FacilitationBeginner

Hopes and Fears

A simple opening exercise where participants write their hopes (what they want to achieve or experience) and fears (what they worry about) for the session or project ahead. Displayed publicly, the collection creates a shared contract between participants and facilitators, and sets a psychologically safe tone by normalising anxiety.

Duration

15m–25m

Group size

3–30 people

Materials

sticky notes (2 colours), markers, flip chart or wall

Origin

Community

How to run it

1
Set up two columns on a board: 'Hopes' and 'Fears' (or 'Concerns').
2
Give participants two colours of sticky notes — one per column.
3
Ask everyone to silently write 1–3 hopes and 1–3 fears (3–5 minutes).
4
Participants place their notes on the board.
5
Briefly read out the themes without attributing them to individuals.
6
Acknowledge the fears explicitly: 'We hear these concerns. Here's how we plan to address them...'
7
Return to the hopes at the end of the session to check whether they were met.

Tips

Explicitly closing the loop at the end of the session — 'Did we address your hopes? Did your fears come true?' — is what makes this a powerful full-session frame, not just an opener.
Address fears concretely, not vaguely.

Variations

Run anonymously by collecting notes before anyone enters the room. For longer programmes, revisit hopes and fears at each module. Replace 'fears' with 'concerns' for groups that find 'fear' too charged.

Where it fits

Workshop openingsProject kick-offsChange management sessionsSensitive or high-stakes meetings

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Method descriptions on Workshop Weaver are original content written by our team, based on established facilitation practices.