Open the session
Hopes and fears
People write what they hope the session or project achieves and what they fear could go wrong, so both are said out loud early.
- Time15 to 20 minutes
- People3 to 20 people
- Steps4
What it's for
Use it at the start of a workshop or a project kick-off. Hopes show you what success looks like to each person. Fears surface the risks, doubts and old grudges that would otherwise come out halfway through the day.
Come back to the board at the end: which hopes did we meet, and which fears came true?
How to run it
Write hopes4 min
Each person writes their hopes for the session, one per note.
Write fears4 min
Then their fears or worries, one per note.
Read and group6 min
Read the notes aloud and move similar ones together.
Agree what to do5 min
Pick the fears worth acting on and note how the session will deal with them.
Tips
- Write in silence first. Spoken hopes and fears converge on whatever the first person said.
- A fear that nobody acts on is worse than one nobody said. Close the loop on the big ones.
Where it comes from
A widely used workshop opener with no known single source. It appears in many facilitation and agile coaching guides.
Pairs well with
Check-in round
Everyone says how they are arriving before the work starts, so the room knows who is tired, distracted or keen.
Premortem
Imagine the project has failed, then work out why, so risks get named while there is still time to act on them.
Who, what, when
Close a session by writing each action with one owner and a date, so decisions turn into work instead of good intentions.