In most meetings, a few people speak, many listen, and the leader carries the weight of making it all work. It’s a set-up that keeps the wisdom of the group hidden and the responsibility narrowly held. The World Café changes this dynamic. It invites us to stop leading from the front and start hosting from the centre, shaping a space where people move from being an audience to being co-creators.

As the host, your role is not to provide all the answers, but to offer the right conditions: a welcoming environment, questions that matter, and trust in the people in the room. When you do, conversations begin to weave into one another, ideas grow in unexpected directions, and ownership shifts from the few to the many. The vision that emerges is not a leader’s plan to be sold, but a shared understanding to be carried forward by everyone present.

What is a World Café

The World Café is a way of organising conversation so that a group can hear itself think. It creates the conditions for people to connect across boundaries, share what they know, and discover what they did not realise they knew.

People meet in small groups of four or five, often at round tables. They begin with a question that matters, one that invites more than a yes/no or opinion. After a set time, most people move to a new table. One person stays as the host to share what has already been said and welcome the next round. This continues for several cycles, so ideas travel through the room and are shaped by many voices.

The format borrows from the informality of a café. The tone is conversational, not procedural. It relies on the power of small groups to open up thinking and the movement of people to connect those conversations into a whole. This is not about fixing a problem in a single meeting. It is about creating a living network of conversation, one that people feel they own, because they helped to make it.

The World Café began in the mid-nineties, not as a formal method, but as an accident of weather. When heavy rain disrupted a planned large-group meeting at the home of Juanita Brown and David Isaacs, guests were seated instead at small café-style tables, paper and pens at hand. Conversation unfolded in rounds, with people moving between tables and carrying ideas with them. By the end, the room held more than a collection of individual thoughts. Patterns had emerged, trust had grown, and there was a shared sense of having created something together. Brown, Isaacs, and colleagues reflected on why it had worked, the intimacy of small tables, the pull of a good question, the cross-pollination of ideas, and distilled these elements into the principles and process now used worldwide. For more background see HERE.

From boardrooms to community halls, the essence remains the same: create a hospitable space, ask questions that matter, and trust that something new can emerge when we speak and listen together.

Why a World Café works

The World Café works because it is built on a simple truth: people already hold a wealth of insight, experience, and imagination, but these rarely surface in the meetings and forums that are supposed to bring them out. In most organisational and civic gatherings, a small number of voices dominate, conversations are framed too narrowly, and the physical set-up communicates formality rather than connection. The World Café disrupts these patterns.

Small tables create a sense of intimacy, making it easier to speak honestly and listen without defensiveness. When people feel they are in a safe space, they are more willing to share half-formed thoughts, stories from their own lives, and questions they have been carrying. These are often the seeds of fresh thinking. The café’s structure,  with people moving between tables and encountering new voices, helps ensure that ideas are not trapped within one small group. This circulation acts like cross-pollination, allowing perspectives to blend and evolve.

Another reason it works is that it decentralises expertise. In a café, the host is not the authority; they are the steward of the process. This means no one is “in charge” of the content, and participants feel ownership over what is created. The focus shifts from “receiving information” to “making meaning together.”

At its core, the World Café also succeeds because it respects the importance of the question. A good question sparks curiosity, and curiosity drives dialogue. The format fosters not only individual curiosity but also shared curiosity, the feeling that we are exploring something together and that the outcome will be more meaningful if everyone contributes. This sense of shared exploration is what maintains high energy and authentic conversation.

Finally, the World Café works because it is more than a meeting technique; it is an act of relationship-building. People leave not only with ideas but with a renewed sense of connection to those they have spoken with. This connection is what makes the insights generated more likely to be acted upon. Ideas alone can be ignored; ideas tied to human connection are much harder to dismiss.

Why World Cafés matter

Many gatherings pass information but fail to build a connection. People leave knowing more facts, yet no closer to one another. The World Café offers a different outcome: shared understanding, stronger relationships, and the beginnings of collective action.

In communities, it can transform how people participate in civic life. Instead of merely being spoken to, residents become co-creators of what happens next. In NGOs, it brings beneficiaries, staff, and partners into the same conversation, levelling hierarchy and valuing lived experience. In business, it breaks down silos, enabling insights to spread quickly and strategies to be shaped by those closest to the work.

The World Café matters because it shifts the frame from “their meeting” to “our meeting.” When people have had a hand in shaping the conversation, they are more likely to act on its results. It also matters because it rebuilds trust. In an age where many feel unheard or isolated, sitting down together in small groups and being taken seriously is itself an act of restoration.

When to use a World Café

Use the World Café when you want more than compliance. It belongs in rooms where you are ready to trust the people present with the questions that matter most. The method works best when the goal is to surface the wisdom that is already in the group, but often hidden beneath hierarchy, habit, or the rush to solutions.

  • Choose it when you need connection before action. People who have not heard each other cannot act together in any sustained way.
  • Use it when the challenge is complex, with no single right answer, and the richness of diverse perspectives is an asset, not a problem.
  • Choose it when you want to create ownership, because a plan made by a few and handed to the many will rarely survive first contact with reality.
  • Use it when trust needs to be restored or built, because small tables and honest questions create the conditions for repair.
  • Use it when you are willing to live with emergence, to see what comes rather than controlling what must come.

In short, use the World Café when the conversation itself is the work, and when you are ready for the outcome to be shaped by those in the room, not by you alone.

When not to use a World Café

Do not use the World Café when you are unwilling to let go of control. If the purpose is to persuade people to accept a pre-decided course of action, this format will only frustrate you and them.

  • Avoid it when the issue demands a rapid, technical decision that only a few with specialist knowledge can make.
  • Avoid it when time is too short to honour real dialogue, because rushing people through will hollow out the process.
  • Do not choose it if you are not ready to hear dissent or alternative views, because the café invites difference and you cannot edit that out.
  • It is also not the right method if you believe the outcome is more important than the relationships built along the way.
  • Avoid it when the question you are bringing is too narrow, too small, or too inconsequential to matter to the participants.

The World Café is not a tool for selling a plan or managing optics. It is a practice for creating meaning together. If you are not willing to be changed by what you hear, or if you cannot make space for others to shape the future with you, choose another method.

World Café examples

Communities (civic engagement) World Cafés

Neighbourhood visioning: A mid-sized town used the World Café to shape its 10-year development plan. Rather than holding a formal consultation, the council invited residents to a series of evening cafés in local libraries and community centres. Each night, hundreds attended, moving between tables discussing questions such as “What would make our town a better place to live for everyone?” By the end, themes such as green spaces, safe walking routes, and youth opportunities emerged, and residents saw their fingerprints on the final plan.

Community healing after crisis: In a city recovering from a divisive public dispute, civic leaders organised a World Café in a local church hall. Trained volunteers hosted tables, and questions focused on “What do we value about our community?” and “What might it take to rebuild trust between neighbours?” The café gave people a way to speak honestly without confrontation and began the slow work of repairing relationships.

NGOs (Charities) World Cafés

Programme co-design with beneficiaries: An international health NGO ran a World Café with community health workers, patients, and local leaders in a rural district. The goal was to co-design a maternal health outreach programme. Questions explored “What is working now?”, “Where are the gaps?”, and “What resources do we already have?” The process revealed overlooked local strengths and built commitment among those who would be delivering and using the service.

Volunteer engagement and retention: A national charity facing high volunteer turnover used the World Café to understand what kept people engaged. Current and former volunteers were invited to explore “When have you felt most valued here?” and “What could make this a place you want to return to?” The conversations surfaced simple changes, better onboarding, more peer recognition, and gave volunteers the sense that their voice mattered.

Business / Corporate World Cafés

Cross-silo innovation: A global manufacturing firm used the World Café to break down silos between engineering, marketing, and customer service teams. Over two days, staff from around the world rotated through mixed-discipline tables exploring “What would it take to double customer satisfaction in two years?” Ideas spread quickly across functions, and several joint pilot projects emerged from the conversations.

Culture change in a merger: After merging with another company, a technology firm held a World Café for all staff to discuss the new culture. Questions focused on “What from our past should we carry forward?” and “What do we want to create together now?” The method provided people with space to voice concerns, share hopes, and begin forming a shared identity, which is essential for integrating teams that had been competitors just months earlier.

How the World Café compares to other facilitation methods

The World Café, Open Space Technology, Appreciative Inquiry Summit, Future Search, and Peter Block’s Six Conversations (all Large Group Methods) are all ways of inviting people into community, but each creates that invitation in a different way.

The World Café is at its heart about weaving together many small conversations into a collective whole. The movement between tables allows ideas to travel and mingle. It works best with questions that invite multiple perspectives and where the outcome can emerge gradually through layers of dialogue.

Open Space Technology works differently. It is designed for when you do not yet know the questions. Participants create the agenda themselves and choose the conversations they most care about. It runs on four guiding principles and one law, known as the Law of Two Feet, which invites people to take responsibility for where they can contribute or learn the most. While the World Café offers a shared journey through pre-chosen questions, Open Space offers a marketplace of conversations that people can enter and leave freely.

An Appreciative Inquiry Summit brings the whole system into the room, sometimes hundreds of people, to explore what gives life to the organisation or community when it is at its best. It follows a 4D cycle of Discovery, Dream, Design, and Destiny (or Delivery). Where the World Café values movement and the mixing of groups, an Appreciative Inquiry Summit often keeps participants in more stable teams, going deep into shared stories and co-creating future commitments.

Future Search is about building common ground across diverse stakeholders. It compresses months of dialogue into two or three days by having participants explore the past, present, and future together, map their shared reality, and decide on actions they are willing to take. It follows a highly structured five-session sequence, while the World Café is lighter in form and allows more freedom in the flow of conversation.

Peter Block’s Six Conversations is less a facilitation method and more a practice of speaking with each other in ways that build accountability and community. It centres on six specific types of conversation, such as invitation, possibility, dissent, and commitment, that change the quality of relationships and shared work. The World Café can act as a container for these conversations, providing rhythm and structure, but the Six Conversations stand alone as a way of shifting the way people engage.

Each method has its own strengths. The World Café is best when you want movement, cross-pollination, and the gradual building of a shared picture. Open Space is best when energy and passion are the main drivers. Appreciative Inquiry Summit shines when you want to design from strengths at a large scale. Future Search works when you need a fast and inclusive route to common ground. Six Conversations works when you want to change the very nature of the dialogue itself. The art lies in choosing the invitation that best fits the moment and the people you have.

How to set up a World Café

A successful World Café begins long before anyone arrives. It is built in the invisible work of design, thinking about why you’re meeting, who needs to be there, how to invite them, and the kind of space that will help them do their best thinking together. The more attention you give to the set-up, the more naturally the conversations will unfold once the session begins.

1. Clarify the purpose: Every strong Café starts with a clear answer to a simple question: Why are we doing this? Purpose is not an afterthought; it is the foundation. It shapes who you invite, the questions you ask, and how you prepare the environment. Take time with your planning group to name the intention in plain language. Are you trying to deepen relationships across silos? Surface new ideas on a challenge? Create a shared vision for a project? Sometimes it’s a blend of these. Once you have a clear purpose statement, use it as your compass. If a decision about format, timing, or even refreshments doesn’t align with your purpose, adjust it. This clarity also makes it easier to communicate to participants why their presence matters.

2. Identify who needs to be there: The Café gains strength from the mix of people in the room. It works best when participants bring a variety of perspectives, experiences, and relationships to the topic. Think beyond the obvious list. Include those directly affected, those who influence decisions, and those who can offer fresh thinking. Diversity here is not just demographic, though that matters, but cognitive and experiential diversity. A mix of long-term insiders and newer voices can lead to richer insights. Resist the tendency to invite only those who are easy to reach or already aligned with the organisers’ view. Aim for a group that, when gathered, feels like the whole system in miniature.

3. Craft an invitation that reflects the spirit of the Café:  The invitation is the first taste of the experience you’re offering. A generic meeting notice won’t inspire curiosity or commitment. Write in a tone that is warm, personal, and purposeful. Explain the purpose clearly and show why the invitee’s perspective is important. Hint at what will be possible if they join. This shifts the dynamic from being “called to a meeting” to being “invited into a conversation that matters.” Rather than simply saying, “We are holding a World Café to discuss community engagement”, you might write: “We’re gathering people who care about the future of our neighbourhood to explore what’s possible and decide where to focus our energy. Your perspective will make the conversation more complete, and your presence will help shape the steps we take next.” This is both personal and purposeful. Where possible, follow up key invitations with a personal note or conversation. This not only improves attendance but begins building the sense of connection that is at the heart of the Café.

4. Shape the physical space: The room layout and atmosphere will speak before you do. Small, round tables for three to five people encourage intimacy and make it easier for everyone to contribute. Cover tables with large sheets of paper or paper tablecloths so participants can write, sketch, and connect ideas as they talk. Include coloured pens within easy reach, and add small touches like flowers, candles, or bowls of fruit to create a hospitable, informal feel. Refreshments available throughout reinforce the sense that people are being hosted. Arrange tables so participants can move easily between rounds, and ensure there is a large enough space for the whole group to gather for the harvest. Pay attention to sound: if the room is too noisy, people will strain to hear; if it’s too quiet, the energy may feel flat.

5. Shape the virtual space (if online): Hospitality translates to virtual settings too. Keep breakout groups small, ideally no more than four participants, to maintain intimacy. Provide clear joining instructions in advance, including suggestions for camera and audio use. Set up a shared space for capturing notes and ideas, such as a collaborative document or online whiteboard. Encourage participants to have refreshments nearby to make the experience more relaxed and human. Just as with a physical room, the way you open the virtual space signals how you want people to show up.

6. Consider the Flow: Decide how many rounds of conversation you will have, and how long each will be. A common pattern is three rounds of 20–25 minutes, but this can be adjusted depending on your purpose and the complexity of the topic. Plan the sequence of your questions so the conversation moves from broad exploration to more specific possibilities. Ensure there is enough time at the end for a whole-group harvest. Think about transitions , how you will move people between tables or breakout rooms without losing energy.

7. Prepare Materials and Logistics: List all the physical or digital materials you will need and have them ready in advance. For in-person Cafés, this includes paper tablecloths, markers, any décor, refreshments, and wall space for posting ideas during the harvest. For virtual sessions, test the breakout rooms, screen-sharing, and collaborative tools beforehand. Check accessibility, make sure the space is easy to move around, the lighting is good, and printed materials are readable. If people are travelling, ensure they have clear directions and know what to expect on arrival. The aim is for participants to walk in (or log on) and immediately feel that the environment has been prepared with care.

World-Cafe-Guidelines-How-to-run-Andi-Roberts

How to run a World Café

A well-run World Café should feel relaxed and conversational for participants, even though it is guided by a clear structure. The facilitator’s aim is to make people feel welcome from the moment they arrive and to carry that spirit of hospitality through to the closing. Every detail, from how they are greeted to the pacing of the rounds to the way ideas are shared at the end, is part of holding a space where people can think together and build on each other’s contributions. Here is a suggested flow, comments and timings. Please adjust to your context:

Arrival and Welcome (typical cadence: 15 minutes)

What to do: Be ready to greet people as they arrive. Stand near the entrance so you can meet them with a smile and a word of welcome. Encourage them to help themselves to refreshments, find a table, and look over the materials provided. Background music can create a relaxed atmosphere. The aim here is to help people feel that they are stepping into a space prepared with care.

Facilitator script “Hello, welcome. I am glad you are here. Please help yourself to something to eat or drink and take a seat at any table that feels comfortable for you. You will find paper and pens on each table so you can jot down thoughts or sketch ideas during the conversations. We will be starting in a few minutes.”

Opening and orientation (typical cadence: 15 minutes)

What to do: Once everyone is seated, introduce the purpose of the gathering. Explain what makes the World Café different from other meetings and outline the process. Keep the tone warm and the explanation simple.

Facilitator script “Welcome everyone and thank you for being here. This is not a typical meeting. We are here for a conversation that matters, one where every voice counts. The purpose of our time together is [state purpose clearly]. Our aim is to listen to one another, explore different perspectives, and see what we can create together. Here is how the process works. We will have [number] rounds of conversation. In each round, you will talk in small groups about a question that connects to our purpose. At the end of each round, most people will move to a different table. One person will stay as the table host to welcome the next group and share what has already been discussed. At the end, we will come back together to share insights and themes from all the conversations.”

Round one (typical cadence: 20 to 25 minutes)

What to do: Choose a broad question that everyone can relate to. Encourage participants to begin by each taking a turn to share before moving into open discussion. Invite them to write or draw on the table covering.

Facilitator script: “For our first round, here is your question: [state the question clearly]. Please take a few minutes to introduce yourselves and then to let everyone at the table share their first thoughts before opening up the conversation. Use the paper on the table to jot down key words, draw images, or capture ideas. You have about 25 minutes. I will let you know when it is time to move.”

Transition to round two (typical cadence: 5 minutes)

What to do: Signal that the round is ending, then explain how movement between tables will work.

Facilitator script: “Thank you everyone. Please finish your last thought. Now, if you are the table host, please stay where you are. Everyone else, find a new table with new people. Table hosts, when the new group arrives, take a couple of minutes to summarise the key points from your previous conversation and then invite them to add new ideas and build on what has been shared.”

Round two (typical cadence: 20 to 25 minutes)

What to do: Select a question that builds on the first round and focuses the conversation further.

Facilitator script: “Welcome to your new table group. The question for this round is: [state the question]. Again, you have about 25 minutes. Remember to capture key ideas on the paper and to build on what has already been discussed.”

Round three (typical cadence: 20 to 25 minutes)

What to do: Use a more action-oriented question that encourages participants to think about commitments or next steps.

Facilitator script: “We are now in our final round of small group conversation. Here is your question: [state the question]. You have about 25 minutes. Remember to write or draw your ideas on the table covering so they can be shared later.”

Harvest (typical cadence: 20 to 30 minutes)

What to do: Bring the whole group back together. Ask tables to share the most important insights, patterns, or questions that emerged. Capture these where everyone can see them.

Facilitator script: “Let’s come back together as a whole group. This is the time when we hear from each other and see the bigger picture of what we have created together. At each table, please choose one or two points that you feel are most important to share. We will capture them here so everyone can see them.”

Closing (typical cadence: 10 to 20 minutes)

What to do: Acknowledge what has been created and let people know any next steps. Thank participants for their time and contributions.

Facilitator script: “Thank you for the quality of conversation and listening you have brought today. What we have created belongs to all of us. The next steps are [state any follow-up actions or commitments]. We will share [how outputs will be communicated]. I hope you leave with new ideas, new connections, and a sense of what is possible when we come together in this way. Thank you for being here.”

The seven design principles of a World Café

Seven design principles guide every World Café. They are more than instructions for running a meeting; they are mindsets about how people connect, learn, and co-create. Each principle reinforces the others, and together they create the conditions in which collective intelligence can emerge.

1.  Clarify the context

Every Café begins with a clear purpose, and that purpose shapes every decision that follows. Setting the context means going beyond naming a topic. It is about being explicit on why these people are being brought together, what is at stake for them, and how the outcomes will be used. When the purpose is clear, it becomes easier to choose resonant questions, invite the right mix of people, and design a harvest that makes sense. Without this anchor, even the best facilitation risks feeling aimless. A clear context gives weight to the conversation and signals to participants that their time and insights matter.

2.  Create hospitable space

A World Café thrives where people feel welcome and safe enough to speak openly. This is more than the room layout, although small tables, comfortable seating, good lighting, and refreshments help. It is also about the social tone you set from the moment people arrive. Hospitality is an attitude. It is greeting each participant as if they belong, offering them a place in the conversation, and showing that their presence matters. A hospitable space tells people, quietly but unmistakably, that they can bring their whole selves here.

3.  Explore questions that matter

The quality of the conversation depends on the quality of the question. A question that matters is one that is relevant to the participants’ lives, work, or community. It should be open enough to invite discovery, yet specific enough to keep the dialogue grounded. Good questions spark curiosity, surface stories, and open space for imagination. Poorly framed questions that are too narrow, too abstract, or leading toward a pre-determined answer close down the possibilities the Café is designed to open. In a World Café, the question is not a formality; it is the heart of the work.

4.  Encourage everyone’s contribution

The Café is designed so that each person can find their voice. Small tables make it easier to speak, but inclusion is more than furniture. It is an ethic. Hosts and participants alike can invite quieter voices in, value each story, and make it safe to share even half-formed thoughts. When everyone contributes, the conversation shifts from a performance by a few to a genuine co-creation. Ideas born in this environment belong to the whole group, not to a single individual.

5.  Connect diverse perspectives

Movement between tables is not just a way to mix people. It is the mechanism that lets perspectives cross-pollinate. As participants change tables, they carry insights, questions, and images from earlier conversations, sharing them in new groups and in turn making new connections. Across several rounds, this process dissolves silos, challenges assumptions, and weaves a web of shared understanding that is richer than any single group could produce.

6.  Listen together for patterns and insights

Listening in a World Café is a collective act. Instead of focusing solely on individual opinions, participants are invited to notice what is emerging across conversations, such as repeated themes, resonant images, questions that keep surfacing, or what is not being said. Sometimes insight comes from a metaphor that appears independently in different groups. Listening in this way shifts the focus from winning an argument to making sense together, transforming many voices into a shared understanding.

7.  Share collective discoveries

A World Café reaches its peak when the whole group can see what it has created together. This is the purpose of the harvest, whether a visual map, a gallery walk of table notes, a spoken reflection, or a digital mural. The harvest is the moment when many conversations become a visible whole, and participants see their own words and ideas alongside those of others. This recognition, “We made this together”, often sparks the energy to carry the work forward beyond the Café.

The role of the host in World Café

Hosting a World Café is different from facilitating a meeting. It is less about managing the flow of discussion and more about creating and holding the conditions in which conversations can flourish. A good host sees themselves as a steward of the space, not the owner of the outcomes.

Hosting the overall café

The overall host bears the responsibility for the entire gathering’s flow. This begins well before the first participant arrives. They help clarify the purpose, collaborate with the design team to select questions that will resonate, and ensure that the physical and social environment feels welcoming.

On the day itself, the host is the first point of contact for most participants. The way they greet people matters. A handshake, a smile, a few words of welcome; these small gestures signal that each person belongs in the room. The host sets the tone with their presence: relaxed but attentive, confident in the process but humble enough to let the group own the content.

When opening the café, the host explains the purpose, the process, and the principles. They do so in plain, human language, not procedural jargon. They invite people into a shared experiment: to see what can emerge when we speak and listen differently. Throughout the café, the host watches the energy in the room, sensing when a little more encouragement is needed or when it is time to move on. They keep the rounds on time, but avoid rushing the conversation.

In the harvest, the overall host invites the group to make its collective thinking visible. They resist the temptation to interpret or summarise on behalf of the group. Instead, they draw out what participants themselves see as necessary, ensuring that the harvest belongs to them.

The hallmark of a good café host is that participants leave feeling they have been part of something they helped to create, rather than something that was done to them.

Hosting a table

The table host plays a quieter but equally crucial role. At the start of the café, each table host welcomes their small group, explains that they will remain at the table when others move on, and listens attentively as the first conversation unfolds.

When a new round begins, the table host offers a short, neutral summary of what the previous group discussed. This is not an opportunity to direct the conversation or to filter out uncomfortable ideas. It is a way of passing the thread from one group to the next so that the conversation can continue to build. The summary should be brief, just enough to give the newcomers a sense of where things left off, and it should end with an invitation: “What does this spark for you?” or “Where would you like to take the conversation next?”

A good table host also watches for participation. They notice if someone is quiet and may gently invite them to share, without pressure. They encourage people to write or draw on the table covering so that ideas can be remembered and shared with others later.

Table hosting is as much about listening as it is about speaking. The host creates a space that allows others to contribute freely and helps the group stay connected to the question. In this way, the table becomes more than just a piece of furniture; it transforms into a container for a living, evolving conversation.

Designing question sequences for a World Café

A World Café works best when it is not a free-flowing conversation without direction, nor a rigid march through an agenda. It is a carefully paced journey, one that moves a group from first contact into shared possibility, and finally towards the will to act together. The sequence of questions is how that journey is shaped.

Most World Cafés work well with three core questions. This is not an arbitrary choice. It reflects the natural arc of human attention and trust. Three questions create a rhythm: enough progression to deepen the dialogue without scattering focus, and enough variation to keep the energy alive. With one question, the conversation risks circling on the surface; with six or more, it becomes fragmented and exhausting. Three is just enough to allow a gentle entry, a deepening of meaning, and a movement into shared commitment.

The first question is an opening. It is an invitation broad enough that everyone can enter from their own experience. It does not rush toward solutions or assign blame. Instead, it creates common ground.

The second question narrows the focus, but not the spirit. It builds on what has already been said, exploring causes, values, and possibilities in greater depth. At this stage, the group begins to see connections between their experiences and to envision new options together.

The third question shifts the focus to action. It encourages participants to turn their insights into commitments, no matter how small. This is the moment when the conversation moves from ideas to action.

This three-question arc mirrors the movement Peter Block describes in his work on community dialogue: beginning with invitation and possibility, moving through ownership and even dissent, and arriving at commitment and the recognition of each other’s gifts.

World Café question examples – Community

1. Neighbourhood renewal: The first question might be: “When have we as a community come together in ways that made you feel proud to live here?” This invites people to recall lived moments of possibility and success. The second could be: “What would it take for that sense of pride to be our everyday experience?” This explores ownership and the choices we control collectively. The third would be: “What small action could each of us take in the next month to move towards that vision?” This anchors the conversation in commitment. This sequence works because it starts from shared memory, builds into shared imagination, and ends in personal agency.

2. Youth engagement: The opening question might be: “When have young people in our community been most visible and valued?” This honours what is already working. The second could be: “What would it look like if youth voices were shaping our community’s future?” This focuses on possibility and opens the door for dissent about what is missing. The final question might be: “What role could each of us play in making our community a place where youth feel ownership?” This creates a bridge between talk and action. The design works because it shifts the conversation from deficit to agency.

3. Community healing after division: You might start with: “What is one story or moment that captures the best of how we treat one another?” This frames the conversation in terms of possibility. The second could be: “What might we need to name or face to rebuild trust?” Here, dissent is welcomed, and difficult truths are not avoided. The final question might be: “What act of generosity or repair could we offer as a sign of our intent to move forward?” This turns insight into visible commitment.

World Café question examples – NGOs / third sector

4. Volunteer retention: Begin with: “When have you felt most connected to the mission of this organisation?” This draws out moments of alignment. The second could be: “What would make this connection deeper and more consistent for you?” This is where dissent can surface, things that are missing or unhelpful. The third might be: “What commitment could you make, and what commitment would you hope to see from the organisation, to sustain your involvement?” This works because it balances mutual accountability.

5. Programme Co-Design: Open with: “What is one time our work has made a visible difference?” This names success in concrete terms. Then: “If we were to create that kind of impact more often, what would need to change?” This invites reflection on systemic gaps without blame. Finally: “What is one step you can take, starting now, to help bring that change about?” This sequence aligns memory, critique, and action in a collaborative frame.

6. Partnership development: Start with: “When have partnerships worked best for you in this context?” This builds on existing good practice. Move to: “What would it take to create partnerships where all parties feel valued and heard?” This allows for honest identification of challenges. Conclude with: “What is one concrete offer you could make to strengthen a current or future partnership?” The power of this set lies in moving from reflection to mutual exchange.

World Café question examples – business sector

7. Raising team or department performance: The first question could be: “When have we as a team been at our very best, and what made that possible?” This recalls real moments of pride and possibility, grounding the conversation in success rather than deficit. The second might be: “What would raising our performance by 20% look and feel like in our everyday work?” This invites ownership and allows dissent to surface; not everyone will agree on what higher performance means, and that’s valuable to explore. The third question could be: “What are one or two specific actions we can each commit to taking in the next month to move us in that direction?” This ensures the conversation leads to concrete, shared commitments rather than vague aspirations. The power of this sequence lies in starting from strengths, envisioning a shared future, and ending with individual responsibility.

8. Post-merger culture building: The opening question might be: “What from our past organisational cultures do you most want to carry forward?” This makes room for legacy and recognises what people value. The second could be: “What do we need to let go of to build something better together?” Here, dissent is welcomed as a necessary part of creating unity, surfacing practices or mindsets that no longer serve. The third question might be: “What personal action could you take to help make this new culture real in your daily work?” This shifts the focus from abstract culture talk to lived practice. The sequence works because it honours the past, confronts what must change, and commits to a shared future.

9. Innovation and customer focus: Start with: “When have we delighted a customer or client in a way that surprised even us?” This invites a celebration of moments where the team exceeded expectations. Then ask: “What would it take for that level of creativity and care to become our everyday standard?” This question opens the door to identifying both enablers and barriers, allowing for honest reflection. Finish with: “What is one small, tangible step you will take in the next month to bring more of that into your work?” This creates immediate accountability and keeps momentum alive. The arc here moves from story to vision to action, each step deepening the sense of shared purpose.

Thirty questions for World Café

Here are additional questions that may be of use in designing your series:

Exploration questions for World Café

  1. What possibility, if you could bring it to life here, would matter most to you?

  2. What’s the invitation you would most like to extend to others in this community?

  3. When have you felt most alive and connected here, and what made that possible?

  4. If there were no constraints, what would you create together?

  5. What conversation, if we had it, could change how we work together?

  6. What’s one question you wish we were brave enough to ask?

  7. Where do you see the most untapped potential here?

  8. Imagine it’s three years from now and things have gone better than we dreamed, what happened?

  9. If newcomers joined us today, what’s the first story you’d tell them about who we are?

  10. What possibility do you feel drawn to that might scare others, and why?

Relationship-building questions for World Café

  1. What’s one gift, skill, or insight you have that you’d be willing to contribute?

  2. What’s a story from your life that shaped why you care about this work?

  3. When have you felt most supported here, and what did that look like?

  4. What commitment are you willing to make to strengthen our connection?

  5. What question would you most like to ask someone here that you’ve never asked?

  6. What’s one strength you see in someone here that you admire?

  7. What’s a time you took a risk to help someone in this group?

  8. What’s one thing you wish others here understood about you?

  9. Who here has had a positive impact on you, and how?

  10. What’s one thing you’ve learned from someone here that surprised you?

Action-planning questions for World Café

  1. What’s the smallest, boldest step we could take together in the next month?

  2. What are you personally willing to take responsibility for?

  3. What’s one thing we should stop doing to make space for what matters most?

  4. Where do you feel resistance or doubt, and what would help address it?

  5. If we succeed beyond expectations, what will be different a year from now?

  6. What’s the first conversation we need to have after today to keep momentum?

  7. What’s one action we could take this week that would signal change is real?

  8. Who else needs to be part of this conversation before we act?

  9. What could we commit to that would still be meaningful even if it failed?

  10. If we had to choose one bold action to take in the next 90 days, what would it be?

The World Café as a pattern, not a one-off

A World Café is often introduced as a single event, a day in the calendar, a gathering designed to address a specific question. While this can be valuable, the deeper potential of the café lies in treating it not as an isolated intervention but as a recurring pattern of conversation.

When the café becomes part of the ongoing rhythm of an organisation or community, its impact compounds. People begin to expect that their voice will be invited and heard. They come to trust that good questions will be asked, and that they will help shape the answers. Over time, the café stops feeling like an unusual format and starts becoming the default way of working together.

This shift is cultural as much as procedural. In communities, it can change the tone of civic life, moving from periodic consultation to continuous dialogue. In organisations, it can erode silos not once but permanently, by creating regular spaces where people from different roles and levels meet as equals. In networks, it can become the shared habit that keeps relationships alive across distance and difference.

Treating the café as a pattern means recognising that no single conversation can carry all the weight. Insights need to be revisited, refined, and acted upon in cycles. People need to return, see what has changed, and have another chance to contribute. Just as trust is built through repeated contact, collective intelligence is built through repeated conversation.

The format is simple enough to be repeated without fatigue, and rich enough to feel different each time. When embedded in the life of a group, the World Café ceases to be “an event someone ran once” and becomes “the way we talk when it matters.”

World Café etiquette

Café etiquette is the invisible framework that keeps a World Café from becoming just another discussion. It is not a set of rigid rules to be enforced, but a shared understanding that makes genuine exchange possible. These understandings are simple enough to state in a few sentences, but powerful enough to change the quality of the conversation entirely when everyone in the room truly lives them out.

The first is to focus on what matters. The questions in a World Café are chosen with care, and each one carries the potential to open meaningful dialogue. Staying anchored in the question keeps the group aligned and ensures the conversation does not drift into unrelated topics or into premature problem-solving. That discipline creates depth; without it, even the best question can dissolve into chatter.

The second is to contribute your thinking. A café works because each person brings a unique combination of experiences, insights, and perspectives. Contributing does not mean speaking often or dominating the conversation. It means offering your truth, what you know, what you have seen, and even what you wonder about, in a way that others can work with.

A third understanding is to speak both mind and heart. The richness of a World Café comes from the interplay of logic and emotion, evidence and intuition. Facts and data have their place, but so do hopes, fears, and values. Often, the turning point in a conversation comes not from a well-reasoned argument but from a story that resonates.

Listening to understand is another vital element of etiquette. In most settings, we listen to reply or to confirm our view. In a café, the invitation is different: listen with curiosity. Listen for what might be true in another’s words, even if you disagree with them. This kind of listening has the power to shift not only what we think, but how we see one another.

Participants are also encouraged to connect ideas. As you move between tables, you carry insights from earlier conversations. Share these when they can add value, and be alert for patterns or links between seemingly separate discussions. In doing so, you help weave the threads of the café into a coherent fabric.

Another practice is to listen together for deeper insights. This is a collective discipline, noticing recurring themes, resonant phrases, or the silences that carry their own meaning. Sometimes the most powerful contribution is not a new point, but naming the pattern that everyone has been circling without quite stating.

Finally, record visually. Use paper tablecloths, sticky notes, or any shared medium to capture words, symbols, that emerge during conversation. These notes are not minutes to be archived; they serve as a visual memory of the discussion, embodying its energy and unique perspective on and sketches th the topic.

When these understandings are shared and honoured, the café becomes more than a structure. It becomes a safe yet vibrant space where trust can grow, ideas can connect, and the conversation can move beyond the ordinary.

World Café harvesting approaches

Harvesting in a World Café is the process of making the room’s collective intelligence visible. Without it, the café can feel like a pleasant conversation with no lasting trace. With it, people leave with a shared record of their thinking and the energy to act on what they’ve created together.

A good harvest is not a meeting transcript. It doesn’t attempt to capture every word or every idea exactly as it was spoken. Instead, it distils the patterns, images, and possibilities that emerged across many conversations. It is the art of making meaning visible.

Harvesting begins long before the final plenary. As participants talk, they are invited to capture key ideas on tablecloths or large sheets of paper. These rough notes, doodles, and diagrams become artefacts of the conversation. Table hosts play a role here too, summarising key threads when new people join and encouraging others to write or draw as they go.

In the plenary, the harvest should feel like a collective act rather than a presentation. Some hosts use a large visual map, drawing key themes and linking related ideas as people share. Others arrange a “gallery walk,” where each table posts its notes and participants wander, reading and adding comments. In virtual cafés, collaborative digital whiteboards can serve the same purpose.

The aim is not to declare a final conclusion, but to let the group see the richness of what they have produced. This recognition is powerful. People often realise, sometimes with surprise, that their own thinking has shifted simply by hearing the patterns reflected back. The harvest is both a record and a catalyst,  a record of the café’s work, and a catalyst for whatever comes next.

To close the harvest, acknowledge what has been created. Thank participants not only for their ideas but for their listening, their openness, and their willingness to connect. If there are next steps, make them visible here, so the energy of the conversation has somewhere to go. A well-crafted harvest ensures that the café’s impact continues beyond the room.

After the World Café: Follow-up and integration

A World Café does not end when the last table is cleared. Its value lies in what happens next, in how the conversations begun in the room are woven into the ongoing life of the organisation, community, or network. Without follow-up, even the richest dialogue risks fading into memory as “a good meeting” rather than a catalyst for change.

The first step is to honour the harvest. Share the collective insights promptly and visibly, in a form that feels alive rather than bureaucratic. This might be a visual map, a short summary of themes, or photographs of the table notes, all shared back with participants. The aim is to let people see the traces of their own words and recognise the connections they helped create.

Next, integrate the harvest into decision-making and planning. This means more than filing it away as a reference. It means actively using the themes, questions, and possibilities to inform strategies, priorities, or policies. For a business, that might be embedding ideas into team charters or innovation roadmaps. For a community, it might mean shaping council plans or neighbourhood initiatives. In every case, integration signals that the café was not a one-off event, but part of a larger movement of thought and action.

Keep the conversation alive. The café is a beginning, not a conclusion. Continue with follow-up dialogues, small working groups, or online exchanges that deepen specific ideas from the harvest. Assignward the work so they stay roles to people in carrying for connected to both the process and the outcomes.

Finally, close the loop with transparency. Show participants how their contributions have influenced action. This is not just about accountability; it is about trust. When people see that their voices matter, they are more willing to invest their time and energy in future conversations.

The most successful World Cafés are remembered not for the day itself, but for the way they become part of an ongoing pattern of collective thinking and shared ownership. The measure of success is not applause at the end, but the changes, small and large, that begin to show up in the weeks and months that follow.

World Café variations and adaptations

The World Café is not a fixed recipe. Its principles can be adapted to fit the scale, setting, and purpose of the gathering, without losing the spirit that makes it work. The essential elements remain, hospitable space, meaningful questions, cross-pollination of ideas, and visible harvesting, but the form can shift.

Virtual Cafés: When people cannot meet face-to-face, the café can move online. Virtual cafés use breakout rooms as small tables, with participants rotating between them after each round. Digital whiteboards or shared documents replace the paper tablecloths, allowing ideas to be captured in real time. The same attention to hospitality matters here: warm welcomes, clear instructions, and space for informal connection help replicate the intimacy of an in-person café.

Single-table Cafés: In some settings, there may be only one group small enough to sit together. The spirit of the café can still be preserved by using rounds of conversation, shifting questions, and appointing a rotating “host” role to guide each round. The movement comes not from changing tables, but from changing focus and drawing connections between rounds.

Thematic Cafés: A café can be centred around a specific topic, national strategy, or youth engagement, with each session exploring a different aspect of that theme. These cafés tend to be most impactful when questions are arranged in a sequence that progresses from broad framing to focused inquiry, helping the group’s thinking become one.

Large-scale Cafés: Cafés have been run with hundreds of participants at conferences, summits, and public forums. In these cases, careful design of space and flow is critical. More table hosts are needed, and the harvest may require a team of facilitators to cluster themes quickly for a large group to see. Despite the scale, the aim is to preserve the small-table intimacy that allows people to speak freely.

Cross-Cultural and Multilingual Cafés: When participants come from diverse cultural or linguistic backgrounds, adaptations may include bilingual table hosts, translation tools, or culturally relevant hospitality practices. These cafés can be particularly powerful, as they invite perspectives that might rarely meet in other forums.

What matters in any adaptation is not the superficial format but the integrity of the core principles. Whether in a conference hall, a neighbourhood park, or an online space, the café functions effectively when it feels like a safe place to speak and listen, and when the conversation is guided by curiosity, connection, and respect.

Five common World Café pitfalls and how to avoid them

Even a well-designed World Café can stumble if certain traps are not avoided. Knowing these in advance allows you to design and host with greater care.

Pitfall 1 – treating the World Café as a talking shop with no follow-through. When participants sense that nothing will happen with what they share, energy fades and cynicism grows. The antidote is to be clear at the start about how the harvest will be used, and to follow through visibly afterwards. People don’t expect every idea to be acted on, but they do expect to see that their contribution mattered.

Pitfall 2 – Asking questions that are too vague, too narrow, or framed in a way that assumes a problem. Poorly crafted questions flatten the conversation or push it into complaint mode. Invest time in framing questions that invite exploration and possibility while still being grounded in the group’s reality.

Pitfall 3 – Over-structuring can also drain life from the café. If the host controls the process too tightly, participants can feel managed rather than invited. The strength of the café lies in its looseness, in the space it gives people to connect and think together. Resist the urge to intervene unless the energy has stalled or the group is drifting far from the purpose.

Pitfall 4 – Under-structuring is equally risky. Without clear rounds, movement between tables, and time boundaries, the format loses its rhythm and the harvest suffers. The host’s role is to hold the container firmly enough that participants can relax into it, knowing they will be guided.

Pitfall 5 – Beware of neglecting the physical or virtual environment. A noisy, uncomfortable, or poorly lit space can undermine the sense of welcome and attentiveness the café relies on. Online, poor platform choice or inadequate technical guidance can have the same effect. Creating a hospitable space is not an afterthought; it is one of the seven design principles for a reason.

Avoiding these pitfalls is less about perfect execution and more about presence. The best hosts are attuned to the room, able to sense when energy is rising or fading, and willing to adapt without losing sight of the purpose. In the end, a thriving café is one where participants leave feeling that their time was well spent, their voice was valued, and their connections with others have deepened.

Resources to deepen your understanding of World Café

The World Café: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter by Juanita Brown and David Isaacs: The foundational book from the method’s co-creators. It weaves the philosophy, real-world case stories, and practical steps together, helping you grasp not just how to run a World Café but why it works.

TheWorldCafe.com (Official Website): A living resource hub with guides, videos, etiquette principles, and a global stories archive. It’s ideal for seeing the method in action, learning about variations, and staying connected to the wider World Café community.

The Art of Powerful Questions by Eric Vogt, Juanita Brown, and David Isaacs:  A concise guide focused entirely on crafting the kinds of questions that fuel meaningful dialogue, a skill that is central to making any World Café powerful.

Frequently Asked Questions about the World Café

1. What is a World Café in simple terms?

A World Café is a way of having a conversation that helps a group hear itself think. Instead of a few people speaking while everyone else listens, the World Café turns the room into a network of small tables where everyone talks, listens, and builds on each other’s ideas. People move between tables in rounds, carrying insights with them. Over time, ideas cross-pollinate, patterns emerge, and the group starts to see a shared picture. The magic is in the informality and the equality of voice. It is a method that works because it invites people to co-create meaning rather than just react to a leader’s agenda.

2. How many people can take part in a World Café?

A World Café can work with as few as twelve people and with hundreds if the space is designed well. The real key is that each table should seat three to five people so the conversation feels personal. In a large event, you might have fifty tables running at once, each with its own host. The whole group will still connect through the harvest at the end. For big numbers, pay attention to acoustics, movement between rounds, and how the collective harvest will be shared so no one feels lost in the crowd.

3. How long does a World Café take?

A simple World Café can be done in ninety minutes, while a deeper one with three or more rounds and a rich harvest may take three to four hours. The right length depends on your purpose. If the goal is connection and idea sharing, shorter can work. If the goal is deeper exploration leading to action, allow more time. Each round is usually twenty to twenty-five minutes, plus time for arrival, orientation, harvest, and closing. Always plan enough space between transitions so people do not feel rushed.

4. Do you need a professional facilitator to run a World Café?

You do not have to hire a professional facilitator, but you do need someone who can act as a good host. A World Café host is less about managing people and more about creating a welcoming, focused space. If you are new to the method, it helps to rehearse the flow, plan the transitions, and be clear on your role. Many organisations train internal staff to host, and once you understand the principles, it becomes part of your regular way of working. As a trained and certified professional facilitator, I am happy to support or mentor your hosts.

5. What is the role of the table host?

The table host stays at the table when others move between rounds. Their role is to welcome new arrivals, briefly summarise what was discussed before, and invite the next group to build on it. They listen more than they speak, capture key ideas, and ensure everyone has the chance to contribute. A good table host resists the urge to control the conversation and instead treats it as a living thread they are helping to weave.

6. How do you choose the right questions for a World Café?

The quality of the conversation is shaped by the quality of the question. A good World Café question is open enough to allow discovery but focused enough to stay relevant. It should matter to everyone in the room. For example, “What will make our community thrive over the next decade?” invites both vision and practicality. Avoid yes-or-no questions or ones that lead people toward a pre-decided answer. Test your questions in advance with a few trusted colleagues to see if they spark energy.

7. Can a World Café be used online or in hybrid formats?

Yes, the World Café can work online using breakout rooms as tables. The key is to keep groups small and to use a shared digital space, like an online whiteboard, for capturing ideas. Hospitality matters just as much online. A warm welcome, clear instructions, and time for informal connection help recreate the in-person feel. Hybrid is more complex, as it is harder to mix in-person and online groups fluidly. In most cases, it is better to run separate cafés for each and then merge the harvests.

8. How do you handle dominant voices in a World Café?

The structure of the World Café already helps by keeping groups small and rotating people between tables. Still, a good host watches for imbalance. They can invite quieter people to speak, use a talking object to create space, or gently thank someone for their contribution before moving to another voice. The aim is not to silence anyone but to ensure the conversation is shared. Often, a dominant voice will soften naturally as they hear themselves repeated and reflected by others.

9. What is the harvest in a World Café and why is it important?

The harvest is the visible record of the group’s collective thinking. It can be a wall of sticky notes, a hand-drawn map of themes, or a spoken summary captured by a graphic recorder. Without a harvest, the World Café risks being remembered as a pleasant talk with no lasting impact. With it, people see the connections, insights, and patterns they created together. A strong harvest becomes the bridge from conversation to action, and it can be shared with those who were not in the room.

10. Can a World Café lead to action, or is it just talk?

A World Café is not designed as a decision-making tool, but it can be a powerful step toward action. By surfacing shared understanding and building trust, it lays the groundwork for decisions that stick. If you want action, frame your final round around commitments: “What will we do next?” Then use the harvest to form working groups, set priorities, and assign follow-up. Action sticks better when it is rooted in a conversation people feel they own.

11. How do you keep a World Café from turning into a complaint session?

The tone is set by the questions you ask and the way you host. If you frame questions around possibility and ownership rather than blame, you invite more constructive energy. For example, “What would make this the best place to work?” opens different pathways than “What is wrong with our workplace?” Hosts can acknowledge frustration without letting it dominate, and then guide the group toward what they can influence.

12. Can you run a World Café on a very technical or specialised topic?

Yes, but the questions need to be adapted. Start with questions that everyone in the room can answer from their own perspective, even if they are not technical experts. Then move into more specialised inquiry in later rounds. Mixing technical experts with those affected by their work often produces richer insights, as the specialists hear fresh viewpoints and the non-experts learn enough to contribute meaningfully.

13. How do you invite people to a World Café so they actually come?

The invitation should be personal, clear, and connected to purpose. Avoid generic meeting notices. Instead, explain why the conversation matters and why their voice is needed. Use language that invites rather than commands. Follow up with personal contact for key people. In communities, a face-to-face invitation over coffee can be more powerful than an email. In organisations, a note from a respected leader can boost attendance.

14. What are the most common mistakes when running a World Café?

The biggest mistakes include unclear purpose, poorly framed questions, rushing the process, over-controlling the flow, or failing to follow up on the harvest. Another common error is neglecting the physical or virtual environment, which affects the sense of hospitality. Each of these can be avoided with careful preparation, a clear hosting mindset, and a commitment to using the results.

15. How often should you run a World Café?

There is no fixed rule. Some groups use a World Café once for a specific purpose, while others build it into their regular rhythm of meetings. If you want to create lasting culture change, repeating the format over time helps. People begin to expect that their voice will be heard, and the café becomes part of how the group works together. The key is to have a clear purpose each time so it never feels like a ritual without meaning.

In summary

The World Café is not just a meeting technique. It is a way of inviting people into conversations that matter, and of allowing those conversations to weave themselves into a shared understanding. By creating a welcoming space, asking questions that open minds, and allowing ideas to travel between small groups, the World Café turns a roomful of individuals into a community that can hear itself think.

The tablecloth scribbles, the movement between rounds, the harvest of patterns and possibilities are more than process steps. They are the visible signs of connection being made and meaning being co-created. Each person becomes both contributor and listener, and over time the conversation builds a collective picture that no one could have painted alone.

The World Café does not promise instant answers or tidy conclusions. What it offers instead is the deeper foundation for any lasting action: relationships built on trust, ideas refined through exchange, and the recognition that every voice has value. In the right conditions, a single café can seed new projects, strengthen networks, and change the way a group works together long after the tables have been cleared.