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.

Gain real world experience in applying ToP methods in leadership situations. This unique course provides an understanding of ToP along with hands on experience to deepen your capacity to use it in your work. This course offers small group and personalized one-to-one coaching, reference materials, and opportunities to design facilitation plans for your unique situation. Ideal for leaders who want higher engagement and motivation from teamwork.

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.

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 responding and adapting to changing work and local and global environments. Explore the theories, tools, and techniques to create designs that will meet your group's needs.

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.

Re-strategize for new situations, explore ways to meet deliverables in a virtual environment, bring new partners to the table mid-stream, and stay participatory and collaborative through virtual communication.

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

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

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.