How to brief your facilitator before a workshop

A facilitator is only as good as the information you give them. Most companies hand over a brief that says something like 'team of 20, full day, topic: innovation' — and then wonder why the session doesn't land. The brief is where workshops succeed or fail before the first person walks in the room.

What a good brief contains

• The challenge you're trying to solve, in one or two sentences. Not the theme — the problem. 'We need clarity on our product roadmap for H2' is a brief. 'Innovation and growth' is not.
• Who will be in the room, and why they're there. Not job titles — context. Who holds the budget? Who has the most historical knowledge? Who is likely to dominate and who might go quiet?
• What you want to walk away with. Not a feeling — an output. 'A shortlist of three initiatives with a clear owner for each' is an output. 'Energy and alignment' is a feeling.
• What has been tried before and didn't work. This saves the facilitator from retreading ground the team has already covered — and shows where the real resistance lives.
• Who has authority to make decisions in the room. This shapes how the facilitator calibrates decisions versus open discussion.

What you shouldn't over-specify

Don't prescribe the process. If you hire a professional facilitator, give them the outcome you want and let them design how to get there. The moment you hand over a detailed running order, you've become the facilitator — and you've undermined the one you hired.

The timing of the brief

Share the brief at least five working days before the session. A day before is not enough time for a facilitator to redesign their approach based on what you've told them. The best results come when the facilitator has time to ask follow-up questions and pressure-test their design.

What to do before the day

• A 30-minute briefing call, not just an email. Nuance is lost in text.
• Share any relevant background — strategy deck, previous workshop outputs, team feedback.
• Agree on what success looks like, and what you'll do if the session drifts off track.

The brief isn't bureaucracy. It's the investment that makes everything else possible.