Workshop Planning
Information card, MethodKit for Workshop Planning
Card 20 of 60 · MethodKit for Workshop Planning
  • ThemeLogistics & venue
  • CardCard 20 of 60
  • Questions5 to explore
Logistics & venue

Information

Information before, during & after the workshop

Participants arrive better prepared, calmer, and more ready to work when they have had the right information at the right time.

Information covers three different moments: what you send before the workshop, what you communicate during it, and what you share afterwards. Before the workshop, participants need practical details (location, start time, what to bring), and sometimes preparatory reading or a prompt to think about something in advance. During, they need to know where the toilets are, when the breaks are, and what is happening next. After, they need whatever was produced.

Information that arrives too late, in too many pieces, or mixed with promotional content is often not read. A single clear email a week before, with a one-page practical document attached, lands better than five shorter messages over a month.

During the workshop, a visible agenda on the wall saves time and reduces questions. People who can see the structure of the day relax more easily into the current activity because they are not worried about what comes next or whether there will be enough time.

Easy to missSend a single consolidated practical information email about one week before the event, because information sent too far in advance is forgotten and information sent the day before is too late for participants to prepare.

How experienced facilitators handle it

The same building block, handled by people who have run a lot of workshops. Patterns and illustrations to react to, not rules to follow.

One clear pre-workshop email

Experienced facilitators consolidate all practical information (address, start time, parking, what to bring, what to expect) into one well-formatted email sent about a week before, with a shorter reminder the day before.

Visible agenda in the room

They post the day's schedule somewhere visible from most seats, so participants can orient themselves without asking, and update it in front of the group if timing changes.

Decide what comes after

They decide before the workshop what will be sent to participants afterwards, who writes it, and by when, so the follow-up is not ad hoc.

Signal what is not happening

If participants might expect slides, a recording, or a written summary and will not get one, they say so before the workshop ends, not in response to individual follow-up emails.

Questions to plan around

Use these on your own or in a group. There are no right answers, only better conversations.

  1. What practical information do participants need before the workshop, and when will you send it?

  2. Is there any preparation you want participants to do or think about in advance?

  3. What will participants need to know during the workshop to feel oriented and at ease?

  4. What will you share after the workshop, and who is responsible for sending it?

  5. Is there anything participants might expect to receive that you are not planning to provide?

Watch for

  • Information buried in an event platform or registration system is often not read; send it as a direct email as well.
  • Participants who do not know when lunch is or how long the day runs spend mental energy on those questions instead of on the work.
  • Post-workshop summaries sent more than a week after the event arrive when participants have mentally closed the chapter; send them within three days.