What are the best ways to ensure that team workshop outcomes are sustainable over time?

Team workshops are a great way to generate ideas, solve problems, and align on goals. But how do you make sure that the results of your workshop are not forgotten or ignored after the session ends? How do you ensure that your team follows through on the action items, commitments, and learnings that emerged from the workshop? In this article, you will learn some best practices to make your team workshop outcomes sustainable over time.

1 Define clear and measurable outcomes

Before you design and facilitate a team workshop, you need to have a clear and specific idea of what you want to achieve. What are the objectives, deliverables, and success criteria of the workshop? How will you measure and evaluate the outcomes? How will you communicate them to the relevant stakeholders? Having a clear and measurable definition of your workshop outcomes will help you focus your agenda, activities, and discussions on what matters most. It will also help you track and report on the progress and impact of your workshop after it ends.

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Kevin Doherty

Marketing Leader & Storyteller
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Nobody likes having a meeting for the sake of it. Take the time to, simply and succinctly, define what success looks like for each workshop. Focus on outcomes with material, observable impacts to your team's work. By setting clear objectives, you set yourself up to more easily assess (and improve) the efficacy of your workshops in achieving them.

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2 Assign roles and responsibilities

During the workshop, you need to ensure that every participant has a clear and defined role and responsibility. This will help them stay engaged, accountable, and collaborative throughout the session. Depending on the size and nature of your workshop, you may assign roles such as facilitator, scribe, timekeeper, presenter, or observer. You may also assign responsibilities for specific tasks, such as taking notes, capturing feedback, summarizing key points, or documenting decisions. By assigning roles and responsibilities, you will create a sense of ownership and commitment among your team members, which will motivate them to follow up on their actions and deliverables after the workshop.

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Kevin Doherty

Marketing Leader & Storyteller
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Giving participants jobs can turn passive attendance into active participation. A great resource for devising tasks that aid learning is Sharon Bowman's "Training from the BACK of the Room." By engaging participants to speak, move, and more, you can create a more dynamic workshop that fosters richer learning.

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3 Create a follow-up plan

At the end of the workshop, you need to create a follow-up plan that outlines the next steps, deadlines, and resources needed to implement the workshop outcomes. You may use tools such as action plans, roadmaps, or checklists to capture and organize the follow-up items. You should also assign owners and collaborators for each item, and agree on how and when you will communicate and monitor the progress and results. By creating a follow-up plan, you will ensure that your team has a clear and shared understanding of what needs to be done, by whom, and by when, to achieve the workshop outcomes.

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Elliot Felix

🎓 Creating connected colleges and universities
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One great way to make this tangible for workshop participants is to end with an exercise where each person reflects and shares specific actions they'll take (i.e., one thing they'll do this week, this month, this quarter...). This gets folks into implementation mode thinking about the future and creates accountability by sharing their commitments with the group.

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4 Provide feedback and recognition

After the workshop, you need to provide feedback and recognition to your team members for their contributions, achievements, and learnings. You may use methods such as surveys, evaluations, or debriefs to collect and share feedback on the workshop process, outcomes, and impact. You should also acknowledge and celebrate the successes, challenges, and improvements of your team members, and highlight how their work supports the overall goals and vision of the organization. By providing feedback and recognition, you will reinforce the value and relevance of the workshop outcomes, and foster a culture of learning and appreciation among your team.

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5 Review and adapt

Finally, you need to review and adapt your workshop outcomes as the situation changes and new information emerges. You may use tools such as dashboards, reports, or metrics to track and measure the performance and impact of your workshop outcomes. You should also schedule regular reviews and updates with your team and stakeholders, and solicit feedback and suggestions for improvement. You should be open and flexible to adjust your plans, actions, and expectations as needed, and communicate any changes clearly and timely. By reviewing and adapting your workshop outcomes, you will ensure that they remain relevant, realistic, and responsive to the changing needs and priorities of your team and organization.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Elliot Felix

🎓 Creating connected colleges and universities
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The magic that makes a workshop lead to sustainable outcomes in the long term happens by creating a plan that is implementable. No amount of organization and follow up will matter if your plan isn't feasible. A prioritization activity can help with this. Plotting proposed actions on a grid like effort vs. impact or urgency vs. importance is a good way to get at this.

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What are the best ways to ensure that team workshop outcomes are sustainable over time?

1

2

3

4

5

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1 Define clear and measurable outcomes

2 Assign roles and responsibilities

3 Create a follow-up plan

4 Provide feedback and recognition

5 Review and adapt

6 Here’s what else to consider

Team Facilitation

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What are the best ways to ensure that team workshop outcomes are sustainable over time?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Define clear and measurable outcomes

2 Assign roles and responsibilities

3 Create a follow-up plan

4 Provide feedback and recognition

5 Review and adapt

6 Here’s what else to consider

Team Facilitation

Rate this article

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