The short answer: for a 5 hour workshop with 15 participants I needed 1h30 to imagine three different ways of running the workshop with for each scenario a rough schedule, a description, and even for one of the scenarios a custom made canvas.
What did I do in 1h30?
In one hour and thirty minutes I was able to create a first draft of three workshop scenarios.
For each scenario I had:
A title
A three sentences description
A rough schedule of the full workshop with minute by minute activities
The whole thing was packaged in a lovely Canva document that also included:
A tiny intro about what the document was
An overview of all the workshop scenarios.
How did I get to these three scenarios?
These days I love to start with rough bullet point notes in Apple Notes on my phone while listening to music and walking.
Once I have maybe ten bullet points with different directions I start to create a first workshop scenario with the schedule. Then once I have the schedule I find a title for it, and write down a short description.
From there, I usually look back at my notes and try to come with a title for another workshop scenario that is very different that the first one.
A workshop scenario is often a blend of multiple ideas I had in my rough notes.
Once my document that I'll share with the workshop organizer is done, I delete the note I made in Apple Notes as I don't need it anymore.
Why do I create multiple scenarios?
I like to create multiple workshop scenarios before comiting to one, so that I can test it with the workshop organizer and see if I've understood well the goals the person has.
Usually, we end up remixing the scenarios to create a new one that I'll develop even further.
Does it always take 1h30?
No. Some workshops are easier to organize than others. Also workshops that take a full day are usually also longer to imagine.