facilitation-design-session

name	facilitation-design-session
description	Design a facilitated session end-to-end — walk the 5 Ps, classify by length/stakes/format, pick the arc, sequence Scan/Focus/Act blocks with named games or modules, pre-design decision moments, anticipate group-dynamics friction, populate the session-design template. Orchestrator that routes to facilitation-meeting-architect, facilitation-workshop-designer, gamestorming-coach, decision-architect, and group-dynamics-coach. Use this skill any time a facilitated session needs structured design — kickoffs, vision workshops, decision sessions, retros, co-creation, planning.
type	skill
project	skills-library
plugin	facilitation
aliases	["facilitation-design-session"]
tags	["type/skill","plugin/facilitation","topic/facilitation","topic/session-design","scope/orchestrator"]
status	active

Design a session (orchestrator)

Design a facilitated session from scope to draft agenda. Routes to either facilitation-meeting-architect (for ≤90 min meetings) or facilitation-workshop-designer (multi-hour or multi-day workshops with a Sponsor Design Team), then pulls in specialists for game selection, decision rules, and group-dynamics anticipation.

Reference templates: template-session-design.md, template-workshop-arc.md, template-collaboration-pattern-selector.md.

Steps:

1. Confirm scope. If the user hasn't already run facilitation-scope, do that first. Don't design without an outcome.

2. Classify the session.

   • Length: 15–90 min → meeting; half-day to multi-day → workshop
   • Stakes: low / medium / high (drives investment in design)
   • Format: in-person, virtual, hybrid (pulls in facilitation-virtual-hybrid-specialist if not in-person)
   • Type: kickoff / discovery / decision / vision / retro / co-creation / planning

3. Pick the arc. From template-workshop-arc.md:

   • 90 min, half-day, 1-day, 2-day, or 3-day
   • Apply the recursion principle (Pattern 222) — Scan/Focus/Act inside each block as well as across the whole

4. Sequence the blocks. For each phase (Open / Scan / Focus / Act / Close), pick the right specific moves:

   • For named games → consult gamestorming-catalog.md (123 games with object-of-play, players, duration, how-to-play)
   • For wavespace-tradition modules → consult tools-catalog.md (136 tools)
   • For strategy canvases → consult canvas-selection-guide.md
   • For DT-specific cycles → consult dt-cycle-playbook.md

5. Pre-design decision moments. For every place where the room must produce a decision, name the rule in advance using decision-methods-catalog.md. Don't leave decision-making to chance.

6. Pattern check. Walk template-collaboration-pattern-selector.md and confirm the design honors the relevant Collaboration Code patterns (especially 201, 211, 222, 225, 263).

7. Anticipate friction. From the scoping brief, identify likely group-dynamics issues (dominance, withdrawal, conflict, authority in room) and pre-design structural mitigations using difficult-participants-playbook.md.

8. Populate the session design. Use template-session-design.md as the canonical artifact. Fill in:

   • Purpose / People / Preparation / Process / Payoff
   • Block-by-block agenda with timing, named tools/games, owners
   • Risk and contingency
   • Patterns honored

9. Generate the pre-work brief if the session is half-day or longer. Use template-pre-work-brief.md — sent by sponsor, not facilitator, ~1 week ahead.

10. Hand off. If multi-day, recommend setting up the Sponsor Design Team per sponsor-design-team-playbook.md. For virtual/hybrid, recommend the meeting-triage checklist for AV setup. For game-by-game how-to-run, route to facilitation-gamestorming-coach.

Don't try to design and run in one pass. The session-design artifact is the deliverable; running it is a separate session.