ThemeDesign the session
CardCard 46 of 63
Questions5 to explore
StepDesign it

Workshop Type

Education, co-creation or coaching

Knowing whether you are running an education session, a co-creation session, or a coaching session changes almost every design decision you will make.

Workshop type describes the underlying intent: are you teaching participants something they do not know (education), working with the group to build something together (co-creation), or supporting individuals in developing their own thinking or practice (coaching)? Each type has a different relationship between facilitator and participant, different activities, and different success criteria.

These types can blend, but one usually dominates. A session billed as co-creation that is actually education (the facilitator does most of the talking and has the answer in mind already) will frustrate participants who expected to contribute. Naming the type honestly is as much about setting expectations as it is about method.

The type also shapes group size, format, and tool choice. Education can scale; co-creation usually works best in groups small enough for real dialogue; coaching works one-to-one or in small circles.

Online, specificallyOnline the difference between types is amplified: education risks becoming a webinar people half-watch, co-creation demands tools that make joint work visible, and coaching requires a level of psychological safety that is harder to build through a camera.

In a remote session

The same building block as it plays out online: how experienced facilitators tend to handle it when the room is a screen. Illustrations to react to, not rules to follow.

Name the type to participants

Good facilitators tell participants upfront what kind of session this is and what that means for their role: listening and asking questions, building something together, or reflecting on their own practice.

Match the tool to the type

For education they lean on clear slides and short polls; for co-creation they use a shared board with real contribution zones; for coaching they strip the tools back and rely on the conversation itself.

Keep co-creation groups small online

Co-creation that works in a room of twenty becomes difficult online; they cap working groups at five to seven, using breakouts to allow real contribution rather than a large plenary where most people stay quiet.

Build safety before depth

For coaching and co-creation types especially, they open with a short low-stakes activity that gets people talking before anything vulnerable or generative is asked of them.

Questions to plan around

Use these on your own or in a group. There are no right answers, only better conversations.

Is this session primarily education, co-creation, or coaching, and do participants know that?
Does the group size and format match the workshop type you have chosen?
Are your activities consistent with the type, or are you mixing signals about whether this is a lecture or a workshop?
What do participants need to contribute, and have you given them what they need to do that?
How will you know at the end whether the session delivered on its type?

What trips people up online

Labelling a session a 'workshop' when it is really a presentation sets up participants to expect participation that never comes, which creates disengagement and sometimes resentment.
Co-creation online without a shared tool produces conversation that feels productive but leaves no trace; the group ends up having the same discussion again because nothing was captured.
Coaching online requires more explicit check-ins on psychological safety than in a room; silence that would read as reflection in person reads as discomfort or disconnection on a screen.