World Café planning and facilitation worksheet

Covers planning, round records and harvesting on one sheet. Question design is most important. Finalizing questions at least 1 week beforehand and seeking stakeholder review is recommended.

When to use this worksheet and what completion involves Fictional completed example

EvalCompass Worksheet

World Café planning and facilitation worksheet

Method: World Café

Covers planning, round records and harvesting on one sheet. Question design is most important. Finalizing questions at least 1 week beforehand and seeking stakeholder review is recommended.

Basic information

World Café overview

Completed example for this section (fictional)

This fictional example is for explanation. Adapt it to your own program. Your entries will not change.

Purpose of this World Café: Explore conditions making the community space easy to use
Date, time and location: September 13, 2026, community hall
Participant count and characteristics overview: 8 residents and 4 operators
Facilitator name: Facilitator A

Reason for this entry: A forum for exploratory stakeholder dialogue.

Purpose of this World Café

Date, time and location

Participant count and characteristics overview

Facilitator name

Writing tips and explanation for this section

About this section

World Café overview

A forum for exploratory stakeholder dialogue.

View the method explanation

Writing tips

Follow each field’s heading to record the program name, focus, period, and other details. Leave undecided matters clearly marked as unresolved.

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Design questions

Record questions for rounds 1–3. Check that they are not yes/no questions, everyone can contribute and they stimulate creativity.

Completed example for this section (fictional)

This fictional example is for explanation. Adapt it to your own program. Your entries will not change.

Scroll horizontally to view the table

Round number	Question content	Question purpose and context, explained by the facilitator
1	When did you feel it was acceptable to be here?	Ask about specific experiences.
2	How do conditions for feeling safe differ between people?	Bring perspectives from other tables.
3	What small thing could we try next?	Connect insights to possible actions.

Reason for this entry: Give purpose to both repeating and developing questions.

Scroll horizontally to view the table

Round number	Question content	Question purpose and context, explained by the facilitator

Writing tips and explanation for this section

About this section

Record questions for rounds 1–3. Check that they are not yes/no questions, everyone can contribute and they stimulate creativity.

Give purpose to both repeating and developing questions.

View the method explanation

Writing tips

Keep the information in each row aligned. Scroll wide tables horizontally to see every column.

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Tablecloth record for harvesting

Record each table's main insights after harvesting. Check need, consent and storage or publication scope before photographing. If not photographing, keep participant-checked summaries or other substitute records.

Completed example for this section (fictional)

This fictional example is for explanation. Adapt it to your own program. Your entries will not change.

Scroll horizontally to view the table

Table number	Main insights and keywords, summarized by the table host	Recurring themes
A	Can choose to participate without speaking	Freedom to participate
B	Do not want acquaintances to know consultation details	Confidentiality
C	Knowing staff's faces makes entering easier.	Predictable responses

Reason for this entry: These are table-level records, not participant counts.

Scroll horizontally to view the table

Table number	Main insights and keywords, summarized by the table host	Recurring themes

Writing tips and explanation for this section

About this section

These are table-level records, not participant counts.

View the method explanation

Writing tips

Keep the information in each row aligned. Scroll wide tables horizontally to see every column.

Read the full fictional example

Harvest: integrate common themes

Organize themes shared across tables, important insights and surprising findings.

Completed example for this section (fictional)

This fictional example is for explanation. Adapt it to your own program. Your entries will not change.

Freedom to participate, confidentiality and visible staff were raised. Pilot quiet seating and information on anonymous consultation, and separately check users' responses.

Reason for this entry: Connect exploratory dialogue findings to trials and verification.

Writing tips and explanation for this section

About this section

Organize themes shared across tables, important insights and surprising findings.

Connect exploratory dialogue findings to trials and verification.

View the method explanation

Writing tips

Use the example as a reference and record what you have established about your own program. Distinguish assumptions and unchecked matters from confirmed facts.

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Implementation check

Completed example for this section (fictional)

This fictional example is for explanation. Adapt it to your own program. Your entries will not change.

☑ Checked: Questions designed and reviewed beforehand
☑ Checked: Tablecloths and colored pens provided at every table
☑ Checked: Explained table hosts' roles
☑ Checked: Held a whole-group harvest
☑ Checked: Stored insights in consent-compliant photographs or participant-checked summaries

Reason for this entry: No photographs of personal experience records are stored because consent is unchecked in this scenario. Check summaries with participants and retain them.

Questions designed and reviewed beforehand
Tablecloths and colored pens provided at every table
Explained table hosts' roles
Held a whole-group harvest
Stored insights in consent-compliant photographs or participant-checked summaries

Writing tips and explanation for this section

About this section

No photographs of personal experience records are stored because consent is unchecked in this scenario. Check summaries with participants and retain them.

View the method explanation

Writing tips

Read each item and check those you have confirmed. Do not use the fictional example’s checkbox states as findings about your own program.

Read the full fictional example

Before writing, check when to use the worksheet and what completion involves

World Café planning and facilitation worksheet is a worksheet for applying World Café in meetings or individual work. For the overall duration of the method, use “Illustrative estimate, adjusted to scale and staffing: 1.5–3 hours, usually 3 rounds” as a reference, adjusting for scale and resources. Fill in what you know provisionally and leave unresolved matters as questions to check next.

When this worksheet is useful

When engaging 20 or more stakeholders in meaningful dialogue and participation
When sharing interpretations of evaluation findings across stakeholders to develop common understanding
When gathering varied perspectives and insights from diverse backgrounds

Participants and preparation

Participants in several small groups and an overall facilitator. The official basic format uses about 4 per table. Adapt overall numbers and host arrangements to purpose and participation conditions.

Bring the materials used for decisions, existing data, and differing stakeholder views to help complete the worksheet.

Suggested order

1. Basic informationWorld Café overview
2. Design questionsRecord questions for rounds 1–3. Check that they are not yes/no questions, everyone can contribute and they stimulate creativity.
3. Tablecloth record for harvestingRecord each table's main insights after harvesting. Check need, consent and storage or publication scope before photographing. If not photographing, keep participant-checked summaries or other substitute records.
4. Harvest: integrate common themesOrganize themes shared across tables, important insights and surprising findings.
5. Implementation check

Signs the worksheet is ready for review

Photographs of tablecloths as visual dialogue records
Harvest insights
Common themes and important questions

Cautions for review

Weak questions turn the event into casual conversation. Spend the most time on question design.
Discarding tablecloth notes without review loses accumulated dialogue. Do not omit harvesting.
Brief reports from each table without integrating collective knowledge produce separate presentations rather than a harvest.

Read a completed fictional example (your entries will not change)

Fictional example; not actual results

A fictional illustrative example with 12 residents and operators discussing 3 rounds at 3 tables.

Basic information

Purpose of this World Café: Explore conditions making the community space easy to use
Date, time and location: September 13, 2026, community hall
Participant count and characteristics overview: 8 residents and 4 operators
Facilitator name: Facilitator A

Reason for this entry: A forum for exploratory stakeholder dialogue.

Design questions

Scroll horizontally to view the table

Round number	Question content	Question purpose and context, explained by the facilitator
1	When did you feel it was acceptable to be here?	Ask about specific experiences.
2	How do conditions for feeling safe differ between people?	Bring perspectives from other tables.
3	What small thing could we try next?	Connect insights to possible actions.

Reason for this entry: Give purpose to both repeating and developing questions.

Tablecloth record for harvesting

Scroll horizontally to view the table

Table number	Main insights and keywords, summarized by the table host	Recurring themes
A	Can choose to participate without speaking	Freedom to participate
B	Do not want acquaintances to know consultation details	Confidentiality
C	Knowing staff's faces makes entering easier.	Predictable responses

Reason for this entry: These are table-level records, not participant counts.

Harvest: integrate common themes

Freedom to participate, confidentiality and visible staff were raised. Pilot quiet seating and information on anonymous consultation, and separately check users' responses.

Reason for this entry: Connect exploratory dialogue findings to trials and verification.

Implementation check

☑ Checked: Questions designed and reviewed beforehand
☑ Checked: Tablecloths and colored pens provided at every table
☑ Checked: Explained table hosts' roles
☑ Checked: Held a whole-group harvest
☑ Checked: Stored insights in consent-compliant photographs or participant-checked summaries

Reason for this entry: No photographs of personal experience records are stored because consent is unchecked in this scenario. Check summaries with participants and retain them.

Common errors in judgment

Assuming everyone agreed because the same words recurred

How to revise: Record specific meanings and dissent.

Reason: Dialogue theme frequency is not a vote.

Only changing seats without whole-group sharing

How to revise: Share each table's insights and next questions at the end.

Reason: A stage connecting perspectives is necessary.

Editorial and checking information

Content updated: 2026-10-07Source checked: 2026-09-13 (includes AI cross-checking)No documented human reviewIncludes fictional examplesEditorial policy and scope of checking Cite this page Report a correction

References and checked sections

World Cafe Method
The World Café Community Foundation
Section consulted
Small-Group Rounds; Questions; Harvest
How it relates to the text
Design round-specific questions and a harvest sharing small-group insights with everyone.
Source checked: 2026-09-13 (includes AI cross-checking)

How to cite this page

EvalCompass Editorial Team. “World Café planning and facilitation worksheet”. EvalCompass, updated 2026-10-07. https://evalcompass.jun-nakatani.com/en/worksheets/world-cafe/

Add the date you accessed the page. Text created by this site is available under CC BY 4.0. Quotations, external materials, and bundled fonts have their own terms of use. When reusing content, credit the source, link to the license, and indicate any changes.

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Change history

2026-09-13 — Updated explanations to correspond with sources, and added method-specific fictional worksheet examples, judgment examples and revision history.
2026-10-07 — Made minimal corrections to assertions, fixed conditions or inconsistencies between worksheets and examples based on content check FW-10. Preserved field counts, order, labels and section structure. Did not change verification status of unchecked material.