How to plan a workshop

A one-page canvas so the session has a purpose, the right people, and an agenda that can actually deliver.

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” — Abraham Lincoln

Good workshops are designed, not assembled the night before. Details usually live in a slide deck, a Teams chat, and someone’s memory. This workshop planning template pulls them onto one page — the 6 P’s of workshop preparation.

Use it for training, leadership offsites, team coaching, and any facilitated session where the room has to produce something.

The 6 P’s

Purpose

Why is this workshop happening?

The most important step. Purpose anchors everything else. If you cannot say what should be different when people leave, do not book the room.

Ask:

• Why is this workshop happening?
• What is the intended legacy of this workshop?
• What is the consequence of not holding it?

Practicalities

What will be required?

Rooms, stationery, equipment, lunch, access, recording. Anything that makes the day run — or fail quietly.

Ask:

• Where and when will the workshop take place?
• What room setup is required?
• What materials are required?

Participants

Who needs to be there?

A simple question. The hard part is saying no. Too many people and the conversation dies. Too few and the decision cannot stick.

Ask:

• Who is going to be there?
• What is their role in the workshop?
• What are their needs?

Products

What are the inputs and outputs?

Pre-work people must do, and the artefacts you expect to leave with. A workshop without a product is a meeting with better biscuits.

Ask:

• What are the inputs to the session?
• What needs to be prepared beforehand?
• What tangible items will we leave with?

Process

What is the agenda?

The activities that serve the purpose — not a list of slides. Include breaks. Tired rooms make polite, useless decisions.

Ask:

• What is the agenda?
• What steps are required to meet the purpose?
• When will the breaks be?

Principles

How will we work?

Listening, candour, phones down, how decisions get made. Write them down before someone tests them.

Ask:

• “We work best when…”
• How will decisions be made?
• What are the workshop values?

How to use the canvas

Start every workshop plan by filling the six boxes. Use it alone first, then share it with your facilitation team and the sponsor.

Once you have a few completed canvases, reuse them. The second workshop in a programme should take half the time to plan.

The canvas reduces the anxiety of forgetting a small detail, keeps everyone on the same page, and gives you a document you can stand in front of on the morning.

Example

A product-release workshop. Purpose: decide what ships this quarter and what waits. Participants: product, engineering, and the two people who will have to explain the trade-off to customers. Products: a sequenced backlog and a one-page comms note. Process: diverge on options, then a timed decision. Principles: no silent vetoes after the room.

Templates

• Miro. A virtual whiteboard version, ready to duplicate: Miro workshop template.
• PDF. Print the six boxes and fill them by hand before you open a deck.

This canvas was inspired by the 5 P’s of Michael Wilkinson and facilitators I learned from, especially Ellen Gottesdiener and Jean Tabaka.