What Matters Workshop

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Identify competing work demands to agree on specific activities the team will protect, reduce, and eliminate.

Use it when: Use during quarterly planning, team resets, or periods of workload fatigue when a group must trim low-impact obligations.

Skip it when: Skip when team mandates are strictly dictated by external contracts or during an acute operational crisis needing immediate execution.

Group arrangement: Individual reflection, pairs (or one trio for odd counts), and small pods of 3 to 5.

Timing: Matches the 120-minute source workshop structure across six distinct phases.

Materials and tools

• Sticky notes in 3 colors (at least 20 notes per person)
• Marker pens (1 per person)
• Blank A4 or letter paper (2 sheets per person)
• Flip chart paper or whiteboards (1 per subgroup)
• Index cards (1 per person)
• Masking tape or painter tape
• Timer
• Printed Personal Priority Grid handouts (1 per person)
• Printed Team Commitment Charter handouts (1 per subgroup)

Before participants arrive

1. Clear a central wall space or large whiteboard for the opening audit.
2. Place sticky notes, markers, and blank paper at every seat.
3. Pre-print copies of the Personal Priority Grid and Team Commitment Charter templates.
4. Arrange tables to seat small pods of 3 to 5 people.

Say this to open

Welcome. Today we will audit where our time and energy go, separate chosen priorities from outside habits, and decide what we will protect, reduce, and drop. Grab sticky notes and a pen.

How to run it

1. Run the Overwhelm Audit 15 minutes

   Deliver the opening script. Give everyone 5 minutes to write every work demand, task, or standard they feel they should care about on separate sticky notes. Allow 5 minutes for participants to post their notes on the wall, grouping similar topics together. Spend the remaining 5 minutes counting the volume together and asking 2 participants what patterns stand out.

2. Sort Values from Absorbed Expectations 20 minutes

   Have participants draw two columns on blank paper: Values I Have Chosen and Expectations I Have Absorbed. Give 8 minutes to classify the drivers behind their sticky notes. Pair participants for 7 minutes to test items; if an odd number is present, form one trio. Partners ask: Is that your chosen standard or an inherited habit? Gather the room for 5 minutes to hear 3 volunteer examples.

3. Map the Productive Struggle Matrix 20 minutes

   Draw a 2x2 grid on the board with axes: Aligned with Values (No/Yes) and Within Influence (No/Yes). Give individuals 5 minutes to plot 3 current workplace struggles. Group participants into pods of 3 to 4 for 10 minutes to review placements. Spend 5 minutes gathering one placement insight from each pod.

4. Build Personal Priority Grids 25 minutes

   Hand out the Personal Priority Grid. Give 10 minutes to list specific actions under Protect, Reduce, and Release. Form new pairs for 8 minutes to test feasibility; use one trio if numbers are odd. Partners ask: What makes this easier? What gets in the way? Spend 7 minutes hearing 3 volunteers share one item they will release.

5. Draft Team Commitment Charters 25 minutes

   Form work pods of 3 to 5 people. Hand each pod a flip chart and the Team Commitment Charter. Give pods 15 minutes to agree on: top 3 quarterly priorities, one practice to stop, one focused block to protect, and an accountability plan. Spend the final 10 minutes having each pod present their charter for 2 minutes.

6. Commit to Action and Close 15 minutes

   Give each person an index card. For 5 minutes, individuals write: one action starting tomorrow, one thing to say no to this week, and the name of a peer in the room as an accountability partner. Go around the room for 5 minutes having each person speak their tomorrow action in one sentence. Allow 5 minutes for partners to schedule a 10-minute check-in for two weeks out.

Debrief questions

• Which specific commitment will create the biggest relief if kept?
• What familiar pressure will make it hardest to stick to your stop doing item?
• How will we support each other when inherited expectations resurface?

Finished output: A completed Personal Priority Grid per participant, a signed Team Commitment Charter per pod, and scheduled two-week peer follow-ups.

Remote

Use a shared digital whiteboard with dedicated zones for sticky sorting, the 2x2 struggle grid, personal grids, and team charters. Run paired and pod activities in video breakout rooms. In the closing round, have each person type their tomorrow action into the central text chat.

Hybrid

In-person participants post physical notes while remote participants type into a mirrored digital board. Create remote-only pairs and in-person pairs during partner rounds to avoid audio cross-talk. Project remote team charters onto the room screen during pod presentations.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may keep personal journal notes private and share only chosen operational items with partners.
• Offer digital text entry or dictation alongside paper cards according to physical preference.
• Participants may pass during the spoken commitment round by handing their index card directly to their accountability partner.

If the session gets stuck

Participants claim every project and task is equally urgent and cannot be dropped.

Ask: If an emergency forced you to stop half your tasks tomorrow, which specific ones would survive? Forced ranking breaks ties.

Staff members hesitate to list items to drop in front of managers.

Ask the most senior leader present to state their personal Release items first to model permission for scope reduction.

Terms used here

• Absorbed Expectation: An unwritten rule or work habit picked up from company culture rather than chosen intentionally.
• Productive Struggle: Challenging effort that aligns directly with chosen core goals and falls within a person's realm of influence.
• Overwhelm Audit: A visual catalog of all active obligations and expectations carried by an individual or team.
• Team Commitment Charter: A recorded group agreement establishing shared quarterly focus areas, dropped tasks, and mutual accountability.