This is something I do to end pretty much every workshop and meeting, so I thought I’d spend a minute talking about the what, how, and why of the ever-useful closing circle.

What: A short activity to provide closure to a workshop or meeting. I have heard this called many different names, from the “Last Word,” to a “One Word Whip Around.” The basic ideas is that all participants stand in a circle and share ONE WORD (or a very short phrase) that describes how they are feeling about the day’s topic.

How: To run the activity, after everyone is assembled in a circle, ask everyone to take a deep breath (or stretch) and spend a minute thinking about one word that describes how they are feeling about the topic at hand. After 30 seconds, share that it is fine to repeat a word if someone else says what you were planning to say, and it is also fine to pass if you do not want to share.

Now ask for a volunteer to start by sharing their word, this person then gets to point left or right and the word-sharing continues quickly around the circle in that direction until everyone has had a chance to share.

Why: There are many reasons why I like to end sessions with this activity!

• It provides closure. Too often I see meetings ending without any real sense of having ended fully, mostly because time has run out and people need to get out to the next thing on their calendar. Just like saying, “goodbye” when you leave for work or drop your kids off at school, people like to be able to have a moment of connection, however brief, before switching gears. This activity allows for that.
• It is quick. As with saying “goodbye,” the one word and rapid-sharing nature of this activity means that you don’t need to save a lot of time for it. Even if you only have one minute left, you can do this activity!
• It helps get a read of the group. If everyone is sharing words like, “confused, frustrated, unsure,” then you know you will need to follow up, because clearly something is off. If the words that are being shared are more along the lines of, “motivated, excited, inspired,” you know you are on the right track and can plan for the next engagement accordingly.
• It helps leave things on a positive note. If people are sharing negative words (as per the example above), you can end with a few words thanking everyone for sharing and assuring them that you will be following up to make sure that their questions and feelings of frustration get addressed in a follow up session.
• It leaves the room with participants’ voices hanging in the air. Yet again, this is an opportunity for everyone to hear themselves and their thoughts broadcasted to the group, a central element of Transformational Facilitation.

If you don’t already have a closing practice, I encourage you to try this one! It can also be modified, for example, by first asking participants to write their word on a sticky note which they post on the wall before sharing their word, or by sharing with a partner first, if time allows. I’d love to hear how you run this, or a similar closeout activity!