Facilitation Lab
Facilitation Lab Sydney
Practice Playground: From Discussion to Decision
With Allan Ryan, Simon Townsend, Selena Griffith, and Leonie Cutts
In Partnership With Expert360
June 27, 2025
10:30am - 12:30pm AEST
Level 8/4 Martin Pl, Sydney NSW
Expert360
Level 8/4 Martin Pl, Sydney NSW 2000
Level 8/4 Martin Pl, Sydney NSW 2000
Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out, this is your safe playground to push boundaries, explore new methods, and level up your facilitation skills!
At Facilitation Lab Sydney, facilitators and collaborative leaders come together to experiment, refine, and grow through real-time practice and role-play – because we believe that learning by doing is the best way to develop our facilitation muscle!
We use a tried and tested role play format called Practice Playground, which is a dynamic, hands-on process to help us sharpen our skills in a low-stakes and interactive way.
This is a rare chance to practice in a truly safe and supportive environment, where we can test new techniques, experiment, take risks, and get valuable, constructive feedback from peers.
We’ll be practising the Gradients of Agreement approach. It helps you to move from discussion to decision. We will:
Make the most of your session
Come prepared to role-play and facilitate a new facilitation method or something you’ve been working on. We’ve found attendees who step up benefit the most because they receive tailored feedback, and leave with real growth and confidence.
At Facilitation Lab Sydney, facilitators and collaborative leaders come together to experiment, refine, and grow through real-time practice and role-play – because we believe that learning by doing is the best way to develop our facilitation muscle!
We use a tried and tested role play format called Practice Playground, which is a dynamic, hands-on process to help us sharpen our skills in a low-stakes and interactive way.
This is a rare chance to practice in a truly safe and supportive environment, where we can test new techniques, experiment, take risks, and get valuable, constructive feedback from peers.
We’ll be practising the Gradients of Agreement approach. It helps you to move from discussion to decision. We will:
- Explore frameworks and tools to help with decision-making and group convergence
- Collaboratively explore strategies to secure facilitation opportunities for your business
Make the most of your session
Come prepared to role-play and facilitate a new facilitation method or something you’ve been working on. We’ve found attendees who step up benefit the most because they receive tailored feedback, and leave with real growth and confidence.
June 27, 2025
10:30am - 12:30pm AEST
Level 8/4 Martin Pl, Sydney NSW
Expert360
Level 8/4 Martin Pl, Sydney NSW 2000
Level 8/4 Martin Pl, Sydney NSW 2000
Interested in a private cohort for your team?
Let us know
Spread the word
About Facilitation Lab Sydney
Facilitation Lab Sydney is a monthly in-person meetup for changemakers, collaborative leaders, and facilitators across Sydney. Our purpose is to foster learning by doing in a psychologically safe environment, building a strong and supportive community of peers across the region.
As Regional Lead, Allan cultivate a space for experimentation and collaborative leadership development, with a focus on people-powered organizational change.
Facilitation Lab Sydney is a global network of regions, including other virtual meetups organized by continent and in-person meetups organized by cities. See the region list for a full list of all active meetups.
You can also join us in the Facilitation Lab Community Hub to stay connected with the facilitation community and get reminders of all upcoming events.
Agenda
Opener
An attendee will lead us through an engaging opener
Practice & Role Play
Attendees take turns role-playing as facilitators and participants as we practices different methods
Debrief
After some quiet reflection we’ll debrief the role-play and key learnings
Closer
An attendee will lead us through a purposeful closer
Who Should Attend
Experienced & New Facilitators
Who want to level up their facilitation skills and enhance their ability to effectively engage participants
Chiefs of Staff
Who want to align initiatives across departments and ensure strategic projects are implemented successfully
Product & Project Managers
Who want to steer stakeholders to the best outcomes and learn best practices in stakeholder management
Teachers & Trainers
Who want to design the most impactful learning and create engaging learning experiences
Key Takeaways
Gain hands-on experience with a spectrum of facilitation techniques, from classic to cutting-edge.
Receive immediate, constructive feedback in a nurturing environment to refine your facilitation skills.
Explore the depths of your existing facilitation knowledge and boost your confidence through low-stakes practice sessions.
Realize the potential to learn from anyone, appreciating the value of diverse experiences and perspectives.
Featured Facilitators
Allan Ryan
With an engineer’s fascination for how things work, Allan Ryan has always been curious about the impact of innovation on organisations. Since completing his research at the Australian Graduate School of Management some 25 years ago, Allan has dedicated his career to helping leaders, teams, and organisations unlock their full potential and achieve a competitive edge through innovation. Once an executive and CEO, Allan is now a highly respected expert and thought leader. His comprehensive understanding of innovation strategy, collaboration, culture, and mindset spans diverse sectors. These include private, public, and not-for-profit, where he works with local and global organisations of all sizes.
Simon Townsend
Simon Townsend is a strategic facilitator and co-founder of TCS Insights, where he helps organisations navigate complex talent challenges through data-driven strategy and collaborative design. With a background in innovation and human-centred design, Simon excels at guiding teams through strategic planning, problem-solving, and transformation initiatives. He brings deep expertise in executive search, talent intelligence, and the application of emerging technologies to workforce strategy.
Selena Griffith
Selena Griffith is a seasoned leader with experience across NFP, Tertiary Education, Local government, Start-Up and Consumer Brands. She leverages her design, innovation, community development, and engagement skills to support Sustainability, Social Impact, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. As a systems thinker with a broad range of interests, Selena is a self-described specialist generalist, an author of papers and books on Collaboration, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, a producer of large-scale public artworks, an educator, and an entrepreneurial leader. She is passionate about working with people to create opportunities for them to deliver outstanding projects.
Leonie Cutts
Leonie is also an energetic and enthusiastic facilitator who has engaged with audiences all over the world. She is committed to creating training experiences that bring people together and compel them to genuinely share and connect. With a background in education and psychology, and over 18 years of building and delivering programs for managers and leaders, Leonie is passionate about drawing out people’s strengths to help them grow personally and to contribute to organisational intelligence.
In Partnership With
Expert360
Elite Talent, On-Demand. Expert360 helps you assemble fewer, better people around your projects to deliver business outcomes faster and cost-effectively.
What People are Saying
"The community’s warmth and generosity in tending to me and the issue made me feel cared for and supported. Beyond the suggestions, which were immediately useful, the culture of the community makes leaning into that growth edge easier, and more delightful."
Katrina Mitchell
Senior Technical Advisor, JHPiego
“I just wanted to say thanks for the great session last night. Your feedback and suggestions were fantastic. I left very energized!"
Dan Corbin
Instructor at Pragmatic Institute
Photo Disclaimer
Please note that photographs, video & audio recordings will be taken throughout this event. These will be used by Voltage Control for marketing and publicity in our publications, on our website and in social media, or in any third party publication. Please contact our events manager if you have any concerns or if you wish to be exempted from this activity.