DePaul University Group Facilitation Certificate Program

Module 4- Facilitating Virtual Meetings

Dates: Thursday, August 2 - Friday, August 3; 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM

Location: DePaul University Downtown Campus, Chicago, Illinois

Module 4 in the 7-module Group Facilitation Certificate Program series offered by DePaul University Continuing and Professional Education and delivered in partnership with Millennia Consulting, LLC. Learn how facilitation processes and tools can be used in leading virtual teams with the latest group decision support technology. Participants will be exposed to ThinkTank software provided by and in cooperation with GroupSystems Corp. Professors Danny Mittleman of DePaul University and Doug Druckenmiller of Western Illinois University will lead this module.

Overview

This hands-on seminar helps you understand facilitation processes and tool sets for successfully conducting virtual meetings. You will be provided practice opportunities for applying a representative set of facilitation tools over a variety of group processes.
This two day module addresses how to apply facilitation skills and techniques in a virtual meeting environment. This course is useful to those who need to lead teams separated by distance and facilitator consultants who occasionally work in such environments. The techniques presented also work well in a face to face technology supported facilitation environment.

The modules, "The Art and Science of Facilitation" and "Facilitating Basic Team Work" are considered a prerequisite but exceptions may be made.

Topics

Planning virtual meeting

Selecting and configuring virtual meeting technology (this module will neither teach the technical skills of installing and maintaining a virtual collaboration software, nor will such prior to knowledge be assumed as a prerequisite for the module)

Mapping previously learned facilitation techniques to virtual settings

Using new virtual-only facilitation techniques, including

Ideation techniques

Convergence and decision making techniques

Idea exploration techniques

Group authoring and editing techniques

This seminar is useful to those who need to lead teams separated by distance and facilitator consultants who occasionally work in such environments. The techniques presented also work well in a face to face technology supported facilitation environment.

Instructors

Dr. Daniel Mittleman is an Associate Professor at DePaul University. His research includes development of virtual facilitation processes; focus group, brainstorming and group writing techniques; as well as the architectural design of collaboration facilities. Dr. Mittleman has facilitated more than 700 meetings over the past fifteen years. He has served as an Associate Editor of IAF's Group Facilitation Journal. Dr. Mittleman has published several journal articles and book chapters in the area of group decision support and collaboration.

Dr. Douglas Druckenmiller is an Assistant Professor of Information Management at Western Illinois University. He incorporates virtual facilitation processes into his teaching, involving students in virtual teams working on collaborative projects. His research includes development of software to support facilitation processes involving systems dynamics modeling and thinking. Dr. Druckenmiller has more than 35 years of group facilitation experience using the ICA's Technology of Participation techniques, facilitated the first think tank for the IAF on technology supported facilitation, and has published several journal articles in the area of group decision support and problem formulation

Contact:

Janie Rollinson
DePaul University Continuing and Professional Education
312-362-8764
jrollin1@depaul.edu

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