ThemePurpose & people
CardCard 28 of 60
Questions5 to explore
StepStart with why

Participants

How many? Who are they? Reason for attending?

Who is in the room shapes what is possible, and you need to know that before you design the session.

Participants is the practical question of who will actually be in the room: how many people, who they are, what their relationship is to each other and to the topic, why they are attending, and whether they chose to come or were told to. These are not just logistics; they are design inputs. A session for eight people who volunteered and are curious looks completely different from a session for thirty people with mixed seniority levels who were told to attend.

The number matters more than people expect. Activities that work beautifully for twelve become unwieldy for twenty-five. A fishbowl works for twenty but not for six. Breakout groups change in character depending on whether you have three groups of four or eight groups of three. Do the arithmetic on your exercises with the actual headcount, not an assumption.

The reason for attending shapes the energy in the room from the start. A participant who chose to be there brings different energy than one who was sent. A participant who has been asking for this kind of session for months brings something different than one who is in the middle of a crisis. Knowing this in advance lets you open the day in a way that meets people where they are.

Easy to missConfirm the exact headcount at least a week before and adjust any exercises that break into groups, because an activity designed for twenty people can feel quite different with fourteen or twenty-six.

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.

Calculate the arithmetic

Experienced facilitators run the group math before the day: how many breakout groups, how long each round-robin takes, how many wall spaces or flipcharts are needed. Group size changes everything.

Find out who sent them

They find out whether participants were invited, self-selected or directed to attend, because it tells them something important about the motivation and authority in the room.

Know the seniority mix

Mixed seniority groups have power dynamics that affect how people speak (or do not speak). Experienced facilitators design to even that out where possible: anonymous input, individual writing before group discussion, structured turns.

Map the relationships

In groups where people know each other well, trust is already there but so are the usual patterns and coalitions. In groups of strangers, you have to build enough safety first. Both require different opening moves.

Questions to plan around

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

How many people are actually coming, and have you confirmed that number recently enough to plan around it?
Do the participants know each other, and if so, what are the existing relationships and dynamics?
Why is each person attending: did they choose this, or were they sent?
What is the mix of seniority, background and perspective in the room, and how does that affect the design?
Do participants have any shared history with this topic or with each other that will shape how they engage?

Watch for

The headcount you plan for and the number who actually show up are often different. Exercises that require an even number of groups or pairs break when it is not.
A group of colleagues who work together every day is not the same as a group of strangers. The familiarity changes what is easy to say, who speaks first and what stays unsaid.
People who were told to attend rather than choosing to come often need more care at the start: a clear answer to 'why are we here' before they will engage with 'what are we doing'.