Parking Lot

Overview/Summary

The parking lot (or “bike rack” for those who prefer active transportation) is a place for people to park ideas that bubble up throughout the workshop to be addressed at the end of the workshop at a designated time.

Learning Outcomes

The parking lot allows for:

• Asking questions and raising issues that come up throughout the workshop without derailing the current programming
• Seeing whether others share similar questions and concerns (and upvoting them)
• Organization of parking lot notes into themes that can be addressed more holistically together

Materials Needed

In this session, you will need a space for people to write their ideas. This can be:

• Blank space of wall where you can affix sticky notes (+ pens/pencils)
• White board and markers
• Large easel/sticky pad and pens/pencils

Session Activities

The parking lot is conducted in two parts: It is introduced on the first day along with creating the space that participants can put their notes. Throughout the workshop, participants add to their notes as well as tally marks next to the notes written by others that resonate with them.

On the last day, the organizers address the notes on the parking lot board and designate which organizer would be best suited to address the topics. This can be done by organizing the notes into themes or looking at the most upvoted topics.

Additional Resources

Outside link explaining the parking lots uses in meetings: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/parking-lots/