Handle group dynamics, hierarchy and conflict without losing momentum.
Work confidently with culturally diverse groups and different thinking styles.
Turn creative tension into better ideas rather than arguments or groupthink.
Finish sessions with clear decisions, next steps and owners, not just a wall full of flipcharts.

Cover

Contents page

About creative facilitation

What’s inside – at a glance

The Creative Facilitation Handbook is structured so you can dip in for a specific session, or read end-to-end as a complete guide.

1. Creative Facilitation: The Foundations

What creative facilitation is and why organisations need it.
The core skills of a creative facilitator: rapport, listening, questioning, agility, visual capture and guiding a group to outcomes.

2. The Science Behind the Practice

How creativity works in the brain: default mode, salience and executive control networks and what they mean for session design.
Divergent vs convergent thinking and how to structure your agenda so you are doing the right type of thinking at the right time.

3. Listening, Questioning and Group Dynamics

A practical six-stage model of listening.
How to use empathic listening without losing your neutrality as facilitator.
Key insights from social psychology on social comparison, conformity, normalisation and group polarisation – and what to do about them in a room.

4. Working with Difference, Tension and Trust

How to use “creative tension” to raise the quality of ideas and decisions.
Managing conflict, “difficult” behaviour and status dynamics.
Simple, powerful discussion guidelines you can use with any group to set a constructive tone.
Practical approaches to facilitating culturally diverse groups.

5. Preparing for a Session

A thorough creative facilitation checklist covering:
- The brief and objectives.
- People, roles and dynamics.
- Practicalities, venue and tech.
- Participant invitations and expectations.
Guidance for both in-person and virtual events.

6. Designing Your Workshop

Clear design principles and “rules of thumb” for timing, breaks, interaction and variety.
A complete, worked sample workshop agenda for a full-day away day or strategy workshop, including suggested timings and flow from welcome through to action planning.

7. Ready-to-Use Tools and Activities

You get a set of tried-and-tested activities with clear instructions, which you can lift and use straight away.

Warm-ups and visioning

WIFI: “Wouldn’t it be fantastic if…?” future-vision exercise.
Visual methods to help groups map “where we are today” using diagrams and drawings instead of long reports.

Idea generation techniques

Speed-storming.
Lotus Blossom, with a visual template to expand idea spaces in a structured way.
Brainwriting.
Clustering with post-its to identify themes from a mass of input.
Random Pages brief using magazines and newspapers for lateral thinking.
“What if…?” lucky dip questions.

Prioritisation and decision-making

Quick Sort impact–effort grid for fast triage of ideas.
Sticky dot voting for democratic selection.
“Blockbusters” action-planning method to move from current state to desired future with clear steps, owners and timescales.

These are practical, facilitator-ready tools you can apply to strategy, innovation, service design, problem-solving and team development sessions.

8. Virtual Facilitation

A full chapter on running creative sessions online, covering:

Common tech and engagement challenges and how to handle them.
Keeping sessions on track with agendas, “car parks” and clear transitions.
Building connection and interaction on Zoom / Teams using cameras, chat, polls, breakout rooms and virtual whiteboards.
Recommended tools such as Mural, Miro, Mentimeter, Stormz, SessionLab and Stormboard, with guidance on when and how to use them without overwhelming participants.

About the author

Dr. Jo North, MA (Oxon), MBA, FIoL
Founder & CEO, The Big Bang Partnership Ltd

Jo has designed and delivered workshops, sprints, hackathons, strategy sessions and innovation events for thousands of people around the world, across sectors including tech, transport, utilities, energy, advanced manufacturing, retail, financial services, government and charities.

Her career spans accountancy, HR, sales, marketing, commercial growth and customer experience at board level. Her PhD research focused on the characteristics and mindsets of high-performing executives and the commercial outcomes they deliver, and she brings that evidence into her facilitation practice.

Jo is also:

Innovation Ecosystem Director at Port of Tyne and leader of the UK’s Maritime 2050 Innovation Hub.
An associate in Business Innovation and Creativity at the University of York.
A regular media commentator on innovation strategy and winner of the NECC “Most Inspiring Female Business Leader of the Year” award.

The handbook distils this experience into a format you can apply directly to your own work.

How you can use the handbook

As a step-by-step guide when designing a specific workshop or away day.
As a reference manual for tools you can plug into existing sessions.
As the basis for internal facilitator development or train-the-trainer programmes.
As a bridge between your existing subject-matter expertise and strong facilitation practice.

What you get

Digital e-book (PDF) – instant access after purchase, comprising:

80+ pages of focused content, frameworks, checklists and exercises.
Ready-to-use tools and visual templates for idea generation, prioritisation and action planning.
Guidance for both in-person and virtual sessions, so you are covered either way.

FAQ

Is this only for professional facilitators?
No. It is written for anyone who brings people together to think, decide and create – facilitators, consultants, team leaders, innovation managers and project leads.

I already run workshops. Will this still help?
Yes. You will recognise a lot of what you do already, and you will also pick up sharper ways of planning sessions, managing dynamics, and expanding your toolkit of activities for both in-person and virtual events.

Do I need any specific software or tools?
No special software is required. You can run everything with simple materials like flipcharts, markers and post-its, or adapt activities to your preferred online tools if you are facilitating virtually.

Can I use the methods with senior executive teams?
Yes. The methods have been used with boards and senior teams in complex, high-stakes environments. Many exercises are explicitly designed to work with hierarchy, strong personalities and cultural differences.

Design and deliver creative workshops with confidence.

Get your copy of The Creative Facilitation Handbook now and give yourself a clear, repeatable way to lead sessions that generate real ideas, real decisions and real action.

The post The Creative Facilitation Handbook appeared first on The Big Bang Partnership.

Collaboration Skills for High-Performing Teams

Amaya Salisbury — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 12:09:23 +0000

Stronger Relationships. Faster Alignment. Better Results.

Our Collaboration Skills programme helps teams and leaders work more effectively together, especially when navigating complex projects, multiple stakeholders and ambitious goals.

Whether you’re leading strategic partnerships, working across functions, or need to strengthen collaboration within your team, this practical and engaging programme will give you the skills, confidence and tools to collaborate with clarity and intent.

Who It’s For

Senior leaders working across departments or organisations
Project managers and delivery leads
Innovation, transformation or strategy teams
Functional teams looking to boost alignment and trust

Programme Benefits

Learn how to build trust and psychological safety quickly
Improve communication and reduce misunderstanding
Resolve conflict without escalating tension
Align different perspectives and priorities towards shared outcomes
Strengthen accountability and ownership across partnerships

The programme can also be a contributor towards your organisation achieving the ISO 44001 international standard for collaborative business relationships.

Format

This programme can be delivered as:

A one-day intensive workshop (in-person or online)
A two-day deep dive with tailored modules
Part of a broader leadership or team development programme

Each session is highly interactive, practical and built around your organisation’s specific collaboration challenges.

Sample Content

For senior leaders:

Role-modelling collaborative behaviours
Creating the conditions for productive cross-boundary working
Strategic alignment across teams and organisations

For team managers and contributors:

Day-to-day collaboration tools and habits
Working across functions, levels or time zones
Feedback, challenge and decision-making in collaborative settings

Some clients have used our programme to support with their achievement of ISO44001 – the International Standard in Collaborative Working.

Our programmes comprise the option of two full-day events, Leading Collaboration (day 1) and Collaboration in Action (day 2).

Leading Collaboration is for senior leaders. It includes influencing and role modelling collaboration culture and ways of working.

Collaboration in Action is for programme managers, project leaders and designers who have active participation in the process of collaborative innovation and project management on a day-to-day basis.

Each of the two days is designed to both stand alone and work as a cohesive 2-day experience for those colleagues who would benefit from attending each session.

The design for each day ensures that delegates benefit from a highly interactive, positively challenging, enjoyable and insightful experience. They will have ample opportunities throughout to practise the strategies, tools and techniques presented in the programme. Delegates will actively learn through collaboration.

We make sure that your business’ leadership values and behaviours are appropriately reflected and consistent throughout the programme.

Why It Works

We don’t just talk about collaboration, we design sessions that build it in real time. Participants leave with shared language, renewed confidence and practical tools to apply immediately.

Led by Dr Jo North, and based on years of experience working across sectors and industries, our approach is honest, energising and focused on real-world delivery.

Book This Programme

We tailor every programme to your context and goals. Contact us to arrange a conversation about what your team needs and how we can help.

Get in touch to start the conversation.

Enquire now

Example Agendas

Here are sample agendas for each of the two days to give you an idea of the themes and content that we are likely to include. Please note, however, that these can of course be changed, and that we will work with you to design events that best suit your needs.

Leading Collaboration – Day 1

Session 1: Leading Collaboration
- Definition and key principles
- Collaboration through the innovation project lifecycle
- Identifying and extracting value from collaboration at the strategic level
- Introduction to and insights from the ISO44001 standard (if applicable)
- Contemporary collaboration strategies
Session 2: Identifying Shared Objectives
- Finding common ground – vision, mission, values, behaviours, goals
Session 3: Collaboration and Success
- The early stages of the innovation project lifecycle – Stages 1-3
- Goal setting and outcome focus
- Roles and expectations
Session 4: Leadership Behaviours and Collaboration Excellence
- Culture of collaboration
- Role modelling
  - Relationships
  - Innovation
  - Problem-solving
- Governance and Processes
Session 5: Leveraging difference to gain from positive, creative tension
- Dealing with the most challenging points in the project lifecycle
  - Strategies for when collaboration gets tough
  - Support and challenge in collaborative working
  - How to challenge and be challenged effectively
Session 6: Reflection, personal action, planning, feedback and close.

Collaboration in Action – Day 2

Introduction – Understanding Collaboration

Session 1:
- Definition and key principles
- Identifying and extracting value from collaboration in projects – the innovation project lifecycle
- Introduction to and insights from the ISO44001 standard (if applicable)
- The collaboration ladder – from co-ordination to co-operation and collaboration

The collaboration ladder – from co-ordination to co-operation and collaboration

Session 2: Collaborator Mapping
- Influence, interest, roles and objectives mapping
Session 3: Setting Up for Success
- How to set up projects for optimal collaboration benefits
- Scoping collaboration
- Defining success measures
Session 4: Influencing Skills for Effective Collaboration
- Understanding influencing styles and preferences
- Building capacity for challenge
- What to do when relationships and / or projects get tough
Session 5: Maintaining Momentum and Motivation
- Tools, techniques and strategies for keeping the energy, commitment and focus of all collaborators high
Session 6: Reflection, personal action planning, feedback and close.

Book a call with Jo

The post Collaboration Skills for High-Performing Teams appeared first on The Big Bang Partnership.

Everyday Innovation Programme

Amaya Salisbury — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 11:31:42 +0000

Empowering Leaders to Embed Innovation into Daily Practice

The Everyday Innovation programme is a comprehensive two-day development experience designed to equip leaders and teams with the tools, mindset, and strategies to develop a culture of continuous innovation. Whether delivered in-person or virtually, this programme focuses on integrating innovative thinking into the fabric of your organisation’s daily operations.

Programme Overview

This programme is structured to help you:

Understand the importance of everyday innovation for organisational resilience.
Define what innovation means within the context of your business.
Identify leadership and team behaviors that promote an innovative culture.
Align your business model to support and sustain innovation.
Apply practical tools and techniques to transform ideas into actionable results.

Participants will receive a comprehensive toolkit containing all the methods and templates used throughout the programme, enabling immediate application within their teams.

Programme Agenda

Day 1: Innovation Strategy

Session 1: Innovation in Context

Explore external trends and challenges impacting your organization.
Engage in activities such as Horizon Scanning and Risk Analysis.

Session 2: Defining Everyday Innovation

Articulate your organisation’s vision for innovation.
Examine different types of innovation and their relevance to your business.

Session 3: Creating an Innovation Blueprint

Develop a strategic plan outlining innovation priorities and initiatives.

Session 4: From Idea to Implementation

Learn about innovation process models like design thinking.
Understand how to build a business case for innovative ideas.

Day 2: Leading Innovation

Session 1: Ideation Techniques

Discover methods to generate and refine business ideas.
Understand the cognitive processes behind creative thinking.

Session 2: Collaborative Innovation

Assess individual and team innovation styles.
Practice co-creation and open innovation strategies.

Session 3: Cultivating an Innovative Culture

Identify the attributes of effective innovation leaders.
Learn how to drive cultural change to support innovation.

Session 4: Action Planning

Consolidate learning into a practical action plan for your organisation.

Programme Delivery

The Everyday Innovation programme is available in flexible formats to suit your organisation’s needs:

In-Person Workshops: Engaging sessions held at your preferred location.
Virtual Sessions: Interactive online modules delivered via secure platforms.
Hybrid Models: A combination of in-person and virtual elements to accommodate diverse teams.

Facilitator Profile

Dr. Jo North, Managing Director of The Big Bang Partnership and Associate Lecturer at the University of York, brings a wealth of experience in business creativity and innovation. Her unique blend of academic insight and practical expertise ensures that the programme is both thought-provoking and actionable.

Testimonials

“This fascinating and engaging course challenged us to think differently and alter our perspectives. The techniques can be used to deliver innovation in a strategic way but also to make incremental changes. The course offered time to be creative, be inspired by colleagues and to learn useable techniques.”

“Really excellent course. So pleased to be involved in this. Very inspiring, very usable. Challenging in all the right ways!”

Next Steps

Ready to embed innovation into your organisation’s daily practices? Contact us to discuss how the Everyday Innovation programme can be tailored to your team’s needs.

You will receive a full toolkit of the tools, techniques and templates used throughout the programme so that you can apply them directly.

Get in touch

Example agenda

Day 1: Innovation Strategy

Using proven, contemporary innovation frameworks the day will introduce you to key innovation concepts and provide you with the opportunity to apply them to your own organisation and roles.

Session 1: Innovation in Context

This session explores external trends, changes, opportunities and challenges that are likely to impact the organisation in the near to medium term. Activities include:

Horizon Scanning
Strategic Space Mapping
Influencer Mapping
Risk and Opportunity Analysis

Session 2: Everyday Innovation

Session 2 focuses on your vision, business model and commercial strategy in the light of the external analysis from the previous session. Activities include:

Vision for Everyday Innovation
Creating a canvas for the current and target business model
Types of innovation – incremental, differential, disruptive – definitions, risks and benefits
Innovation, resilience and commercialisation

Session 3: Creating an Innovation Blueprint

Building on the activities from Session 3, you will progress to creating an ‘Innovation Blueprint’ for the organisation. You will get hands on with:

Innovation scoping
Innovation prioritisation

Session 4: From Idea to Results

In this session, you’ll learn how to take an idea from concept to practical opportunity and implementation. You’ll gain an in-depth, practical and applied understanding of each of the following:

Innovation process models – design thinking, user experience, customer design sprints
From idea to monetisation – the innovation process and filter
From idea to broader outcomes – creative outputs and values-driven, audience impact
Creating an innovation business case for effective decision-making

Day 2: Leading Innovation

In Day 1, you will have worked on the context and organisational framework for innovation. Day 2 focuses on the people elements and creating an innovation culture in line with your strategy, business model and vision.

Session 1: Ideation

Session 1 focuses on what ideas are, how we have ideas and how to generate more and better business ideas. Content includes:

Definition of an idea
Business brainpower – how to have more and better ideas
Whole brain thinking

Session 2: Co-creation

Having learned about individual idea generation, you’ll then move on to understanding innovation in teams. We use our Innovation Roadmap online questionnaire to identify your’ individual and team innovation style preferences. Activities include:

Co-creation
Team dynamics
Creative facilitation
Tools and techniques for innovation in teams
Open innovation – how to innovate with customers, stakeholders and supply specialists

Session 3: Everyday Innovation Leadership

This session focuses on how to lead to create an organisation-wide culture of everyday innovation and commercial thinking.

Role and attributes of innovation leaders
Understanding the key ingredients of innovation culture
Moving the needle – how to create a culture shift
Measuring innovation success

Session 4: Putting Everything Together

The final session revisits and reviews all the key concepts from the programme, and how you have applied these concepts to identify actionable strategies for your organisation.

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Open Innovation Facilitation

will — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 21:41:54 +0000

Unlock External Ideas. Accelerate Internal Growth.

By engaging in open innovation with external partners, organizations can tap into a wealth of ideas, technologies, and expertise beyond their internal resources. At The Big Bang Partnership, we facilitate open innovation initiatives that drive tangible outcomes and foster collaborative ecosystems.

What Is Open Innovation?

Open innovation involves leveraging external sources—such as startups, academia, and other organizations—to accelerate internal innovation and bring new solutions to market. This approach breaks down traditional silos, encouraging a flow of knowledge that benefits all parties involved.

Our Approach

We provide end-to-end facilitation for open innovation programs, including:

Challenge Definition: Identifying key areas where external collaboration can add value.
Ecosystem Mapping: Connecting with potential partners across industries and sectors.
Engagement Strategy: Designing programs that attract and retain external contributors.
Collaboration Facilitation: Managing workshops, hackathons, and innovation sprints.
Outcome Integration: Ensuring that external ideas are effectively integrated into your organization.

Success Stories

Northumbrian Water’s Innovation Festival: Facilitated collaborative sessions that brought together diverse stakeholders to address water industry challenges.
Port of Tyne’s 2050 Innovation Hub: Enabled cross-sector collaboration to envision and plan for the future of maritime logistics.

Why Choose The Big Bang Partnership?

Our expertise lies in creating environments where open innovation thrives. We understand the nuances of cross-sector collaboration and have a proven track record of facilitating programs that lead to actionable results.

Contact us here for more information.

Have you considered Open Innovation for your business?

If you lead a larger organisation, have you considered Open Innovation to help tackle your most significant challenges and opportunities?

Or, if you’re the leader of a smaller, potentially disruptive start-up business, have you ever explored some of the fantastic opportunities that are out there to collaborate with big business through Open Innovation programmes?

Maybe you’re a university researcher, interested in finding applied uses for your new ideas and discoveries?

Open Innovation is an approach taken by a business or organisation to access the ideas, technology and knowledge that is available externally, beyond its employees and existing supply chain.

Not every business develops everything in high levels of secrecy until new products are ready to be launched into the world. More and more companies are seeing the benefits of engaging with new and diverse networks and communities for some of their own new product development and solution finding. Those companies are also beginning to release some of their applied and unused innovations outside too so that more organisations can benefit.

We are currently involved in Open Innovation projects including Northumbrian Water’s Innovation Festival, Sellafield’s Game Changers technology programme and Port of Tyne’s 2050 Innovation Hub.

Please do get in touch if you’d like to talk to us about open innovation opportunities for your business.

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Executive Development

Amaya Salisbury — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 19:43:34 +0000

Leadership Confidence, Influence and Capability for a Changing World.

Our Executive Development programmes are designed for managers, senior leaders and professionals who want to lead with purpose, communicate with clarity, and strengthen their influence and impact across teams, organisations and systems.

From innovation and collaboration to influence and difficult conversations, our sessions are practical, engaging and focused on what matters in today’s complex, multi-stakeholder environments.

All programmes are available in-person or online and are tailored to your organisation’s goals and context.

Our Programmes

Everyday Innovation for Leaders

A two-day development experience that helps leaders embed innovation into daily practice. Participants learn to define what innovation means in their organisation, apply strategy tools, develop creative thinking, and lead a culture that supports sustainable innovation.

Influencing Skills Programme

A one-day, highly interactive course for professionals who need to influence without authority. Delegates build confidence and develop their own style using practical models, emotional intelligence and ethical influence tools. The session includes a personal influencing style diagnostic and actionable takeaways.

Collaboration Skills for High-Performing Teams

Designed for leaders and teams working across functions, boundaries or organisations. This programme builds the behaviours, mindsets and tools to improve communication, reduce friction, and get to better decisions faster—especially under pressure.

Mastering Challenge and Difficult Conversations

How to handle tough conversations with professionalism and confidence—whether with a peer, team member or stakeholder. Delegates learn how to manage emotion, clarify intent and structure conversations that resolve issues and build trust.

Business Insights for Public Sector Leaders

This programme helps public sector professionals better understand the needs and pressures of the businesses they serve or regulate. It improves communication, builds business empathy, and enhances the quality of public engagement, particularly with small, medium-sized and microbusinesses.

How We Work

All programmes are interactive and practical, grounded in real-world scenarios
Delivered online, in person, or in blended formats
One-day intensives, short courses or part of wider leadership pathways
Customisable for public or private sector, including cross-sector teams

Why Work With Us

Led by Dr Jo North, our programmes draw on decades of experience in innovation, strategy, team development and stakeholder engagement. We’ve supported senior teams across sectors to build the mindset and skillset needed for modern leadership—and we tailor every session to make it count.

Let’s Talk

Whether you’re developing a leadership cohort, supporting public sector teams, or embedding innovation culture—we’ll help you design an executive development offer that delivers.

Learn more

Innovation Programmes Tailored to Your Requirements

We can create a tailored Executive Programme designed for the specific needs of your organisation, as we have done successfully for Costcutter Supermarkets Group’s Horizon leadership course with Emotion at Work, for which we were proud to be finalists for a national CIPD People Management Award for Best HR / Learning & Development Supplier.

We are also proud to have worked with AquaGib in Gibraltar since early 2018 on the business’ leadership and management development. AquaGib provides Gibraltar with drinking and salt water, sewage, electricity meter reading and billing services.

Your Innovation Programme Lead

Your executive development events will be designed and delivered by Dr. Jo North, Associate Lecturer for business creativity and innovation at the University of York as well as being the Managing Director of The Big Bang Partnership Limited.

Jo has leading-edge expertise in working with companies to optimise the creative potential of their people, products, services and brands and build an innovative, entrepreneurial capability into organisational culture.

She brings a truly unique perspective to teams and innovation as she combines her academic excellence, research and facilitation skills with real world, commercial business experience. Our core programmes include:

Book a call with Jo

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Successful Commercialisation

Amaya Salisbury — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 19:30:22 +0000

Live Online Programme

We provide a live, online 1-day Successful Commercialisation training programme that will be designed to meet the specific needs of your organisation, to accommodate between 8 and 25 delegates.

Our Successful Commercialisation programme will enable you to:

Lead, motivate excellence and innovation in commercialisation, and operate creatively to rise to challenges, and shape opportunities
Meet existing and future commercialisation opportunities with the required skills, credibility and confidence
Create your own action plan for achieving your specific commercialisation objectives.

The content of the Successful Commercialisation programme is underpinned by the latest, robust commercial, regulatory and academic techniques and insights. It is highly practical, interactive and application-focused.

The learning and contents are supported by a Successful Commercialisation delegate pdf workbook, and a series of short, supporting podcasts and videos weekly for 6 weeks after the workshop to enable continuity of learning.

Pre-course Preparation

You will receive a short, diagnostic online questionnaire which needs to be completed in advance of the training. The purpose of the questionnaire is to give you the opportunity to share your individual objectives for the training and provide information on the commercialisation projects that you are working on so that the training can be tailored accordingly.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the programme, you will:

Have a plan to successfully commercialise products and services in the context of your own role and objectives
Have experienced a range of real and appropriate case studies, used throughout the day
Be able to see your product and service offer from the customer perspective
Have developed the necessary skills and knowledge to progress commercialisation in your own area of expertise.

You will work hands-on throughout the day to actively apply the learning to develop and strengthen your own plans.

Groups of colleagues working together on the same project will have the opportunity to collaborate throughout.

Transform Ideas into Market-Ready Innovations

The Big Bang Partnership’s Successful Commercialisation programme is designed to equip innovation professionals, entrepreneurs and researchers with the tools and strategies necessary to bring innovative products and services to market effectively. Whether delivered in-person or online, this interactive one-day course provides practical insights to navigate the complexities of commercialisation.

Programme Overview

This programme focuses on:

Understanding the commercialisation process from concept to market.
Identifying and overcoming common challenges in bringing innovations to market.
Developing a customer-centric approach to product and service offerings.
Applying marketing and financial principles to support commercial success.
Creating actionable plans tailored to your organisation’s objectives.

Programme Delivery

The course is highly practical and application-focused, underpinned by the latest commercial, regulatory and academic insights. Participants will engage in interactive sessions, case studies, and collaborative exercises to reinforce learning.

Pre-Course Preparation

Participants complete a diagnostic questionnaire prior to the session to tailor the programme to their specific needs and projects.

Who Should Attend?

This programme is ideal for:

Innovation and product development professionals.
Business leaders and entrepreneurs.
Marketing and commercial managers.
Teams involved in bringing new offerings to market.
Researchers aiming to spin out their IP.

Programme Formats

We offer flexible delivery options to suit your organisation’s needs:

In-Person Workshops: Engaging sessions at your preferred location.
Live Online Sessions: Interactive virtual workshops for remote teams.
Hybrid Models: Combining in-person and online elements for maximum flexibility.

Facilitator Profile

Dr. Jo North, Managing Director of The Big Bang Partnership and Associate Lecturer at the University of York, brings extensive experience in business creativity and innovation. Her expertise ensures that the programme is both insightful and practically applicable.

Next Steps

Ready to accelerate your organisation’s commercialisation capabilities? Contact us to discuss how the Successful Commercialisation programme can be tailored to your specific goals and challenges.

Enquire now

Example agenda

Introduction to Successful Commercialisation

Definition of Successful Commercialisation
Opportunities and challenges
Legislation (overview and reminder)
Key skills for successful commercial management

The Customer Perspective

Perceptions of ‘value’
Customer behaviour and decision-making
How to create an exceptional experience
Building a positive brand image

Assessing Your Service Proposition

Application of a simple tool for you to self-assess the commercialisation ‘readiness’ and status of your product or service propositions

Budgets, Return on Investment, Planning Ahead

Applying the Marketing Mix to Your Service Proposition

You will apply the extended Service Marketing Mix to your product or service proposition, supported and coached by us, to create a plan

Making it Happen: Project Planning for Commercialisation

Stakeholder analysis and influencing plan
Resource planning and analysis
Lean start-up techniques and MVP
Costs and benefits
Optimising productivity

Review, Next Steps, Feedback and Close

Follow-up Support (optional)

You will have access to your tutor by phone and email once the one-day event has been delivered for any further support and advice that may be needed.

Programme Tutor

The programme will be delivered by associate lecturer from the University of York, and Managing Director of The Big Bang Partnership, Dr. Jo North.

Jo has worked with c. 900 regulators on Better Business for All Business Insights programmes, and has extensive hands-on experience of successful commercialisation projects for clients such as Transport for London, regulated rail businesses, and Northumbrian Water Group (moving from monopoly provider to competitive commercial retailer in the B2B sector).

Book your call with Jo

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Start-up and Small Business Accelerator Programmes

Jo North — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 19:17:53 +0000

Accelerator Programmes for Startups, Scale-ups and Small businesses

We run impactful, focused accelerator programmes for startups, scale-ups and small businesses. They’re practical, high-energy, and designed to help founders and teams take the next step with confidence.

Whether your organisation supports early-stage companies, funds startup education, or works on regional or national economic development, our programmes are a solid choice. We help local businesses build traction, improve their business models, and move faster with fewer false starts.

Who Commissions Our Programmes

Universities and academic institutions supporting enterprise and knowledge exchange
Business growth hubs offering support for early-stage companies and SMEs
Local governments and councils investing in innovation and economic growth
Nonprofit organisations working with startups or small business owners

We are often commissioned by organisations such as the University of York or University of Lancaster to work with entrepreneurs and companies in their region, developing customised programmes for:

Founders and leadership teams of early-stage start-ups seeking to solidify their business model, innovate their offering, and accelerate market traction.
Owners and managers of established SMEs who want to rejuvenate their business growth by introducing new products, services or improvements.
Innovation or product leads in small companies tasked with driving growth and looking for structured support to generate and implement new ideas.

We’ve worked with literally hundreds of businesses in multiple sectors, including internationally, since we were established in 2010.

Who Our Accelerator Programmes Are For

Startup founders ready to move from good idea to investable business
Small businesses looking to scale or launch a new product
Innovation teams in early-stage companies
Local entrepreneurs needing structure and support

How They Work

We run programmes ranging from one-day events to 12-week sprints. Each is tailored to the group, location and outcomes you want to achieve.

Strategic Planning

We start with a business review to map out gaps and opportunities. This shapes the support for business development, customer acquisition and product-market fit.

Practical Workshops

Sessions include idea generation, product development, MVP testing, and growth planning. We focus on what will make the biggest difference to each business.

Market Validation

Participants speak to potential customers, test ideas quickly, and get clear on what people actually want. This avoids wasting time building the wrong thing.

Mentoring

We bring in experienced startup founders, industry experts, and angel investors to offer practical advice, not theory. Founders get real feedback and useful introductions.

Follow-Up Support

We offer ongoing support post-programme, helping participants stay on track and make the most of what they’ve learned.

Why Our Accelerator Programmes Work

Help startups and small businesses grow faster with fewer mistakes
Encourage innovation and fresh thinking in local economies
Support academic institutions in translating ideas into impact
De-risk public investment in new businesses by building stronger plans and teams

Results

Clear business plans and next steps
Better understanding of funding routes and potential investors
Stronger product ideas, backed by early customer feedback
Teams with more confidence and practical skills
Businesses that are more likely to succeed and grow

We’ve run these programmes for councils, universities and hubs across the UK. If you’re looking to support small business owners, startup companies or early-stage entrepreneurs, we can help.

Contact us for further information.

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Innovation Accelerator Programmes

Jo North — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 14:21:25 +0000

Real support. Practical tools. Proven results.

We design and deliver Innovation Accelerator Programmes that move ideas forward—fast. Whether you’re supporting early career researchers, startup founders or innovation teams, our programmes are built to develop capability, drive commercial outcomes, and spark meaningful, measurable progress.

We work with universities, research institutes, local authorities, growth hubs and private sector partners to tailor delivery to your audience, challenge and context.

Who It’s For

Entrepreneurs, founders and SME teams building new offers or scaling their business
Innovation and R&D teams bringing new products and services to market
Enterprise and economic development leads supporting innovation-led growth
PhD candidates, postdoctoral researchers and academic staff exploring commercialisation

Programme Areas

Early Career Researcher Innovation, Funding and Commercialisation

We help early-stage researchers build the skills, mindset and confidence to translate research into impact. Participants learn how to:

Evaluate market potential and validate ideas
Build value propositions and business models
Engage industry and investors
Communicate complex work clearly and persuasively
Navigate funding, commercialisation and spinout pathways

Flexible formats include 90-minute online workshops, multi-day bootcamps and structured mentoring programmes. Content is tailored to distinct ECR stages—from postgraduate students to newly appointed faculty.

Find out more here.

Innovation & Growth Accelerators for Startups and SMEs

For small businesses and early-stage ventures, we provide focused, high-energy support to:

Strengthen business models
Test and refine value propositions
Generate and validate new product and service ideas
Improve readiness for funding, partnerships and growth

Programmes range from one-off strategy sessions to 12-week sprints. We deliver through a mix of facilitated workshops, market testing tools, founder mentoring and follow-up support. The result: faster progress, better decisions and fewer wrong turns.

Find out more here.

Successful Commercialisation

This one-day successful commercialisation programme is designed for innovation professionals, commercial leads and researchers looking to bring new offers to market. It covers:

The end-to-end commercialisation process
Understanding customer value and behaviour
Strengthening propositions and routes to market
Applying financial and marketing principles
Building a clear, actionable commercialisation plan

Delivered live (online or in-person), each session is highly practical and built around participants’ real-world projects.

Find out more here.

What Makes Our Programmes Different

Designed for action and application, not just learning
Built around your participants’ real challenges and ideas
Delivered by experts who combine commercial experience with sector knowledge
Proven to improve capability, confidence and outcomes across disciplines and sectors

Book a Discovery Call

Whether you’re supporting early career academics, driving regional growth, or scaling a startup ecosystem, our Innovation Accelerator Programmes are ready to support you.

Get in touch to explore what we can build together.

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Facilitator Training

Jo North — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 13:52:45 +0000

Build Confidence. Lead With Impact. Drive Better Conversations.

We equip professionals with the skills, structure and confidence to lead engaging, purposeful sessions—whether they’re running workshops, meetings or collaborative events.

Our Facilitator Training is built on years of practical experience. It’s not theoretical or abstract. Delegates learn what works in real situations, and how to adapt their own style to lead groups effectively.

The training is highly interactive and immediately applicable. Participants leave with a practical toolkit they can use straight away—along with the mindset and confidence to step forward as facilitators.

Who It’s For

Facilitators and trainers leading workshops, meetings or collaborative sessions
Innovation, strategy and transformation teams
Learning and development professionals
Public engagement or stakeholder leads
Community, academic or enterprise facilitators

What Participants Learn

How to design and lead engaging sessions that deliver clear outcomes
Approaches for handling sensitive, challenging or high-stakes topics
Tools for co-creation, innovation, business planning, stakeholder engagement and more
Techniques to facilitate diverse and multi-disciplinary teams—online and in person
Best practices for maintaining energy and focus in longer or hybrid sessions
How to build post-session momentum and follow through effectively

We also cover:

Specialist facilitation for design sprints, innovation workshops, sustainability sessions, team development and strategic planning
Coaching support to build personal confidence and overcome specific challenges
How to manage internal and external clients before, during and after sessions
Practical ways to future-proof your facilitation as your role or audience evolves

Delivery Style

We practise what we teach. Every session is:

Interactive – learning by doing, not by slides
Tailored – designed around your context, team and facilitation goals
Supportive – we coach you one-to-one, co-facilitate with you if needed, and help you grow your facilitation practice over time
Practical – you’ll get tools, templates and checklists you can use straight away

Outcomes

By the end of the training, participants will:

Feel more confident planning and leading a wide range of sessions
Know how to navigate difficult dynamics and work with diverse audiences
Be able to manage group energy and maintain clarity and flow
Understand how to work alongside clients—internal or external—before, during and after a session
Have a structured facilitation toolkit that works across formats and topics
Be ready to lead sessions that are future-fit, impactful and energising

Why The Big Bang Partnership?

We’re experienced facilitators and facilitation trainers. We’ve led strategy, innovation, sustainability, and stakeholder sessions at senior level across sectors. We bring that expertise to every training session. Our goal is to raise the standard of facilitation inside your organisation and help your people lead with more purpose and confidence.

Let’s Talk

Want your team to lead better sessions, build engagement and drive collaboration?
Get in touch to explore how we can support you with facilitator training that works.

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