# Workshop formats and facilitator responses

## Select a method

- **Strategy or prioritization:** establish evidence and constraints, generate or clarify options, compare trade-offs, record the recommendation or authorized decision, and assign follow-through. Define the decision rule before voting.
- **Discovery:** surface experiences, map the current process or situation, identify conflicting accounts, and prioritize questions to investigate. Do not require a final strategy from incomplete evidence.
- **Design thinking:** use customer evidence to frame a problem, generate alternatives, make a representation, and test it. Mark assumptions when user research is missing. Do not claim a prototype is validated because participants liked it.
- **Design sprint:** adapt map, sketch, decide, prototype, and test to the slot and available users. A compressed session may produce a test plan rather than tested results; state the distinction.
- **Multi-day offsite:** use the interval for reflection and synthesis, then revisit unresolved questions before decisions. Do not forbid new evidence on the second day merely because an agenda labels it convergence.
- **Retrospective:** identify observed outcomes, contributing conditions, and specific changes to try. Avoid attributing blame without evidence or forcing consensus on conflicting experiences.

## Example: 90-minute hybrid decision session

Illustrative agenda; adapt the activities and authority to the actual brief.

| Elapsed time | Minutes | Activity | Output |
|---|---:|---|---|
| 0–10 | 10 | Objective, authority, and essential evidence | Shared decision and constraints. |
| 10–20 | 10 | Silent option assessment in shared workspace | Independent views before discussion. |
| 20–40 | 20 | Structured sharing, including remote participants | Differences and evidence gaps. |
| 40–45 | 5 | Break | Reset. |
| 45–65 | 20 | Test trade-offs and feasibility | Comparable feasible options. |
| 65–80 | 15 | Recommendation and authorized decision, or open conditions | Decision record or explicit unresolved questions. |
| 80–90 | 10 | Actions, dissent, owners, and close | Accountable follow-through. |

The durations total 90 minutes. If the decider leaves earlier, bring the decision forward or establish an authorized delegate; do not claim a later group vote has their approval.

## Facilitation responses

| Signal | Useful response |
|---|---|
| One voice dominates | Use independent written input and structured turns before further debate. |
| The group is quiet | Allow reflection time, offer written input, and check whether the question is clear or psychologically difficult. |
| Evidence conflicts | Record both claims and identify what would reconcile them; do not vote a fact into existence. |
| Options tie | Apply the agreed rule, inspect the differentiating criterion, or ask the authorized decider. |
| Scope drifts | Capture the question, explain its effect on the session objective, and agree whether to trade agenda time. |
| Pre-work is missing | Supply essential context and narrow the intended output. |
| A participant challenges the premise | Test the challenge rather than classifying it as resistance automatically. |
| Time runs short | Cut lower-value activity, record unresolved conditions, and protect the close. |

## Access and failure modes

Provide materials in a form participants can use. Avoid relying on camera visibility, color alone, standing exercises, or one inaccessible whiteboard tool. Ask for relevant access needs when necessary and adapt to known constraints without assumptions about national culture or personality.

For tool failure, use a shared document, accessible text channel, or voice plus a visible record. Physical notes can work in person but need an equivalent remote contribution and view in hybrid sessions. If connectivity removes meaningful participation, pause or change the decision status. A fallback that excludes a stakeholder is not equivalent participation.

## Outputs and records

Capture the source of inputs, recommendation, decision-maker, accepted trade-offs, dissent, and actions. Respect recording and attribution agreements. A summary should distinguish what happened from what the facilitator recommends next. Use available tools for materials or files and inspect them for usability before delivery.