Introduction to Liberating Structures

Are you tired of boring meetings? Would you like your meetings and events to be involving, focused and memorable?

Liberating Structures is a repertoire of over 30 methods to make your activities fully inclusive and more effective. All have been widely tested and are focused on results.

In this one-day introductory workshop, you will learn about the underlying principles of Liberating Structures and will experience a selection of these methods. It’s perfect if you have never used Liberating Structures before and would like to learn more, or if you have used them before and would like a refresher.

This workshop is currently available online as Face-to-Face Live Online Learning using Zoom for public bookings. We are able to offer classroom sessions for private bookings only — please get in touch for availability.

Course Overview

Prices

  • Standard Price

    £450*

  • SME
    Fewer than 250 staff

    £385*

  • Public Sector Price

    £330*

  • Large Charity
    Over 31+ staff

    £250*

  • Small Charity
    Fewer than 30 staff

    £195*

  • *Per person, excluding VAT

  • Duration

    1 day

  • Location

    Interactive online sessions delivered via Zoom. The link is sent to you after booking.

    Online
Course overviewSend us a message

Course overview 

What You Will Learn

What are Liberating Structures?

Liberating Structures (LS) are simple social technologies and tiny methods that disrupt conventional patterns in how we work together. Taken individually, each of the 33+ methods changes the way results are generated by a group. As a repertoire of complementary methods, they address many chronic challenges faced by groups.

When LS are introduced, many familiar approaches that people use all the time — presentations, open discussions, managed discussions, status reports, and brainstorms — become less attractive or fade away. LS make it possible to immediately and productively tap a group’s creative intelligence and generative potential. The precise and minimum way each LS is specified makes it possible for anyone to quickly start using them. LS remove the mystery behind effective participatory leadership, group facilitation, and hosting dynamic processes. Prepare to be surprised!

Themes Covered

This introduction will cover a range of the structures, including:

  • Mad Hatter’s Tea Party – A great way to boost the energy, have rapid discussions and meet a range of people
  • 124All – Ensure everybody gets the chance to and everybody contributes to the topic
  • Conversation Café – Build relationships and create a reflective discussion
    Troika – A novel way to get advice on a key problem from two colleagues
  • 248Decision – Involve everybody in quickly establishing a set of values, principles or behaviours
  • Triz – By exploring the worst possible outcome, spot the activities of your team that are getting in the way
  • 25/10 – Speedily find the best ideas from a wide range in a large group

Throughout the workshop you’ll learn about the underlying principles of Liberating Structures, how to introduce them in your own work, and hear stories about inventive ways people are applying them in diverse settings around the world.

This introduction is perfect for those who have never experienced Liberating Structures, while also being a useful practice and refresher session for those who have.

Which Liberating Structures workshop is for me?

Our one-day Introduction to Liberating Structures workshop is for people who are new to the Structures or want a refresher. Some basic Structures are covered as an introduction to the techniques.

Our half-day Using Liberating Structures Online workshop is specifically for those who want to use Structures online, such as in online workshops and presentations. This has been designed for those new to Liberating Structures, for those who have used them before in person and want to know how to use them online. Only basic Structures are covered.

Our one-day Liberating Structures Immersion Workshop is for those who want a deep dive into Liberating Structures and is for advanced users. You should attend the Introduction workshop if you have not used any Structures before. The Immersion covers 'strings', where you learn how to join the various Structures together to go on a journey to not only find a solution but how to implement it. Strings consist of at least two Structures and sometimes more. The Immersion Workshop is more of a deep dive into Liberating Structures for advanced users.

About Liberating Structures

The origins of Liberating Structures are described by co-developers--Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Group Learning Events

Looking for a private group event for your team, or even your whole organisation?

We can organise a date that works for you, and we can tailor the content to your team. Our private workshops can be held online, inhouse at your workplace or here at Happy's HQ in London.

Find out more and enquire now

What's it like to learn with Happy?

Be involved, engaged and challenged in our leadership programmes. In this video, Happy's Managing Director, Cathy Busani, delivers a session on Google’s Project Oxygen and the qualities of a great manager.

Book now

See our available course dates, or contact us for bespoke options.

Introduction to Liberating Structures
There are currently no upcoming public course dates available. Please email our team on hello@happy.co.uk and register your interest for this course. We'll let you know as soon as a date is available.

Not sure if this workshop is right for you? Call us:

020 7375 7300

Why choose Happy?

  • Learn the skills you need to succeed
  • Fun and interactive workshops, whether online or face-to-face
  • Learn in a confidential environment with our experienced facilitators
  • Small class sizes to give personal one-to-one support
  • Private group options available
  • No quibble money-back guarantee on all courses

The Small Print

For Face-to-Face Live Online Learning

All learners will need to install Zoom on their machines. Full technical requirements are on the Zoom website. Your link will be included in your joining instructions once you have booked your place — if you haven't received this email then please contact our team.

You should reserve out 10am to 4.30pm in your diary for the learning. This will allow you to join the interactive workshops and have time to reflect and do the assignments in between. We believe immersing yourself in the content for a whole day will create deep learning and lasting impact. 

Learners should log into the training session 10 minutes before the start time to ensure that they have downloaded and set up Zoom correctly. The course will start precisely on time and it may not be possible to go back over material missed by late arrivals.

Your active participation is expected: everyone will be heard and seen throughout, just as they would be if we were in a room together. To be heard, hear and seen you will need a microphone, speakers and camera — if you have a modern laptop that’s all you will need. Remember, you’ll need a quiet place to call from and a decent internet connection is a must.

Please ensure you read our Terms and Conditions before booking for our payment terms and cancellation policy.

For classroom sessions

All public classroom sessions take place at Happy's HQ in London at Robert Dolan House, 9 Alie Street, London E1 8DE. Please see our Contact Us page for full directions and a PDF map.

The course will run from 10am to 4:30pm (lunch is served 1pm to 1:45pm — we offer a choice of 3 cold bowl dishes). Please be careful to arrive by 9.45am for registration and refreshments. The course will start precisely on time and it may not be possible to go back over material missed by late arrivals. If you arrive over 30 minutes late you may be asked to leave and attend another day.

Please ensure you read our Terms and Conditions before booking for our payment terms and cancellation policy.

The happy Guarantee

We want everyone to go away from our courses feeling as though they have learnt useful, practical skills that they can use straight away when they go back to work.

If you don’t feel that your training has been useful or if you are unhappy in any way, please get in touch with our Customer Services team within 30 days of the course. We will be happy to offer you additional support and training free of charge to help you to gain the skills you need, or if you’d prefer, a full refund.

Coronavirus Policy

In light of the current Coronavirus outbreak we want all of our customers to be reassured that we are working to maintain the highest standards of Health and Safety. We are monitoring the situation closely and are following all current Government guidelines.

Please see our Coronavirus Policy for more details and the latest information.

If you have any questions or concerns, our friendly team are available Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. You can leave a message on 020 7375 7300 or email us at hello@happy.co.uk.

Did you know...

...one way to think about what you want is to think about what you least want and how you are already achieving that?

Happy runs a two-day Liberating Structures Immersion Workshop, which gives you hands-on experience of Liberating Structures. Find out more

We also offer a range of other leadership, personal development and personal effectiveness programmes. Take a look:

Happy Workplace Leadership Programme to enable you to gain personal insight and develop practical leadership and management skills to create a high performing team. Find out more

Be the Best You Can Be At Work to enhance your working relationships and give you the tools to manage your time more effectively. Find out more