---
title: "Workshop"
description: "Plan a four-hour workshop with a worked example for 24 people, practical instructions and editable files. Adapt the problem, evidence and decision authority before using it. This is an illustrative design, not a tested result."
last_updated: "2026-09-29"
canonical: "https://unitedwetransform.com/workshop-agenda-template/"
---

# Illustrative four-hour workshop for 24 participants

## Scope
A fictional workshop about improving an internal request handoff. It uses 24 in-person participants at four tables of six, from 09:00 to 13:00 in local venue time. The 240 minutes include a break and all changeovers. This is a planning example, not a tested client outcome.

## Objectives
1. Compare options for a clearer request handoff.
2. Design a small test whose completion and observations can be checked.

## Outputs
1. An option sheet per table, separating facts, assumptions, criteria and unresolved questions.
2. One consolidated small-test plan, including an accepted owner, due date, review date and evidence to check.

## Setup
- Confirm a facilitator, a sponsor with stated decision authority and one recorder at each of four tables. The 24 participants include the table recorders; facilitator and sponsor are additional roles unless assigned from the group.
- Prepare a short fictional or approved, redacted request-handoff example. Remove customer identifiers and separate confirmed observations from assumptions.
- Provide paper, pens, option-sheet and test-plan headings, a visible timer and a shared board. Agree a private place for approved notes.
- Check accessible routes, seating, print size and hearing needs in advance. Offer individual writing and a recorder as alternatives to speaking. No one must disclose personal experience.
- Ask the sponsor to state the decision boundary, available time and resources. If essential evidence or authority is missing, use the session to document questions instead of forcing a decision.

## Limits
- This example covers one bounded process question. It does not establish that the chosen change will improve results.
- Use a different process for confidential personnel disputes, acute conflict, or high-stakes decisions without the required expertise and authority.
- Remote and hybrid sessions need a redesigned interaction, access and timing plan. This example assumes everyone is in the room.
- Do not scale beyond 24 participants without reviewing staffing, table reporting time and access. Protect the break and final ownership review; reduce scope if time slips.

## Schedule
| Time | Minutes | Session | Room / Track | Owner | Output | Changeover | Instructions |
|------|---------|---------|--------------|-------|--------|------------|--------------|
| 09:00-09:15 | 15 | Set the contract | Main room / Whole group | Facilitator | Option sheet: question, boundaries and decision criteria | Included in the final recording minutes; no extra time. | Spend 3 minutes framing the handoff question, 4 clarifying authority and constraints, and 6 agreeing criteria such as clarity, effort and access. Use the last 2 minutes to record the contract and move to the evidence. |
| 09:15-09:45 | 30 | Read the evidence | Main room / Four tables of six | Facilitator | Option sheet: facts, assumptions and missing evidence | Included in the final recording minutes; no extra time. | Spend 5 minutes reading the approved example, 10 marking facts separately from assumptions, and 12 discussing missing evidence at each table. Record open questions and reset the board in the final 3 minutes. Do not copy private identifiers. |
| 09:45-10:25 | 40 | Generate options | Main room / Four tables of six | Facilitator and table recorders | Option sheet: distinct approaches and open questions | Included in the final recording minutes; no extra time. | Use 5 minutes to frame the question. Give 5 minutes for quiet individual ideas, 10 to share or pass, and 15 to develop distinct options. Each table records its options and prepares one short explanation in the final 5 minutes. |
| 10:25-10:40 | 15 | Break | Main room / Whole group | Facilitator | No work expected | Return by 10:40; movement is included in the break. | Take the full 15 minutes away from the task. Offer a quiet resting place. Return by 10:40; any walking time is inside this break. |
| 10:40-11:10 | 30 | Compare options | Main room / Whole group | Facilitator | Option sheet: comparisons against agreed criteria | Included in the final recording minutes; no extra time. | Use 2 minutes to restate the agreed criteria. Give each of four tables 3 minutes to explain its options, for 12 minutes total. Spend 13 comparing tradeoffs and missing evidence. Use the last 3 minutes to record the comparison. |
| 11:10-11:30 | 20 | Choose a test | Main room / Whole group | Sponsor decision owner | Small-test plan: selected question and recorded objections | Included in the final recording minutes; no extra time. | Spend 5 minutes reviewing constraints, 8 examining objections and 5 on the sponsor decision. The sponsor selects a bounded test only within the agreed authority. Record the reason and unresolved objections in the final 2 minutes. If evidence or authority is insufficient, record the gap instead. |
| 11:30-12:10 | 40 | Build the test plan | Main room / Four tables of six | Facilitator and table recorders | Small-test plan: steps, starting process and observations to collect | Included in the final recording minutes; no extra time. | Use 5 minutes to assign four parts of one plan: steps, starting process and observations, risks and stop conditions, and resources and access. Tables work in parallel for 15 minutes. Spend 15 combining their parts into one plan and 5 recording remaining questions. |
| 12:10-12:35 | 25 | Challenge the plan | Main room / Whole group | Facilitator | Small-test plan: revised risks and stop conditions | Included in the final recording minutes; no extra time. | Use 5 minutes to read the combined plan, 8 to identify failure cases, and 10 to revise its steps and stop conditions. Record changes and remaining uncertainty in the final 2 minutes. A plausible plan is not evidence that the test has worked. |
| 12:35-12:55 | 20 | Accept ownership | Main room / Whole group | Sponsor decision owner | Small-test plan: accepted owner, dates and evidence access | Included in the final recording minutes; no extra time. | Spend 5 minutes proposing the action owner and evidence reviewer, 8 agreeing due and review dates plus evidence access, and 5 obtaining explicit acceptance. Record open assignments in the final 2 minutes. Do not assign work to absent colleagues. Keep unresolved ownership visible. |
| 12:55-13:00 | 5 | Close | Main room / Whole group | Facilitator | Small-test plan: agreed next step and sharing boundary | Included in the final recording minutes; no extra time. | Use 2 minutes to restate the agreed plan, 2 to confirm sharing permissions and the next review, and 1 to save the approved record and close. Invite written feedback or a pass; no public promise or group photo is required. |

## Illustrative redesign notes
- **Before**: A fictional four-hour workshop jumps from problem talk to a preferred solution.
  **After**: Read evidence, generate options, agree criteria and record the sponsor decision before planning a test.
  **Reason**: This makes assumptions, tradeoffs and decision authority inspectable. It does not guarantee the best choice.
- **Before**: A fictional agenda uses its final minutes for more discussion and leaves ownership unspecified.
  **After**: Reserve 20 minutes for accepted ownership and evidence, followed by a five-minute close.
  **Reason**: A written plan allows a later review. Whether anyone completes it must still be observed.

## Follow Up
- Share only the approved option sheets and test plan with the agreed group. Keep private evidence in the approved location.
- At the agreed review date, record what happened and what remains unknown. No reply is not proof that no work occurred.
- Compare the observations with the recorded starting process. Decide whether to continue, revise or stop; a completed action alone does not establish impact.

## Source URL
https://unitedwetransform.com/workshop-agenda-template/

## Continue planning
- [Record owners, dates and evidence with the follow-up worksheet](https://unitedwetransform.com/meeting-follow-up-mechanism/)
- [Adapt the longer conference example](https://unitedwetransform.com/conference-agenda-template/)


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