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Workshops and facilitation

Facilitate workshops where every idea lands on the board

A shared canvas for brainstorming, ranking polls for decisions, files and pages for the pre-read and the summary, with permissions that let you open the board wide and tidy it up again.

Start for freeExplore the canvas
Illustration of four business people around a whiteboard covered with a bar chart, a line chart, pie charts and a flow diagram
A strategy workshop: charts, a flow diagram and the discussion happen on the same board.

Toolkit

What a facilitator gets in one workspace

The board for thinking, the polls for deciding, the files and pages for before and after.

How a session runs

A two-hour workshop, step by step

Diverge, converge, decide, commit. The timings are a starting point; the features are the same for a 45-minute retro.

  1. Before
    1

    Prepare the board

    Create a workspace in the workshop or brainstorm category. Lay out the canvas, or ask the AI assistant for a template, and set participant permissions to add sticky notes only so the frame stays intact. Upload the pre-read.

  2. 0:00
    2

    Check in

    Share the PIN. A word-cloud poll, one word for how you arrive, gets every device in use within a minute and gives you a read on the room.

  3. 0:10
    3

    Diverge

    Silent brainstorming: everyone adds sticky notes to the board at the same time. Nobody waits for the marker, and the quiet people contribute as much as the loud ones.

    Canvas objects and permissions
  4. 0:40
    4

    Converge

    Cluster notes by theme, connect related ones with arrows, and let participants react to the ones they find strongest. Comments on objects capture the reasoning.

  5. 1:10
    5

    Decide

    Run a ranking poll over the top clusters. Keep results hidden until everyone has voted, then reveal them and talk about the gap between first and second.

    Ranking and rating polls
  6. 1:40
    6

    Commit

    Write the decisions and action items on a page while the group watches, and save a named snapshot of the board as it stands.

  7. After
    7

    Send the summary

    Publish the page with a permanent or expiring link, leave the workspace open for a few days for late additions, and review the analytics.

Permissions

Open the board wide, then tidy it up

Canvas permissions are per object type: allow sticky notes during brainstorming, allow connections during clustering, and close editing when you present the result. Lock the template objects so nobody drags the axes of your matrix away. If something does go wrong, restore a named save.

  • Add, modify and delete rights per object type
  • Lock, layer and rotate template objects
  • Named canvas saves and restore
  • Reactions and comments on any object
Canvas details
Illustration of a team task board with To do, In progress and Done columns and task cards laid out on a canvas

Decisions

Vote, reveal, move on

Ranking, rating and multiple-choice polls close the loop on a discussion. Anonymous voting keeps the loudest voice from anchoring the room; hiding results until the poll closes keeps early votes from doing the same. Presenter-controlled mode lets you walk a multi-question survey through together.

  • Ranking, rating, multiple choice, yes/no, open text and word cloud
  • Results never, after each vote, live or after close
  • Anonymous voting and timers
  • Share links with optional expiry for pre-workshop surveys
Poll types and settings
Flat illustration of a screen with sticky notes and charts surrounded by icons for people, downloads, folders, email, checklists and chat

Remote and hybrid

Distributed teams, one board

Remote participants join the same workspace with the same PIN. Open the video room, share your screen while you walk through the board, and use chat and direct messages for the side conversations that would otherwise be lost.

  • Video room powered by Daily.co
  • Screen and camera sharing
  • Group chat and direct messages
  • Hand raising for turn-taking
Hybrid seminars
Flat illustration of four remote team members in video tiles around a shared document with a checklist, a pie chart and a chat bubble

Formats

Four formats that work well on a shared board

Each one is a combination of canvas, polls and a page. None needs more than the free plan to try.

Frequently asked questions

Do participants need accounts?

No. They join with the PIN or QR code. For client workshops where names matter, set the workspace to registered users only or an invite-only whitelist.

Can participants use the canvas from a phone?

Yes. The workspace runs in the browser on phones, tablets and laptops. A laptop or tablet is more comfortable for heavy canvas work, but adding sticky notes from a phone works fine.

How do I stop the board turning into chaos?

Restrict participants to specific object types and rights, lock your template objects, and save a named snapshot before you open the board. You can widen or narrow the permissions during the session.

Can I run several breakout groups?

Give each group its own area of the board, for example a rectangle per group, or create a separate workspace per group on plans with more than one workspace (5 on Basic, unlimited on Pro).

Is there a template library for the canvas?

Quizzes have a template library. For the canvas, ask the AI assistant to generate a template from a prompt, such as a retrospective board, a matrix or a journey map, adjust it, and save it as a named version to restore later.

What happens to the board after the workshop?

It stays in the workspace for as long as you keep it open, up to 30 days or without a limit. Save named versions at key moments, publish the summary as a page, and reopen the workspace later for a follow-up.

Facilitate your next workshop on a shared board

The free Starter plan includes the collaborative canvas, polls and the AI assistant. Participants join with a PIN.

Start for freeJoin a session