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| Criterion | ![]() Facilitation Lean Coffee | ![]() Facilitation World Café | ![]() Facilitation Mind Mapping | ![]() Innovation Brainwriting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a group without a fixed agenda needs to get into useful conversations quickly, Lean Coffee structures the start around interests rather than a presentation. The group itself negotiates which topics get time first and which wait. | When a group needs to connect many viewpoints in a short time, World Café creates a calm alternation between closeness and rotation. It sets thinking in motion without forcing the conversation into full-plenary rigidity. | When a topic is still unclear and too many thoughts surface at once, Mind Mapping creates an open surface for ordering them. It makes connections, subtopics, and starting points visible without fixing them too early. | When loud voices or hierarchy distort the idea search, the method creates a quiet entry into joint development. It gives everyone thinking space and gathers contributions without social brakes, making diversity more visible and easier to build on. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 30-90 min | 60-180 min | 15-45 min | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-20 | 12-100+ | 1-10 | 3-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Prioritized Topics, Discussion Notes, Action Items | Table Notes, Emergent Themes, Shared Questions | Mind Map, Topic Clusters, Open Questions | Idea sheets, Expanded concepts, Prioritized list |
Tagsno overlap | FacilitationAutonomyDialogue | FacilitationDialogueLarge groupSensemaking | BrainstormingIdeasMappingStructureFacilitation | BrainstormingCollaborationInclusionIdeas |



