Workshop Planner and Session Design

Workshop Planning

Before starting a workshop, make sure to set expectations and be aligned about the outcomes. Use the workshop planner as a guide to discuss the key areas for preparation:

• Problem: What deeper (business) problem are we trying to solve?

• Purpose: Why this workshop? How is it helping to solve the problem?

• Outcomes: What tangible and intangible outcomes are expected?

• Team: What expertise do we need, who needs to be there?

• Input: What knowledge exists and needs to be provided?

• Logistics: Where is the workshop happening and what do we need?

Session Design

Once you have the structure, you can dive into mapping out activities and individual steps for your workshop session. A workshop often has the following phases:

• Before (preparation & input)

• Opening

• Divergent thinking (collecting ideas and input)

• Convergent thinking (creating alignment)

• Closing

• After (sharing outcomes)