ToP Course Offerings

Explore the landscape of facilitation and learn three key processes for activating group participation virtually, in our acclaimed flagship course modified for the virtual world.

Leading effective teams requires developing a culture that seeks everyone’s contributions, listens carefully, and honors all contributions – the essence of ToP. ToP Facilitation Methods are structured to help groups achieve shared awareness, shared agreement and turn ideas into actionable plans they own. Reading, discussing, designing, feedback, and facilitating one’s designs provides an intensive pathway to learning and applying ToP Facilitation Methods in your world, whether face to face or online.

ToP Strategic Planning teaches how to weave powerful ToP methods into an integrated approach to strategic planning and creation of plans that are realistic, achievable and easy to monitor. This method is especially useful with larger groups of stakeholders and groups holding diverse ideas. Strategic plans using this powerful process can be accomplished in as little as two days.

Generate meaningful, productive dialogue around any topic with this powerful, universally applicable framework.

Become skilled in facilitating the ToP Action Planning Method using an online platform with this hands-on practice lab for TFM graduates! Leave with an online template to use when hosting an Action Plan workshop.

Individuals, groups, and organizations are in the middle of recreating how we work together. Learn theories, tools, and techniques to help!

Explore the landscape of facilitation and learn three key processes for activating group participation in our acclaimed flagship course.

A sister to our flagship facilitation course, this extended three-day version highlights the role of the facilitative leader and offers additional practice opportunities in a more relaxed environment.

Generate meaningful, productive dialogue around any topic with this powerful, universally applicable framework.

Explore 10 creative, insightful tools to understand customer, staff or community perceptions and needs, delve into relevant data, and get groups on the same page to launch their work.

Plan and prepare a group project for launch, and develop shared commitment to timelines, tasks, and success measures in the time it takes to have a regular staff meeting.

90% of adults learn best when visuals are part of their learning experience! Learn how to activate the power of visual thinking in your meetings with color, imagery, and design.

Making Data Dance focuses on designing participatory processes for data gathering, review and analysis. We illustrate ways to ground groups in the data they need to make better decisions using the Focused Conversation and Consensus Workshop methods; share a straightforward tool to gather stakeholder perceptions; and provide an opportunity for you to actively participate in and apply the methods we share.

In today’s world of truncated timelines, increased workloads, and demands for workplace democracy, we need group decisions made quickly, positively, and with diminished frustration. We also need to ensure that meetings are effective, efficient, and highly productive. This course is designed for the person who needs tools to enhance participation and productivity in various types of meetings.

This highly interactive course introduces tools and practices that groups and teams can use to heighten their creativity quotient and foster innovative problem solving.

At some point in our career or community engagement we are tasked with leading a meeting. It is assumed that we know how. Not really! We attend a lot of meetings and can recognize one that is well run, worth everyone’s time, interesting, interactive, or fun, and was well managed. If you are curious how the facilitator pulled it off and had the confidence to manage the group dynamics -- and you would like to be this person -- this is the course for you.

ToP methods were created and refined through decades of community-based change work. This course follows the cycle of a community planning process, analysis, planning, implementation and evaluation. Learn both theoretical frameworks and practical tools to support authentic community engagement, community driven and led decision-making throughout a community project planning cycle. Participants will be an interactive learning community, learning from each other in addition to the tools and frameworks shared.

Weave a variety of ToP Facilitation Methods into an integrated approach to strategic planning, resulting in strong consensus around a realistic, achievable, measurable plan.

You created an inspiring vision and a great plan... now how do you actually get it DONE? This course offers a rich toolkit to keep plans and projects alive, relevant, and achievable during implementation.

Skyrocket your facilitation skills to the mastery level and build a supportive community of practice through this intensive and stimulating year-long learning experience.