Great meeting? Then nothing happens? Here’s why.

Momentum Makers, Breakers and Takers

Picture a meeting or workshop that felt like THE turning point. The energy levels, the enthusiasm, the breakthrough ideas were all there. You can’t wait for tomorrow to come so you can start bringing it all to life.

Tomorrow comes. Buuuut…. you have a pretty full day of meetings that were on the calendar for weeks... You figure, “No problem. We’ll start on all those breakthrough ideas tomorrow!” Then that tomorrow comes. Busy calendar. Then another. And another. Momentum is quickly fading.

Fast forward to a month later. Two months. Three. None of those breakthrough ideas have even been discussed. What were they again? Eh, they probably weren’t that great. And really, how would we do any of it? We’re soooo busy.

Why does this happen? This was the question I wanted to answer.

I’ve spent years designing and facilitating meetings and workshops. Even ones that received glowing feedback from participants didn’t necessarily translate to post-workshop momentum. Why? How could that be true even when everyone felt energized, excited, and confident about the outcomes? How could they possibly return to the same old daily grind that got them to the workshop in the first place?

There always seemed to be a very loose connection between what went on during the workshop and what went on after. Great ones could lead to great outcomes… or not... Same with not-so-great ones. Why?

If participant feedback didn’t seem to be a reliable indicator of post-workshop success, then I thought — it must be the format. Nope. I found that in-person, remote, or hybrid didn’t seem to be a reliable predictor. Duration didn’t either. An hour, a day, many days. No consistent pattern. The feedback, format, and duration just didn’t seem to correlate directly with the momentum.

So what was the correlation?

I approached this mystery the best way I knew how. I spoke with people.

Since I design and facilitate workshops and meetings for lots of different clients, I had dozens of examples that I could research. I contacted past workshop clients to see if they’d speak with me. No sales pitch. No pre-read. I just wanted to learn a bit about what had happened since our workshop.

After many of these conversations, plus loads of first-hand observation, I’ve narrowed down the correlation to the following five “Momentum Makers”. If these are in place, you will have a great chance of avoiding that post-meeting/workshop backslide.

Momentum Maker #1: Timing

It seems obvious now, but timing was one of the most important factors in momentum-making. When planning with a client, we’d always assumed ASAP was when the workshop should take place. That worked for me business-wise and worked for them pressure-wise. Usually, there was some problem that needed to be addressed ASAP.

But busy seasons, budget seasons, performance reviews, and other predictable events had a huge impact on momentum. Teams who had had a terrific experience in the workshop, but no momentum after typically ran into one of those predictable events and therefore, were never able to follow through. Momentum Maker #4 (Singular Accountability) helps with this, but unless the space is cleared for ideas to take shape, it’s unlikely they ever will.

What to do about it:

When planning, look for a quiet period and book the workshop right before it, even if that is painful and feels like wasted time. A workshop often leads to ideas that involve creating something new or dissolving something old. That takes work and if there are distractions, that work gets pushed aside, no matter how important it is or how groundbreaking the new idea might be. Be realistic about your timing.

Momentum Maker #2: Leaders

This one confirmed a belief I already had. I always meet with leaders in advance of a workshop and can usually tell right away which leaders will be helpful or hurtful to their team’s progress.

A few behaviors indicated a lot.

If a leader actually joined planning meetings, that was a good sign for a team’s future momentum. If they skipped meetings and delegated the meeting to someone else, that could still be good, as long as they actually delegated. Leaders who delegated the attendance, but not the decisions quickly became bottlenecks. That bottleneck almost always carried over post-workshop and completely killed momentum.

Another key behavior from leaders happens at the start of the workshop. Bad leaders often wanted to “kick-off” the session with a self-serving speech where they’d give the cookie-cutter “Thanks for being here. You’re all here to contribute ideas. Oh, and by the way, here’s my idea, and make sure it’s what you end up with in the end. OK, I’m going to step away for a bit. See you later!”

No matter what happened after that beating, you could kiss your post-workshop momentum goodbye.

Good leaders showed up and showed trust — in their people, in me, in the process. They showed a willingness to see where things would go even when the results were unpredictable. They were OK not having all the answers. Good leaders were either active participants or trusting delegators. Check one of those boxes and momentum follows.

What to do about it:

Be very upfront with leaders about their role and how much influence it has. Some will embrace that role. Some won’t. For the ones that won’t, ask them to skip the workshop. It’s not ideal because they will certainly be around after the workshop, but at least it gives the team a chance.

If you are in a position to do so, work with good leaders and avoid bad ones. If not, do your best and be sure to set clear expectations.

Momentum Maker #3: Minimalism

I struggle with this one. I’d always looked to pack as much as possible into a workshop — lots of activities, insights, breakthroughs, and ideas.

Clients pushed for the same — more is good, right?

Not really. The more ideas a team says they will work on, the less likely they are to work on any of them. It’s the paradox of choice meets good old bandwidth constraints. The more choices you have the less likely you are to make a choice. And bandwidth is always a challenge, even if you have nailed Momentum Maker #1 (Timing).

What to do about it:

Start this conversation at the earliest possible opportunity with the leader or client. First, get clear on the problem to be solved and make sure you and the leader agree on what exactly the problem is. Then, focus on impact over quantity. Many times, a seemingly small idea can have a massive impact. If you agree on the problem and the goal of solving it, you are more likely to agree that a more effective approach is better. Minimalism will create momentum. Momentum is the secret sauce to problem-solving.

Momentum Maker #4: Singular Accountability

Group ownership of an idea can lead to great things in terms of creativity and breakthroughs, but it sucks at execution. If everyone owns an idea at the end of a workshop, that means no one owns it and it ain’t happening.

What to do about it:

Like #3 (Minimalism), this has to be discussed as early as possible with the leaders. And rather than focus on the what, focus on the why. Also like #3, if you agree on the problem to be solved, you’ll be more likely to agree on going with the approach that will help you solve it. Explain that during the workshop, you’ll spend some time identifying singularly accountable people for what the group comes up with. That doesn’t mean that that person has to do all the work. They can delegate or bring others in, but that one person has to be accountable for the work getting done. Leaders also have to be ready to hold people accountable. Discuss that and make sure everyone understands. If you get this one right, you are on the road to Momentumville!

Momentum Maker #5: Post Workshop Coaching

Even if 1 through 4 are in place, momentum can stall. Great timing, leaders, achievability, and accountability might all be there. Sometimes the accountable ones can lean on some amount of authority to get things done, but very often, they must influence without authority, which is a tricky skill to master.

What to do about it:

I personally build in at least 8 weeks of coaching post workshops to help the accountable ones keep momentum. I coach them on meeting management methods and help them through blockers. It’s almost always customized to the coachee since organizations and challenges can vary greatly. Usually, this is done behind the scenes, but occasionally I will run a mini workshop as part of it with all the accountable ones and some of the other workshop participants.

I highly recommend being intentional about this step. The best analogy I can think of is a cooking class. During a cooking class, you can feel like “Top Chef”, but once you get home in your own kitchen, it can be hard to remember the recipes and you often encounter something that wasn’t covered in the class.

Support the accountable ones with coaching and you’ll be cooking up some sweet, delicious momentum.

I’ve always felt like workshops or important meetings were a form of corporate intervention. They happen because something is not going well. Something is trending in a bad direction. It is evident enough that those responsible for that direction call for help. Oftentimes, I’m part of that help. But a single meeting or workshop usually can’t fix a problem that has been festering for months. It’s a critical piece of the puzzle for sure, but you need the momentum makers to complete that puzzle.

Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment about what stood out to you.

And, if you feel like you could use some help from me, please reach out directly. I promise, no sales pitches!

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