How can you measure the impact and outcomes of a workshop on unconscious bias and microaggressions?

1 Define your goals and indicators

Before you deliver your workshop, you need to define what you want to achieve and how you will measure it. For example, do you want to increase participants' knowledge, awareness, or skills related to unconscious bias and microaggressions? Do you want to change their attitudes, behaviors, or perceptions? Do you want to improve their satisfaction, engagement, or retention? Depending on your goals, you can choose different indicators, such as pre- and post-test scores, surveys, feedback forms, interviews, focus groups, observations, or performance data.

2 Use a mixed-methods approach

To capture the complexity and diversity of the impact and outcomes of your workshop, you should use a mixed-methods approach that combines quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data can help you measure the changes in participants' knowledge, awareness, or skills using numerical scales, ratings, or scores. Qualitative data can help you understand the reasons, experiences, or perspectives of participants using open-ended questions, comments, or stories. By triangulating both types of data, you can gain a more comprehensive and nuanced picture of the workshop's effectiveness.

3 Align your data collection with your workshop design

To ensure that your data collection is relevant, reliable, and valid, you should align it with your workshop design. For example, if your workshop is interactive, experiential, or scenario-based, you should use data collection methods that reflect these features, such as observations, simulations, or role-plays. If your workshop is theoretical, informative, or lecture-based, you should use data collection methods that test these aspects, such as quizzes, tests, or knowledge checks. You should also consider the timing, frequency, and duration of your data collection, and how it fits with your workshop agenda and objectives.

4 Analyze and interpret your data

Once you have collected your data, you need to analyze and interpret it to draw conclusions and recommendations. For quantitative data, you can use descriptive or inferential statistics to summarize, compare, or test your data. For qualitative data, you can use thematic or content analysis to identify, code, or categorize your data. You should also look for patterns, trends, or outliers in your data, and explain how they relate to your goals and indicators. You should also acknowledge the limitations, challenges, or biases in your data collection or analysis, and how they may affect your findings.

5 Communicate and act on your findings

The final step is to communicate and act on your findings. You should report your findings to your stakeholders, such as your participants, managers, or sponsors, using clear, concise, and compelling language and visuals. You should highlight the main achievements, challenges, and lessons learned from your workshop, and how they can inform future actions or improvements. You should also solicit feedback, suggestions, or questions from your stakeholders, and engage them in a dialogue about the next steps or follow-ups. You should also celebrate and acknowledge the efforts and contributions of everyone involved in the workshop.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?