Plan at least two hours for one session. It might feel not enough (and this is usually true), but it is tough for people to be productive for a more extended period in such an environment. A more extended workshop will exhaust discussions and create a feeling of going in circles. This might be the case just because almost everything that can be discussed has already been considered and got to the wall. Therefore, resist the urge to plan more extended workshops, like whole day sessions.

The first hour is usually very intense, but after that, you can observe the energy level going down. Let people rest for ten minutes, have a coffee, and eat those fruits you got for them. Often, participants will keep chatting in small groups about what has been discussed, so their brain will still be processing the information, but in a more relaxed mode. After a break, new insights are usually uncovered. Also, you will need to apply different techniques step by step, and the break after the first hour will give you an excellent opportunity to do something different from what you were doing during the first part of the workshop. We will discuss these techniques later in this chapter.