Workshop debrief
End a workshop, or look back on one, with what to keep and a ranked list of what to change next time. The ranking happens alone first, so the order is the room's and not the loudest person's.
60 minutes, in person. Serves 8 to 12.
How to run it
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Check-in
5 minSay what the room will leave with. Then ask: "One word for how you're arriving." Take the words in any order, not round the circle.
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Rose, Thorn, Bud
20 minNotes per colour: one
Hand out three colours of sticky notes. "Pink for a rose: something that worked. Red for a thorn: something that got in the way. Green for a bud: something that could grow into more next time." Give two minutes to think back over the workshop before anyone writes. Then everyone writes one of each colour, one thought per note, and puts them on the wall. Finish with the room reading the wall in silence. Buds are the hardest; if they're thin, ask, "What would make this better next time?"
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Post-Up
10 minWhat gets sorted: the thorns and buds, leaving the roses as they are
Sort the wall into clusters, taking the thorns and buds, leaving the roses as they are: "Put notes that are about the same thing together. Anyone can move any note, and nobody talks." Give each cluster a label that says what it's about, such as "Timings slipped after lunch", not "Timing". Unsorted roses are the list of what to keep.
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Forced Ranking
15 minChanges agreed: two
Number the thorn and bud clusters on the wall. "Rank them from the one that would make the biggest difference next time down to the least. No ties. On your own card, before anyone talks." Collect the cards and add up each cluster's places; the lowest total ranks first. Read out the order, then talk about any cluster that someone ranked first and someone else ranked last. Agree two, each written as "Next time we will…".
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Commit: who does what by when
10 minEach result the room produced needs an owner. The owner writes "I will [what] by [when]" on a card, reads it out and sticks it under the result. Only owners speak. If a result has no owner, say so: "Nobody owns this yet." Write that on the wall too, so it leaves the room as an open item rather than a quiet gap.
Rose, Thorn, Bud is the LUMA Institute's.
90 minutes, in person. Serves 8 to 12.
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Check-in
10 minSay what the room will leave with and point to the three steps on the wall. Then ask: "In one sentence: what do you need from the next ninety minutes?" Take answers in any order, not round the circle. If someone passes, move on.
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Rose, Thorn, Bud
25 minNotes per colour: up to two
Hand out three colours of sticky notes. "Pink for a rose: something that worked. Red for a thorn: something that got in the way. Green for a bud: something that could grow into more next time." Give two minutes to think back over the workshop before anyone writes. Then everyone writes up to two of each colour, one thought per note, and puts them on the wall. Finish with the room reading the wall in silence. Buds are the hardest; if they're thin, ask, "What would make this better next time?"
-
Post-Up
20 minWhat gets sorted: all three colours
Sort the wall into clusters, taking all three colours: "Put notes that are about the same thing together. Anyone can move any note, and nobody talks." Give each cluster a label that says what it's about, such as "Timings slipped after lunch", not "Timing". Unsorted roses are the list of what to keep.
In the 90 also: Read the rose labels out at the end: that's what the next workshop keeps.
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Forced Ranking
20 minChanges agreed: three
Number the thorn and bud clusters on the wall. "Rank them from the one that would make the biggest difference next time down to the least. No ties. On your own card, before anyone talks." Collect the cards and add up each cluster's places; the lowest total ranks first. Read out the order, then talk about any cluster that someone ranked first and someone else ranked last. Agree three, each written as "Next time we will…".
-
Commit: who does what by when
15 minEach result the room produced needs an owner. The owner writes "I will [what] by [when]" on a card, reads it out and sticks it under the result. Only owners speak. If a result has no owner, say so: "Nobody owns this yet." Write that on the wall too, so it leaves the room as an open item rather than a quiet gap.
In the 90 also: Ask each owner one question: "What could stop this?" One sentence back. If the answer is another person, that person is in the commitment too.
90 minutes, remote. Serves 8 to 12.
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Check-in
10 minSay what the room will leave with and show the three steps on the board. Then ask: "In one sentence: what do you need from the next ninety minutes? Type it in the chat, but don't press Enter until I say go." Say "Go" and read the chat out loud in one pass. It's faster than a round, and nobody answers in the shadow of the person before them.
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Rose, Thorn, Bud
25 minNotes per colour: up to two
Give the board three sticky colours with a key at the top: pink for a rose (something that worked), red for a thorn (something that got in the way), green for a bud (something that could grow into more next time). Give two minutes to think back over the workshop before anyone types. Then everyone adds up to two of each colour to the Debrief frame, one thought per sticky, and the room reads the frame in silence. Buds are the hardest; if they're thin, ask in the chat, "What would make this better next time?"
Board: Frame 1, "Debrief": the colour key at the top and open space for notes.
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Post-Up
20 minWhat gets sorted: all three colours
Sort the Debrief frame into clusters, taking all three colours: "Drag notes that are about the same thing together. Anyone can move any note. No chat." Give each cluster a label that says what it's about, such as "Timings slipped after lunch", not "Timing". Unsorted roses are the list of what to keep.
In the 90 also: Read the rose labels out at the end: that's what the next workshop keeps.
Board: Uses the Debrief frame. Have a fourth sticky colour ready for labels.
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Forced Ranking
20 minChanges agreed: three
Number the thorn and bud clusters in the Debrief frame. "Rank them from the one that would make the biggest difference next time down to the least. No ties. Type your order into your row of the Ranking table before anyone talks." Add up each cluster's places; the lowest total ranks first. Read out the order, then talk about any cluster that someone ranked first and someone else ranked last. Agree three, each typed as "Next time we will…".
Board: Frame 2, "Ranking": one row per person, a column for each numbered cluster, a Total row, and space for the agreed changes.
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Commit: who does what by when
15 minEach result the room produced needs an owner. Owners type "I will [what] by [when]" into the Commitments frame, under the result they own. Read every commitment back out loud. If a result has no owner, say so: "Nobody owns this yet." Type that into the frame too, so it leaves the room as an open item rather than a quiet gap.
In the 90 also: Ask each owner one question: "What could stop this?" One sentence back. If the answer is another person, that person is in the commitment too.
Board: Frame "Commitments": one column per result, with space for "I will [what] by [when]".
60 minutes, in person. Serves 8 to 12.
-
Check-in
5 minSay what the room will leave with. Then ask: "One word for how you're arriving." Take the words in any order, not round the circle.
-
Rose, Thorn, Bud
20 minNotes per colour: one
Hand out three colours of sticky notes. "Pink for a rose: something that worked. Red for a thorn: something that got in the way. Green for a bud: something that could grow into more next time." Give two minutes to think back over the workshop before anyone writes. Then everyone writes one of each colour, one thought per note, and puts them on the wall. Finish with the room reading the wall in silence. Buds are the hardest; if they're thin, ask, "What would make this better next time?"
-
Post-Up
10 minWhat gets sorted: the thorns and buds, leaving the roses as they are
Sort the wall into clusters, taking the thorns and buds, leaving the roses as they are: "Put notes that are about the same thing together. Anyone can move any note, and nobody talks." Give each cluster a label that says what it's about, such as "Timings slipped after lunch", not "Timing". Unsorted roses are the list of what to keep.
-
Forced Ranking
15 minChanges agreed: two
Number the thorn and bud clusters on the wall. "Rank them from the one that would make the biggest difference next time down to the least. No ties. On your own card, before anyone talks." Collect the cards and add up each cluster's places; the lowest total ranks first. Read out the order, then talk about any cluster that someone ranked first and someone else ranked last. Agree two, each written as "Next time we will…".
-
Commit: who does what by when
10 minEach result the room produced needs an owner. The owner writes "I will [what] by [when]" on a card, reads it out and sticks it under the result. Only owners speak. If a result has no owner, say so: "Nobody owns this yet." Write that on the wall too, so it leaves the room as an open item rather than a quiet gap.
60 minutes, remote. Serves 8 to 12.
-
Check-in
5 minSay what the room will leave with. Then ask: "One word for how you're arriving. Type it in the chat, but don't press Enter until I say go." Say "Go" and read the chat out loud in one pass. It's faster than a round, and nobody answers in the shadow of the person before them.
-
Rose, Thorn, Bud
20 minNotes per colour: one
Give the board three sticky colours with a key at the top: pink for a rose (something that worked), red for a thorn (something that got in the way), green for a bud (something that could grow into more next time). Give two minutes to think back over the workshop before anyone types. Then everyone adds one of each colour to the Debrief frame, one thought per sticky, and the room reads the frame in silence. Buds are the hardest; if they're thin, ask in the chat, "What would make this better next time?"
Board: Frame 1, "Debrief": the colour key at the top and open space for notes.
-
Post-Up
10 minWhat gets sorted: the thorns and buds, leaving the roses as they are
Sort the Debrief frame into clusters, taking the thorns and buds, leaving the roses as they are: "Drag notes that are about the same thing together. Anyone can move any note. No chat." Give each cluster a label that says what it's about, such as "Timings slipped after lunch", not "Timing". Unsorted roses are the list of what to keep.
Board: Uses the Debrief frame. Have a fourth sticky colour ready for labels.
-
Forced Ranking
15 minChanges agreed: two
Number the thorn and bud clusters in the Debrief frame. "Rank them from the one that would make the biggest difference next time down to the least. No ties. Type your order into your row of the Ranking table before anyone talks." Add up each cluster's places; the lowest total ranks first. Read out the order, then talk about any cluster that someone ranked first and someone else ranked last. Agree two, each typed as "Next time we will…".
Board: Frame 2, "Ranking": one row per person, a column for each numbered cluster, a Total row, and space for the agreed changes.
-
Commit: who does what by when
10 minEach result the room produced needs an owner. Owners type "I will [what] by [when]" into the Commitments frame, under the result they own. Read every commitment back out loud. If a result has no owner, say so: "Nobody owns this yet." Type that into the frame too, so it leaves the room as an open item rather than a quiet gap.
Board: Frame "Commitments": one column per result, with space for "I will [what] by [when]".
Comments & Discussion
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Recent Comments (3)
This workshop was incredibly effective for our remote team! We adapted it slightly for a virtual setting and it worked wonderfully. The key was breaking into smaller breakout rooms.
Great resource! One tip: prepare all materials the day before to avoid any last-minute rushes.
Used this for our quarterly planning session. The structured approach really helped us stay on track!