Could This Be My Workshop Agenda?

In September, I joined Johnnie Moore's "Facilitation as Performance" workshop in Cambridge. One thing that caught my attention was how simple his workshop agenda was. I'd seen and used a similar agenda during a workshop I attended in 2025. Even back then, it planted a seed: "What if I used an agenda like this?"

So far, my approach has been quite the opposite. I've included a picture of the agenda we used during our public Liberating Structures Workshop. From the start, all exercises are visible. Although nothing is set in stone and plenty of things change along the way, it still creates expectations about what will happen and when.

My reasoning for sharing the entire program upfront has always been:
✅ Transparency: Everyone can see what's planned, what's coming next, and what to expect throughout the workshop.
✅ Coordination: When co-facilitating, it's easier to stay aligned, discuss what's coming next, and see whether we're on track.
✅ Anticipation: Participants can look ahead, see what's coming, and mentally prepare for upcoming activities.

But over time, I also started noticing some unintended side effects:
❌ Overwhelming: Seeing an entire workshop filled with exercises can feel like a lot, especially for participants who don't yet know what those exercises involve.
❌ Expectations: Once an exercise is visible on the agenda, people might start looking forward to it. Changing or skipping it suddenly feels like something you need to explain.
❌ Pressure: I sometimes caught myself rushing through conversations or exercises because I felt committed to everything on the agenda. Even though I knew the program was flexible, skipping something still felt a little like a loss.

So, I started experimenting with a minimal agenda. I visualized only the first exercises and gradually built up the agenda as we went along. Of course, I still set expectations about the learning goals and overall purpose, but without revealing too much detail about the activities.

What I noticed was not only a sense of calm in myself, but also in the group. We took more time for reflection, which meant we did fewer exercises. But I also noticed that participants seemed more present, focused, and engaged in what was happening, rather than what was coming next.

In the end, we ended up with a program quite different from what I originally had in mind. I made even more changes than usual, but participants weren't aware of most of them. They simply experienced the workshop as it unfolded.

That doesn't mean they had no say. At several moments, I invited their input: "Given what's happening right now, we have a few options. What would you prefer?" This let us shape the workshop together without feeling tied to a predefined schedule.

Definitely something I'll experiment with more often! 🥳