Participation is becoming the dominant way of making decisions in organizations and communities.

include everyone's wisdom diversity becomes an asset	help groups deal with many ideas reveal deeper patterns of thinking	build healthy consensus turn polarization into cooperation
enhance group innovation and productivity	spark effective implementation	foster a "Culture of Participation"

Are you ready - - - to meet the challenges and maximize the opportunities?

The expectation that people will have genuine opportunities to participate in planning and decision making is very real. People expect to be asked to participate, and organizations of all kinds are responding with structural changes that place increasing responsibility in the hands of front-line teams.

And yet, a survey of senior managers in the United States found them saying that 80% of all the meetings they attended were "worthless." The cost of such wasted time, money and morale, is huge.

When you listen to the complaints about meetings, you hear things like:

• We never get to the real issues.
• The same people talk all the time.
• We never make real decisions.
• We just go around and around.
• All people do is argue.
• People don't really listen.
• People come late and leave early.
• People don't really pay attention.
• Afterward, people do what they want to do.
• We always talk about the same thing.

ToP™ courses use an experiential learning approach. You will experience the methods in use, talk about the theory behind them, prepare facilitation plans, practice them in small groups, and get feedback on your style and skills.

You’ll leave these courses ready to immediately apply what you’ve learned. Many participants are able to apply ToP methods right away. The course provides you with practical tools and ways to adapt and apply them in a variety of situations. These courses promote facilitative leadership and aid those who are creating a culture of participation in the workplace.

The ToP™ faculty brings a wealth of up front facilitation and training experience with large and small businesses, not-for- profits, community agencies, governmental organizations, educational institutions and neighborhoods. They are skilled at both transferring these methods and answering your questions about how these methods work..

For local ToP training, please contact an ICA near you.

Our comprehensive participant workbook, which clearly outlines the steps for each method, is a practical tool for your future use. Participants are welcome to call us for practical coaching following a course.

Programs are all presented in a relaxed and interactive small group learning environment. Courses are intentionally limited in size to insure the highest levels of participation and learning.

There are many ToP facilitation courses offered around the world. ToP facilitators are also able to design specific programs to train facilitative leaders that can be delivered on site. For local ToP training, please contact an ICA near you.