Two of our coaches standing up and teaching a group of people around a table hoe to use a design thinking tool
Courses

Design Thinking Facilitation

Learn to facilitate design thinking workshops & get teams innovating
In-person
Facilitation

Overview

Course information

Across two days, our expert coaches will teach you how to facilitate design thinking workshops & lead innovation within a team. The course involves each member of the group facilitating a session to the other delegates and coaches and receiving personalised feedback – allowing everyone to gain the experience and confidence to deliver workshops where they work & beyond. This Design Thinking Facilitation training is for those who already know the theory and how to use the tools behind design thinking and want to learn valuable facilitation techniques.

What you’ll learn

  • The process of planning, designing & running a design thinking workshop.
  • How to use a variety of different tools to energise and inspire the group.
  • What you need to look out for in order to assess & improve your own facilitation skills.
  • How to identify and manage different personality types while leading a group towards a common goal.
  • The different ways in which you can apply facilitation skills within your work environment.

The coaching team:

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From £1,395.00 +VAT
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Who’s it for?

Our Design Thinking Facilitation course is for people who already have a working knowledge of design thinking and want to integrate these tools & techniques into their work more broadly. Alumni from the course have included workshop leaders from corporates, independent consultancies, startups, government departments & academic institutions. 

Across the two days of the course, you’ll gain hands-on experience of facilitation, while also getting coaching on how to manage a variety of different personality types within a wider group. You’ll gain an increased mastery of design thinking and learn to inspire others to think like designers. 

Whether you want to refine your facilitation skills or guide others to generate new ideas, this course will give you the skills to plan & run workshops for innovation. 

Day-by-day summary

Day 1:

Practice
Mastering the basics of facilitation

We start by exploring the main skills of facilitation, before trying them out on a challenge that runs across the two days. Led by one of our expert facilitators, you’ll facilitate one of three design thinking activities. You’ll learn how to guide your group towards a solution, what you can do to keep them motivated & how to manage a team member who’s role-playing a disruptive personality type. With group discussion after each session, you can reflect on your learning and incorporate this knowledge as you go. 

Topics covered 

  • How to facilitate effectively 
  • Maintaining energy in the room 
  • Keeping focussed on a specific goal 
  • Mitigating disruptive influences 

Day 2:

Progress
Assess, improve and implement

Day two develops your facilitation skills further in more advanced sessions. Alongside hands-on practice, you’ll analyse how your approach can affect the group’s productivity. There will also be time to discuss your own projects, so that you leave the course with techniques you can apply at work. Throughout the day, our coaches will observe you in action and suggest ways for you to take your skills to the next level. 

The day ends with certificates being awarded & a chance to network with the coaches and fellow delegates. Each delegate will also be given the opportunity to have a 30 minute follow-up phone call with one of the coaches a few weeks after the session. 

Topics covered 

  • Increasing group productivity 
  • Translating these skills into your work 
  • Specific technical areas to improve  

What Design Thinking Facilitation alumni say

This course was outstanding! I learned a lot of practical tips and tricks through hands-on application. The instructors are fantastic and the course is well designed. Highly recommend!

Kristin Bunnell
Creative Director, Ignition Creative Group

10/10 course - would recommend it to anyone!

Ella O'Regan
Head of Transformation, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

Great people, energy and content focused on practical application in a safe and fun setting.

Jess Horne
Digital strategy Director, Experience Design

Do this course! It will change how you do things in a really good way.

Melissa Bustamante
Head of Computer Science and Creative Technology, St Paul’s Girls’ School

The coaches/ facilitators at the Design Thinkers Academy London are masters of their art. Hands down the best training course I’ve been on.

Bee Heller
Partner, The Pioneers

Our live teaching approach

Expert coaching Reveal more
Learning from experienced design thinkers & interactive workshops.
Collaborative innovation Reveal more
Co-creating with others & exploring how to drive innovation within a team.
Networking opportunities Reveal more
Connecting with people from around the world & expanding personal networks.

The coaching team

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Arnoud Koning

Design Thinking Facilitator
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Dave Caygill

Strategist & Coach

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FAQs

What is design facilitation?

Design facilitation is the process of bringing people together to explore ideas & synthesising these to create better solutions. This could take the form of designing a new product of service to take to market, clarifying the purpose of a team, or anything else for which it is important to consider different perspectives. 

What underpins design facilitation is design thinking, a human-centred frame of mind which places the end user at the heart of all design decisions. Throughout this course, our coaches provide workshop facilitation training to ensure you can draw out everyone’s ideas within a group and guide a team towards a shared goal. 

Are meals provided during the course?

Yes, on each day of this course we provide a vegetarian lunch. If you have any additional dietary requirements, please contact us and we will ensure a suitable meal is provided.

Will I get a certificate after the course? 

Yes, everyone who graduates from one of our courses receives a certificate as evidence they have completed our training.  

You will be able to share the design thinking facilitator certification you receive after this course, and we offer further courses to grow your workshop facilitation skills if you’re interested in pursuing this in your career. 

Is this a residential course? 

No, our Design Thinking Facilitation course is taught at our studio in London and attendees from outside the city will need to book accommodation. If you would like a list of local hotel reservations, please get in touch and we can provide one for you. 

How can I become a design thinking facilitator? 

If you want to improve your workshop facilitation skills, then we offer Advanced Facilitation and Facilitation Mastery training courses to hone your skills further after taking this introductory Design Thinking Facilitation course. If you book tickets to all three courses, you can benefit from a discounted rate through our sliding scale concessionary prices. 

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