Last week, we talked how first impressions matter and I gave you three examples of ice breakers you can use in your workshops.
Today, I'd like to show you some closers that I've been using throughout the years to give workshop participants a sense of accomplishment. Ice breakers are meant to relax everyone, set the stage of the workshop and ease them in. Closers are how you figure out what the next steps will be.
Do not end the workshop without having next steps!
Closers force workshop participants to consider all they've just done and make decisions on what to pursue. Without this, the workshop has not tangible conclusion.
Many meetings end with some "next steps" and a lengthy discussion about them. They're often abstract, have no deadlines and no responsible actors. So let me revise the previous statement.
Do not end the workshop without having actionable next steps!
Here are my three favourite closers that give actionable next steps.
Impact-Effort Matrix
This is the simplest and most popular closing game for a workshop. Because it works!
Start by drawing a big plus sign on your flip chart to create four quadrants. Label the horizontal line "Effort" with "Low" on the left and "High" on the right. Label the vertical line "Impact" with "Low" at the bottom and "High" at the top.
Gather the ideas from the workshop. For each idea, ask:
- How much effort will this take? (time, money, people)
- What impact will this have on our goals?
Place each in the appropriate quadrant.
Once all ideas are plotted, you can easily see what to prioritise:
- Start with quick wins (high impact, low effort)
- Plan for major projects (high impact, high effort)
- Do fill-ins when you have time (low impact, low effort)
- Avoid time wasters (low impact, high effort)
This can be a great segue into the next closer.
Who, What, When
On a single sheet of paper, write down three columns with the headings for who, what and when. Write down everyone who was in the workshop underneath the who column, each on one row. Then start filling in the what.
Take turns asking each participant what concrete next steps they can commit to following the workshop. For each item, fill in the when column as well. When will the item be done? If they can't estimate, ask them when the next checkin should be when they could have a clearer idea.
I like this closer because it puts the responsibility of getting it done with the people in the room. To me it's clear that the people in the workshop are the same ones doing the work. They should live with the consequences of their actions, as it were.
What? So what? Now what?
The purpose of this closer is to come together as a team and summarise what you've learned. The last thing you want is to leave the workshop without having an overview of what happened, what went well and what you could do better next time.
Divide a flip-chart into three columns. In the What? column, write what actually happened during the workshop. In the So What? column, write what was important, what you learned or what you hated. And in the Now What? column, write any changes or actions that you should take as a result of the workshop.
This is actually one of my favourite ways to end an accessibility workshop. I've written more about this closer in the Inclusive Impact Jam workshop series.
These closing games are meant to create commitment and alignment from the team. Keep in mind that there's always the possibility that the outcome could be "there's nothing here so let's not waste more time on this." But isn't it better to know this before doing any of the hard work?