This week we added 12 new technique guides to the Facilitation Techniques bundle, bringing the total to 30 in this pack so far.
Same format as before: each guide gives you a complete, step-by-step process for delivering a specialist facilitation technique.
No theory, no waffle. Just clear instructions, exact timing, facilitator scripts, and printable reference sheets so you can run the technique tomorrow.
Pre-Mortem, Design Thinking, and Retrospectives are free for you to download until Monday 17th February.
The full collection is available to Pro Members forever.
What's in each guide?
Every technique includes:
🔹 A detailed explanation of the technique
🔹 When to use it and when not to (pick the right tool for the job)
🔹 The full process broken into timed steps with instructions
🔹 Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
🔹 Adaptations for virtual delivery, different group sizes, & time
🔹 Real-world application examples
🔹 A printable quick reference sheet for use during the session
🔹 Any templates, worksheets, or visual aids the technique needs
Tip: You can use our AI to adjust our workshop frameworks for session length, group size, or audience in minutes if you become a Pro Member.
1) Pre-Mortem
You ask the group to imagine a project has already failed, then work backwards to figure out why. The shift from "what could go wrong?" to "what did go wrong?" gives people permission to voice concerns they'd otherwise keep to themselves. Takes 30 to 90 minutes and works with almost any group size.
2) Design Thinking
A structured problem-solving process that moves through five phases: empathise, define, ideate, prototype, and test. The guide strips away the jargon and gives you a practical facilitation process for running each phase with a group. Most useful when the group is solving a problem and needs to resist the urge to jump straight to solutions.
3) Retrospectives
A structured session where a team looks back at a period of work and figures out what went well, what didn't, and what to change. Unlike a casual debrief, a retrospective follows a deliberate process that moves from sharing experiences through analysis to concrete actions. The guide covers multiple formats so you can match the structure to what the team needs.
4) Scenario Planning
Instead of trying to predict the future, participants identify the forces most likely to shape their environment, then build two to four distinct stories about how those forces might play out. The group uses these scenarios to stress-test their current strategy and spot blind spots. Best suited to strategic planning and major investment decisions.
5) After Action Review
The military-origin debrief built around four questions: What did we intend? What happened? Why was there a gap? What do we do next? It's short, focused, and led by the team itself. The method strips away blame and forces honest examination of performance. Best run within 24 to 48 hours of the event while memory is fresh.
6) Action Learning
A small group works on a real challenge brought by one member, but the catch is they can only ask questions. No advice, no suggestions, no "have you tried..." until the questioning phase is complete. This constraint forces deeper thinking and prevents the group from jumping to familiar solutions. The method cycles between action and reflection over multiple sessions.
7) TRIZ
You ask the group to brainstorm how they could guarantee the worst possible outcome for a goal they care about. Then you flip it: which of those destructive behaviours are they already doing? It makes it safe to surface uncomfortable truths because nobody is pointing fingers. One of the fastest ways to clear the path for new ideas by removing what's in the way.
8) Nominal Group Technique
Participants write ideas in silence, share them one at a time in a round-robin, discuss as a group, then vote privately to rank the options. The result is a prioritised list that reflects the genuine views of the whole room, not just the loudest voices. Useful when you need to move from ideas to priorities in under 90 minutes.
9) Wicked Questions
Participants articulate paradoxical challenges that a group faces but rarely says out loud. The format is: "How is it that we are [doing one thing] and [doing the opposite] at the same time?" These questions reveal the tensions that drive most organisational dysfunction and open up conversations that standard problem-solving can't reach.
10) Pro-Action Café
Like World Café, but instead of exploring a shared question, individuals bring their own specific projects or challenges. They sit at a table and receive focused help from rotating groups of peers across three rounds. Each round has a different purpose: understanding the question, discovering what's missing, and identifying next steps. People leave with concrete progress.
11) Rich Pictures
Participants grab markers and draw messy, holistic illustrations of a complex situation. Rather than using neat diagrams, they sketch everything they see as relevant: people, processes, emotions, conflicts, and connections. Drawing forces people to think differently about problems and surface assumptions they struggle to articulate in words. No drawing skill required.
12) Restorative Circles
A process that brings together the person who acted, the person directly impacted, and members of the wider community. Rather than assigning blame, the process moves through building mutual understanding, taking self-responsibility, and agreeing on concrete actions to repair harm. Useful when relationships need repairing and standard conflict resolution feels inadequate.
Where we're heading
30 guides done in this series, with over 100 planned across 11 categories. New guides are added weekly.
If you become a Pro Member, you get every new technique as it's published.
What makes these guides different
✅ Detailed enough to run the technique tomorrow, without attending a course
✅ Written in plain language with no unnecessary jargon
✅ Honest about limitations, telling you when NOT to use a technique as clearly as when to use it
✅ Exact facilitator scripts so you know what to say, not just what to do
✅ Printable quick reference sheets to keep beside you during the session
✅ Adaptations for virtual delivery, different group sizes, and time constraints
Questions? Send me a message. I read every response.