There Is No Template: Why Every Workshop Needs to Be Custom-Built

Let’s get one thing straight: there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all workshop. Sure, templates are tempting; they’re neat, tidy, and convenient. But if you want a workshop that actually works (and doesn’t just fill a calendar slot), you need to ditch the template and start fresh.

Every workshop has a unique purpose, a specific set of participants, and a different end goal. You can’t just copy-paste last month’s agenda and hope for magic. Designing a workshop means understanding what you need to achieve:

What do you want to walk away with?
What impacts do you need to generate?
What information or decisions will move your project forward?

If you can’t answer these, your workshop risks becoming just another meeting that could have been an email.

Now, I did create “The Workshop Workshop” as a design framework to guide you through the process of workshop design. But let’s be clear: it’s a framework, not a template. There is never a template. Every session still needs to be built from scratch, tailored to the participants, the stakeholders, the project, and the goals at hand.

Workshops are all about eliciting, analyzing, and synthesizing information. Your workshops goals should shape everything: the structure, the activities, and the questions. Whether you’re brainstorming, prioritizing, or mapping a process, each requires a thoughtful, customized approach.

And here’s where so many workshops go off the rails: the organizer picks an activity and runs it straight out of the box, without adapting it for the group or context. That’s the critical mistake. Selecting an activity isn’t enough. You have to design it to fit your circumstances. Skip that step, and you’re almost guaranteed to miss the mark.

A generic workshop is a wasted opportunity. A custom-designed workshop, on the other hand, is a powerful engine for progress. So the next time someone offers you a workshop template, smile politely and then go build something that actually works.