Welcome

SessionLab
Welcome
Large group workshops, team alignment meetings, training

Essential Meeting sessions, design sprints, project kick-offs, facilitated group

sessions — these are all important vehicles for businesses and
nonprofits alike to achieve their goals, and a well-designed process

Facilitation
with proper facilitation is essential to getting the results you need.

At SessionLab we aim to support communities and organisations in having

effective meetings and empower facilitators to run impactful sessions. So when

Toolkit
people are convened to any kind of meeting, they are guided through a
well-designed process to reach the desired outcomes. This is why we curate a
public library of facilitation methods (www.sessionlab.com/library) to enable
the sharing of facilitation best practices between people who run meetings.

This toolkit was created to help you make your meetings and workshops more
effective, engaging and structured by utilizing some of the best facilitation
methods that we love using.

What do I get in this toolkit?

In the following pages you will find 12 high-quality meeting facilitation
methods reviewed and adapted from the SessionLab library. They are
categorized into four areas based on stages of a meeting, and each activity has
a detailed description explaining how to run them, combined with specific
facilitator tips drawn from practical experience of running these activities.

When should I use these activities?

The activities selected in this toolkit aim to solve the various issues that may
come up in a wide range of meetings. These methods are used by facilitators,
designers, corporate trainers and meeting practitioners. They help you to
effectively open and close sessions, explore opportunities, generate ideas, make
decisions, and inspire actions.

Whether you use one or all of these activities, you will get to build shared
understanding and solve challenges collectively with your group.

Version 1.3
 Methods 4

Methods Six Thinking Hats

clock users File

Bring balanced perspectives to a discussion

through a structured parallel thinking
check check 30-120 2-20 15
The activities described below are categorized into four areas process.
according to the stage of a meeting when they can be used.
Dot-voting
OPENING DIVERGENCE CONVERGENCE CLOSING Support a group in quickly selecting the check 10-30 2-40 17
Activities to help Activities to explore Activities to Activities to wrap best options from a set of options.
kick off a group and understand a facilitate up a meeting, tie
session. situation and to decision-making up loose ends and
generate ideas. and action-setting. inspire action. Start, Stop, Continue
They help widen the They help the group Improve on a situation by looking at type of check check 10-60 2-20 19
group's thinking so narrow down the action to start, stop and continue doing.
opportunities are set of available
properly explored options and come to
before conclusions. One Breath Feedback
decision-making Run an effective verbal feedback round in a check 5-15 2-20 20
begins. time-bound situation.
Number of participants
Letter to Myself
Time Page
needed number
Inspire action and support group members check 10-30 2-40 21
in applying their insights after a session.
clock users File
IDOARRT Finger Rules
Clarify a meeting’s purpose and structure check 10-30 2-40 5
Establish simple rules and hand signs for check check check check 5-10 3-40 23
with the group.
more structured and efficient discussions.

What are you bringing to the meeting? Parking Lot

Help participants mentally arrive at the check 5-15 2-40 7
Keep the group focused by putting
meeting and leave other matters behind.
tangential topics aside for the end of
check check check check 10-30 2-40 25

meeting.
Brainwriting
Generate and share ideas while equally check 30-60 2-40 9
involving all group members.

One, Two, Four

Explore a topic in a structured discussion check 30-60 4-40 11
round. Find these and many other methods online in the SessionLab library

SWOT Analysis
Analyse a situation considering internal
strengths & weaknesses, and external
check check 60-120 2-20 13

opportunities & threats.

5 OPENING | DIVERGENCE | CONVERGENCE | CLOSING IDOARRT 6

IDOARRT
To support you in leading an effective meeting
or group process by setting out a clear purpose,
structure and goals together with your participants
at the very beginning of the meeting.
FLOW
1 At the beginning of the meeting, introduce the IDOARRT model (the letters
and their meaning).
2 Go through it and invite participants to clarify and agree on each point.
For example, if the intention of the meeting is to make a specific decision
and participants agree on this Intention, then write it on the flipchart next
to ‘Intention’.
3 Once the group is happy and aligned with the plan, go ahead with the rest
of the meeting.

FF 10-30 min `` Flipchart paper or Whiteboard

ÌÌ 2-40 participants `` Markers

PREPARATION
Before the meeting, prepare a flipchart or slide outlining all the points of
IDOARRT:

Intention What is the intention, or purpose, of the meeting? In other

words, “Why are we here today?”
Desired What specific outcomes should be achieved by the end of the
Outcome(s) meeting?
Agenda What activities will the group go through, and in what order, to
move toward the desired outcome?
Roles What roles or responsibilities need to be assigned for the
meeting to run smoothly? Who will facilitate, and who will
participate? Who will be documenting, and who will keep track
of the time? What is expected of the participants?
Rules What guidelines will be in place during the meeting? These
could relate to agreed upon group norms; they could also relate
to use of laptops/mobiles, or practical rules related to use of

LIGHTBULB
a space. Let the participants suggest rules to ensure that they
have ownership of them.
Time What is the expected length of the meeting, including breaks, Facilitator Tips
and at what time will the meeting end?
• You can prepare beforehand the answers to all or some of the IDOART points
and present it to the group, but be flexible and prepared to modify the
structure of the meeting according to participants’ needs/suggestions.

Source: Hyper Island Toolbox

Available at: www.sessionlab.com/methods/idoarrt-meeting-design
7 OPENING | DIVERGENCE | CONVERGENCE | CLOSING What are you bringing to the meeting? 8

What are you bringing to the

meeting?
LIGHTBULB Facilitator Tips
• Leave open the option to pass — but encourage people to say at least one
thing. Explain that the purpose is not to delve into personal affairs or reveal
Check in at the beginning of a meeting to see how secrets!

participants are feeling, how their energy level is
and what might distract them.
• At the end of the meeting/project, or when planning the next one, ask people
whether this introductory activity was helpful and whether the group would
like to do it before each meeting.
• If someone shared a particularly disturbing/problematic situation, invite them
to talk further later if they need support from other team members.

FF 5-15 min `` Chairs arranged in a circle

ÌÌ 2-20 participants

FLOW
1 Ask people to take a few moments to reflect alone on the following
questions in order to ‘check in’ to the meeting:

oo How is my energy level?

oo What have I been doing throughout the day so far?
oo What else is occupying my mind that is not related to this
meeting/task?

2 Each person briefly tells the group “where they are at” to finish checking in.

3 Ask them to try to put aside their situations and thoughts for the duration
of this meeting.

Source: Teampedia
Available at: www.sessionlab.com/methods/what-are-you-bringing-to-the-meeting
9 OPENING | DIVERGENCE | CONVERGENCE | CLOSING Brainwriting 10

Brainwriting
LIGHTBULB Facilitator Tips
Brainwriting is a simple way to generate ideas, • Due to the silent nature of brainstorming, this method involves each
share them, and subsequently build on them participant equally and keeps the loudest or most senior participants from
within a group. overly influencing the brainstorming. This technique gives you certainty that
you’ll hear from every player in the room.
• Similarly, this activity might also work well when you have a group of
participants who don’t know each other well.
• Brainwriting also allows ideas to emerge before being critiqued and creates a
FF 30-60 min `` Index cards
space for them to be co-created, with multiple owners, and therefore allows a
ÌÌ 4-40 participants. Group smaller `` Pens/Markers greater chance of follow-through.
than 10 people are ideal, though
parallel groups are possible.

PREPARATION
1 In a space visible to the participants, write the topic around which you need
to generate ideas and draw a picture of it.

2 Distribute index cards to each player and ask them to silently generate ideas
related to the topic and write them on the cards.

3 As they complete each idea, ask the players to pass that idea to the person
on their right.

4 Tell the players to read the card they received and think of it as an “idea
stimulation” card. Ask them to add an idea inspired by what they just read
or to enhance the idea and then pass it again to their right.

5 Continue this process of “brainwriting” and passing cards to the right until
everyone has written ideas on every card.

6 Once finished, collect the cards and ask for help taping them to the wall
around the topic and its picture.

7 Have the group come to the wall to review the ideas and draw stars next to
the ones they find most compelling. Discuss.

Source: Gamestorming
Available at: www.sessionlab.com/methods/brainwriting
11 OPENING | DIVERGENCE | CONVERGENCE | CLOSING One, Two, Four 12

4
One, Two, Four Assign work in pairs. Ask participants to formulate pairs and discuss their
answers to the question(s). Announce a time limit of 3 to 5 minutes.

5 Assign working in groups. After the time limit has expired, ask participants
to form a group with another pair. Invite group members to share
This is a structured discussion activity for
information from their previous paired discussions and to discuss the same
exploring a topic by answering questions in three question one more time. Announce a time limit of 5-7 minutes. Ask team
different set-ups: individually, in pairs and in members to use the flipchart (if available) for taking notes.
teams.
6 Optional: You may ask the teams to prepare their findings on a flipchart in
order to report it back to the whole group. Give 2 minutes to each group.
Alternatively, you may organise a flipchart gallery from all the smaller
groups’ flipcharts.
FF 30-60 min (depends on the `` Paper and pen for each
number of questions and rounds) participants 7 Move on to the next set of questions, and start again with the process from
ÌÌ 4-40 participants `` Flipchart papers for teamwork step 2: first individual reflection, then working in pairs, and then in groups.

`` Slides with discussion questions

(optional)
`` Timer (optional)

PREPARATION
Specify a set of questions for each round of conversation, ideally one to three
questions per round. Prepare one slide or flipchart paper with the questions for
each round.

LIGHTBULB
FLOW
1 Introduce the process to participants. Participants will discuss each topic
Facilitator Tips
in 3 steps, first through individual reflection, then discussion in pairs, then
in groups. • It is recommended not to do more than 3 rounds of 1-2-4 conversations in
order to avoid too much repetitive interaction.
Optional: After the group discussion step, groups report their findings back
to the whole group. • If you have an odd number of participants, have one group of 3 people instead
of a pair in the middle round.
2 Introduce the first question. Project a slide with this question or write it on
• This activity enables participants to experience three different modes:
the flipchart. (You may include more than one question). Hand out pen and
individual, partnership, and team. At the end of the session, you can conduct a
paper to each participant.
debriefing discussion to encourage participants to reflect on these experiences
3 Assign individual work. Ask participants to reflect individually on the and gain some insight into and about their preferred working style.
question(s) and write down their answers. Give a time limit of 2-3 minutes.
Source: Thiagi Group
Available at: www.sessionlab.com/methods/one-two-four-dialogue
13 OPENING | DIVERGENCE | CONVERGENCE | CLOSING SWOT Analysis 14

4
SWOT Analysis Cluster post-it notes: Review each quadrant and with the players’
collaboration, sort the ideas based on their affinity to other ideas. For
example, if they produced three post-it notes that say “good sharing of
information”, “information transparency”, and “people willing to share
data”, cluster those ideas together. Create multiple clusters until you have
This exercise is broad enough to work well as an
clustered the majority of the post-it notes. Place outliers apart from the
opening or closing exercise. It’s useful for framing clusters but still within playing range.
discussions at “problem-solving” meetings, or as
a way to brainstorm aspirational steps toward a 5 After the sorting and clustering are complete, start a group conversation
to create a broad “title” for each smaller cluster. For example, a “title”
vision. for the above-mentioned cluster might be “Communication”. As the group
makes suggestions and agrees on categories, write those categories in the
appropriate quadrants.
FF 60-120 min `` Flipchart paper
6 Summarize the overall content created in the conversation and ask players
ÌÌ 2-20 participants `` Pens/Markers to discuss the implications.
`` Post-it notes

PREPARATION
Create a four-square quadrant
using four sheets of flipchart
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
LIGHTBULB Facilitator Tips

paper, one for each aspect of
the SWOT:
OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
FLOW
1 Agree with your participants on the scope of the SWOT: what exactly will
you be analysing and toward which goals will you evaluate your strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
2 Ask the players to take a few minutes and quietly generate ideas about the
strengths their project/organisation has and write them on post-it notes,
one idea per post-it note. Invite participants to stick their notes on the
Strengths quadrant. If any idea is unclear, ask the person to clarify. Mention
that they may relate their ideas to ones already posted in the case that they
have duplicate, related, or similar ideas.
3 Continue idea generation for the other 3 quadrants: Weaknesses,
Opportunities and then Threats.
• You may opt to do the silent individual brainstorming for all four quadrants
first before posting notes On one hand, this makes the process more
repetitive, but on the other hand, it can reduce the influencing effect of
previous quadrants’ ideas on following ones.
• To highlight the most relevant ideas after clustering, ask participants to
approach the quadrant and dot vote next to two or three categories in each
square, indicating that they believe those to be the most relevant for that
section. Circle or highlight content that got the most votes and verbally make
note of this with the group.
• Engage the group in a creative exercise wherein they evaluate weaknesses and
threats positively, as though their presence is doing them a favor. Ask them
thought-provoking questions, like “What if competition didn’t exist?” and
“How does this threat have the potential to make the organization stronger?”
• You might use the output of the SWOT analysis to create actionable strategies
by relating two aspects of SWOT. For example:
S -> O Use your internal strengths to take advantage of opportunities.
S -> T Use your strengths to minimize threats.
W -> O Mitigate weaknesses by taking advantage of opportunities.
W -> T Work to eliminate weaknesses to avoid threats.
Source: Gamestorming
Available at: www.sessionlab.com/methods/swot-analysis
15 OPENING | DIVERGENCE | CONVERGENCE | CLOSING
Six Thinking Hats
Six Thinking Hats is a powerful technique for
looking at decision-making from different points
of view. By introducing a structured parallel
thinking process, it helps people to be more
focused and mindfully involved in a discussion.
FF 30-120 min
ÌÌ 2-20 participants
FLOW
1 Explain at the beginning of the meeting that in order to examine the current
topic from every perspective we will use the Six Thinking Hats framework,
which helps to separate thinking into six clear perspectives and roles.
Each thinking role is identified with a symbolic, colored “thinking hat”.
LIGHTBULB
By mentally wearing and switching “hats”, you can easily focus or redirect
thoughts, the conversation, or the meeting.
When wearing the white hat, the group focuses on facts and data in
order to identify all information needed.
When wearing the red hat, focus is on feelings, intuition and
hunches. Group members can express emotions and feelings and
share fears, likes, dislikes, loves, and hates.
When wearing the black hat, focus is on why a solution might not
work or possible negative outcomes. Often the most powerful and
useful of the Hats but a problem when overused.
When wearing the yellow hat, everyone focuses on positive
outcomes and benefits of potential solutions.
When wearing the green hat, focus is on creative solutions,
possibilities, and new concepts. This is an opportunity to express
new ideas and new perceptions.
The blue hat, worn by facilitators or meeting leaders, is used to
manage the process of the Six Thinking Hats.
Six Thinking Hats 16
2
Facilitate the conversation (wearing the blue hat): You may decide which
sequence of hat use fits best for your purpose. In general, it is recommended
that each hat is worn at some point, however there are some sensible sub-
sequences, too (See Facilitator Tips).
As an inspiration, check the following example of how to use Six Thinking
Hats to resolve a problem with different alternative solutions:
White Hat: Present the facts of the problem
Green Hat: Generate ideas on how the problem can be solved
Yellow Hat: Evaluate the ideas by listing their benefits
Black Hat: Evaluate the ideas by listing their drawbacks
Red Hat: Get everybody’s gut feelings about the alternatives
Blue Hat: Summarise the discussion and agree on the conclusions
Facilitator Tips
• Encourage each person to contribute to each of the perspectives. Avoid putting
people into categories — Everyone can and should use all the hats.
• One or more hats can be used at any point during a discussion process.They
are used as a convenience for directing and switching the thinking process as
needed. (E.g. “Let's have some black hat thinking...”).
• Simple sequences of two or three hats may be used together for a particular
purpose, for example:
°° The yellow hat followed by the black hat may be used to assess an idea.
°° The black hat followed by the green hat may be used to improve a design.
• Six Thinking Hats is excellent at eliciting different perspectives, but there
is less guidance on how to resolve conflicting views among the different
hats. Sometimes a group will naturally move together toward one resolution
during the discussion. If not, another framework might be needed to resolve
the discourse.
Source: Edward de Bono
Available at: www.sessionlab.com/methods/6-thinking-hats
17 OPENING | DIVERGENCE | CONVERGENCE | CLOSING Dot-voting 18

Dot-voting
LIGHTBULB Facilitator Tips
This prioritization and decision-making method • It is worth checking to see if all the options on the wall are clear to all members
helps a group quickly see which options are most in the group. Run through them all and invite clarifications where necessary.
popular or relevant. • This method is a fast and effective tool, but be wary of “vote splitting”, where
a weaker option might win due to votes being spread out among several
stronger but very similar ideas.
• Also be wary of the “bandwagon effect”, where people who vote later may be
FF 10-30 min `` Post-it notes influenced by votes that have already been placed.

ÌÌ 2-40 participants `` Pens/Markers • To avoid “vote splitting” and “bandwagon effect” you may introduce other
voting techniques such as:
`` Optional: sticky dots
°° Approval voting: no limitation on how many dots one can use, so group
members can put a dot on each topic they want to talk about.
°° Range voting: place up to three dots per topic, where 3 dots mean 'I really
FLOW want to talk about this' and 0 dots mean 'No opinion'.

1 Place all the ideas/options up on a wall, one idea per post-it note. Have the • You can make the voting more sophisticated by providing dots in two colors for
group cluster similar ideas/options and remove any duplicates. The fewer both positive and negative reactions, e.g. green and red. This will allow you to
options there are, the clearer and easier the voting will be. see which ideas have opposition.

2 Each group member votes on which options they think are best by using
dots, made simply with a marker on the preferred post-it notes. Everyone
gets 5 dots to vote with (or less if there are less options). These dots can be
distributed in any way: one dot each to five different ideas, all five dots to
one idea, etc. Alternatively, you may opt to use sticky dots.

3 Once all members have distributed their dots, the group can proceed in a
variety of ways:

oo Simply choose the option(s) that received the most dots.

oo Conduct an open dialogue about the prioritization, exploring which
ideas got more dots, which got less, and what the next steps should be.
oo Organize the ideas on a line from most to least dots, then discuss their
relative merits.

Source: Jason Diceman featured in the Hyper Island Toolbox

Available at: www.sessionlab.com/methods/dotmocracy
 19 OPENING | DIVERGENCE | CONVERGENCE | CLOSING
Start, Stop, Continue
The object of Start, Stop, Continue is to examine
aspects of a situation or develop next steps by
polling participants on what to start, what to stop
and what to continue doing. Additionally, it can be
a great framework for feedback.
FF 10-60 min `` Filpchart paper
ÌÌ 2-20 participants `` Marker
`` Pen and paper
FLOW
1 Ask the group to consider the current situation or goal and individually
brainstorm actions and take notes in these three categories:
oo Start: What are things that we need to START doing?
oo Stop: What are we currently doing that we can or should STOP?
oo Continue: What are we doing now that works and should CONTINUE?
2 Have individuals share their suggestions in a round-robin format: each
participant mentions one suggestion and then move to the following
participant. Keep going around the circle until all the ideas have been
collected. Write the ideas on a flipchart.
LIGHTBULB Facilitator Tips
• This exercise is broad enough to work well as an opening or closing exercise.
It’s useful for framing discussions at “problem-solving” meetings, or as a way
to brainstorm aspirational steps toward a vision.
Source: Gamestorming
Available at: www.sessionlab.com/methods/start-stop-continue
OPENING | DIVERGENCE | CONVERGENCE | CLOSING 20
One Breath Feedback
This is a feedback round in just one breath that
excels in maintaining attention. Each participant
is given the opportunity to speak during just one
breath.
FF 5-15 min (depending on number of participants)
ÌÌ Circles of up to 10-15 participants
FLOW
oo Arrange the group in a circle. If you have more than 15 people, consider
splitting the group into subgroups of 6-10 participants.
oo Tell the group that now it is time for feedback on the discussed
topic/exercise. Explain that most people are able to give feedback with
just one breath that is approximately 30 seconds and that this is what
they are going to do.
oo People start giving their feedback, one by one. Mind that people keep
the one-breath rule.
LIGHTBULB Facilitator Tips
• This can be a useful method when you have a pressing time limit to conclude a
complex discussion or session. Additionally, some people often have a pretty
jaundiced view of what feedback can be like, and this is a relatively different
approach which will capture people's attention.
Source: Martin Farrell
Available at: www.sessionlab.com/methods/one-breath-feedback
21 OPENING | DIVERGENCE | CONVERGENCE | CLOSING Letter to Myself 22

Letter to Myself
LIGHTBULB Facilitator Tips
Support participants in applying their insights and • This exercise can be as open or closed as you think is appropriate. You could
things they have learned from a session by writing restrict it to three bullet points or you could give participants the freedom to
a letter at the end of that session to send to their write whatever they want. Judge the needs of the group and the purpose of the
session.
future selves.

FF 10-30 min `` Pens

ÌÌ 2-40 participants `` Postcards / Writing paper and

envelopes
`` Stamps (optional)
`` Flipchart paper or Whiteboard
`` Markers

FLOW
1 Hand out pens and postcards/writing paper. Explain that they are going to
write a letter to their future selves, and that this will help them apply their
insights and things they have learned from the session. Tell them that you
will post the cards/letters in X number of months, and that they should
take that into account when writing. You can define the timeframe with the
group.

2 Write the focus question or prompt on a flipchart/whiteboard. This can

either be defined by you or through discussion with the group. For example:

oo What will I achieve by X date?

oo What will I do tomorrow, next week, next month?
oo How do I feel now about my work/job/team? And how do I want my
future self to feel?
oo Don’t forget…
oo I want to change… because…

3 Give them around 10 minutes to complete their cards/letters, more if they

need time and you are flexible.

4 Collect the cards/letters, put them in a safe place, and post them on the
agreed date. Source: Hyper Island Toolbox
Available at: www.sessionlab.com/methods/letter-to-myself
23 OPENING | DIVERGENCE | CONVERGENCE | CLOSING
Finger Rules
This effective technique can be used at any meeting
to make discussions more structured and efficient.
By using simple hand gestures, participants can
express different opinions and desires.
FF 5-10 minutes to introduce, can be `` Flipchart paper
used in a meeting of any length
ÌÌ 3-40 participants
PREPARATION
Prepare a flipchart with drawings of all the hand signs that you want to use during
the meeting and a short description of each. Here are the most common ones.
Signs for requesting to speak/comment:
the participant wants to raise a new topic that is not a direct reply to the
current discussion.
LIGHTBULB
the participant has a direct reply to the current topic/speaker.
the participant wants to request clarification on the topic or what the
current speaker is saying.
there is a technical remark such as a factual mistake (e.g. we are
looking at the wrong document) or other technical issues preventing the
participants from properly following the meeting (e.g. participant cannot
hear the person speaking).
participants who had previously requested to speak but haven’t yet,
can use this sign to signal to the facilitator that they are rescinding, or
“cutting”, their request to speak.
Signs for expressing opinion:
the participant feels the discussion is off topic.
participants express support for, a neutral position or
disagreement with an idea, argument, or proposal.
Finger Rules 24
FLOW
1 Introduce the finger rules by showing the prepared flipchart. Explain each sign
briefly and that a direct reply has higher priority over a new topic .
Additionally, technical remarks and clarification requests are given
highest priority.
2 Tell participants you will keep track mentally, or on paper for bigger groups,
of who is raising their hand. Explain that they should keep their hand up
(for signs requesting to speak) until you have given them acknowledgment
(nod) that you’ve registered their hand. Signs for expressing opinion should
be kept up until the comment is no longer relevant (e.g. voting is over, topic
has changed).
3 Start the discussion with the first person who raises a topic
4 Take any direct reply until:
oo there is a technical remark or request for clarification
oo there are no more direct replies
oo you run out of planned time for this topic
oo several people have expressed that the discussion is off topic
5 Continue with the next topic or, if the discussion is over, with the next
item on the agenda.
Facilitator Tips
• For bigger meetings, it’s good to keep a list of who is requesting to speak so
you can call on them in the correct order.
• When people use the “cut” sign, you can put a question mark next to their
name; when their turn comes, double-check that they still want to cut their
remark.
• If the room and meeting format allow for it, you can keep the speaking list
visible for everybody (e.g. on a flipchart).
• In the beginning, people will confuse and/or abuse the rules (e.g. raising
a 2-finger “direct reply” when they really have a new topic). When that
happens, politely remind them of the rules, and if needed, cut them and put
them back on the correct list. With practice, the rules will become second
nature, and people will not need reminders.
Available at: www.sessionlab.com/methods/finger-rules
25 OPENING | DIVERGENCE | CONVERGENCE | CLOSING Parking Lot 26

Parking Lot
LIGHTBULB Facilitator Tips
This tool helps ensure that important questions do • When you record a discussion point on the parking lot, make sure to confirm
not get lost and that the group can stay focused on the phrasing with the group or the group member who suggested it. This
the most relevant topics during a meeting. makes it easier to pick up the conversation at the end of the meeting
concerning parking lot items.
• If you end up with a lot of items on your parking lot, you may need to apply
some techniques to effectively tackle the most important ones in the
remaining time.
FF 10-30 min `` Markers
°° Cluster parking lot items that are related to each other
ÌÌ 2-40 participants `` Flipchart paper
°° Invite the group to prioritize the parking lot items - e.g. with Dot Voting
(page 17).

PREPARATION
It is not essential, but if you prefer, you can create the “Parking Lot” flipchart in
advance.

FLOW
1 At the start of a meeting or workshop, explain to the group that we are
going to use a “parking lot” to help us work more effectively. Write a large
“P” at the top of the flipchart paper and tape it to a prominent wall. Explain
that whenever a point is raised, or questions are asked that don’t directly
relate to the subject of the session, you will write it on a post-it note, and
stick it onto the flipchart paper.

2 Use the parking lot throughout the meeting to park questions/topics that
are not going to be immediately discussed.

3 As the meeting/workshop comes to a close, ensure that there is time

to address the points and questions on the parking lot with the whole
group. If there are any questions left unanswered, make sure that you or a
group member follows up on them.

Source: Hyper Island Toolbox

Available at: www.sessionlab.com/methods/parking-lot
 Attributions 28

Attributions
Credits go to the following organisations and individuals whose contributions to
the SessionLab public library of facilitation methods inspired and enabled this
meeting facilitation toolkit:

Hyper Island: Hyper Island designs learning experiences that challenge

companies and individuals to grow and stay competitive in an increasingly
digitized world. With clients such as Google, adidas and IKEA, Hyper Island has
been listed by CNN as one of the most innovative schools in the world.

Gamestorming: Gamestorming is a set of co-creation tools used by innovators

around the world, a unique collection of games that encourage engagement and
creativity while bringing more structure and clarity to the workplace.
Copyright
MediaLAB Amsterdam: MediaLAB Amsterdam is a creative, interdisciplinary
Amsterdam-based studio where students and researchers work together on You are welcome to use any of the facilitation methods from this toolkit in your
innovative and interactive media research projects for creative industries. meetings.

The booklet as a whole is intended to be shareable via a Creative Commons

Teampedia: Teampedia is a collaborative encyclopedia of free team building
activities, free icebreakers, teamwork resources, and tools for teams.
Jason Diceman: Jason, creator of the Idea Rating Sheets Facilitation Templates,
works to empower citizen sector organizations with simple methods for
facilitating constructive consultation, deliberation and decision making among
their many diverse stakeholders.
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC-BY-NC-SA License. This license
allows you to build upon this booklet non-commercially, as long as you
credit SessionLab for the booklet as a whole, and credit original authors and
inspirations listed above for each facilitation method in this booklet.
If you’re interested in gaining access to this booklet for translation or
adaptation purposes, please contact us at support@sessionlab.com.

Edward de Bono: One of the pioneers of Brain Training, in 1967 he invented the
world famous Lateral Thinking technique. He created the Six Thinking Hats
method and published a 1985 book of the same name. You may find further
materials and Six Thinking Hats facilitator training options at De Bono Group.

Martin Farrell: A senior international facilitator and crisis coach with four
decades of experience with the UK third sector and with international NGOs and
agencies. He is a Certified Professional Facilitator and former Regional Director
of the International Association of Facilitators.

Thiagi Group: Thiagi Group is an is organization with the mission of helping

people improve their performance effectively and enjoyably, founded by the
game guru Dr. Sivasailam “Thiagi” Thiagarajan . Thiagi have been designing
and delivering training around the world for the past 40 years, and recognized
world-wide as the designer of effective, engaging training games.
 This booklet was carefully edited by…
SessionLab ... the makers of SessionLab. We created SessionLab to support facilitators,
trainers, designers and anyone who conducts meetings or workshops regularly.
The SessionLab public library consists of more than 400 facilitation methods
and offers you a great variety of high-quality activities for various purposes.
From fun icebreakers and powerful idea generation exercises to team activities
Workshop planning you can find what you need for your next workshop or meeting!

made simple. The team

Bianka Nemeth
Filip Kis
www.sessionlab.com Hanna Hasselqvist
Robert Cserti

A tool for designing high impact sessions Share the toolkit with other
Next to the public library of facilitation methods, SessionLab offers a session https://www.sessionlab.com/meeting-facilitation-toolkit
planner tool that saves you time and effort by helping you design high impact
workshops, meetings or training sessions. You can easily combine any of the
methods from the SessionLab library into workshop plans using the session
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toolkit@sessionlab.com
We’d love to hear how you or your team have been using the facilitation
methods from this booklet! #essentialmeetingtools