Facilitating workshops

I get to facilitate workshops quite a lot – something that I love doing. The other day I was invited to facilitate a week-long workshop in Geneva. It was with a team that I had done some work with a couple of years back and it was great fun to catch-up and learn about how they are doing now.

As I was packing I realised that it has become habit for me to pack for these sessions, I thought ‘d share what I pack in case it is useful for others and I’d love to find out what other people find useful when they are prepping for sessions like this.

I take:

• a couple of boxes of Sharpies (to help get as many people involved as possible)
• Two big packs of the 3×3 post-it notes (I prefer people to use these in ideation because you can’t write an essay!)
• Two packs of 3×5 pot-it notes (I use these for grouping and headings – I can write bigger and it makes the grouping clearer to have a big one stuck over it)
• A pack of POSCA pens (these are great for preparing the boards and for general layout – they are very clear and can be seen across even a large room)
• Blu tack (because lots of places have walls that are not very post-it note friendly)
• Roll of brown kraft paper – 750mmx20m (I prefer to use this as opposed to flipcharts because it is bigger, the colour is more neutral and it is easier to pack)

I can fit all this kit into my hand luggage along with all the clothes etc. that I need for a week away so no need for checked luggage.

On this most recent trip I did get stopped by security at Heathrow airport asking if I had any liquids in my luggage – apparently the POSCA pens show up as liquid but they were happy to let me through once they saw what they were.