Vol. 109 Post-election debrief toolkit
After an election, there is a brief period where election offices can pause and assess the important work they have accomplished. This opportunity to debrief helps foster growth and improvements within the office and is a critical aspect of preparing for future elections.
This toolkit is the first part of a series based on our election planning framework. It is for projects that require sufficient time, energy, and creativity for successful implementation. Planning is the opportunity to set goals for projects that help you improve your office.
Planning for these types of projects happens in 4 stages. This toolkit is to support you through the first stage: Debrief an election. Debriefing at the end of an election is important because it allows you and your office to evaluate how you did and to move away from feeling like you are always putting out fires.
- Debrief an election. Create and facilitate space for you and your team to uncover areas of improvement that can increase employee satisfaction and improve the experience of your voters. Tool: Post-election debrief toolkit.
- Set practical goals for the next election. Synthesize your reflection, implement realistic plans, and move them forward. Tool coming winter 2025.
- Check in on your goals. Create space in your office to check in and prioritize work throughout the year. Tool coming spring 2025.
- Sustain your goals over time. Create an office culture that welcomes collaboration and breaks down silos. Tool coming summer 2025.
To support you through the rest of the stages, we are developing 3 more nonpartisan generic resources that encourage offices to adopt a collaborative, forward-thinking mindset about planning. They will be released in 2025.
This is our first release of the toolkit, and we hope to revise it in the near future based on feedback from offices. If you try it and have any thoughts (positive or otherwise) please get in touch! Email us at hello@civicdesign.org.
Section 1. The planning and facilitation guide
Section 2. The planning worksheet
Section 3. The workshop moderator guide template
Section 1
The guide
The planning and facilitation guide
This guide details the theory of how we at CCD use design research skills to facilitate debrief workshops. It includes recommendations and considerations for setting goals, planning activities and logistics, running the workshop, and planning the next steps.
What are the steps to planning a reflection workshop?
- Setting goals for your workshop
- Planning your workshop activities
- Planning other workshop logistics
- Creating the agenda
- Post-workshop next steps
For topic-specific questions to use in your debrief, check out The Election Group’s Election Debrief Handbook.
Section 2
The worksheet
The planning worksheet
The post-election workshop planning document is a companion to the planning and facilitation guide. It helps you organize your thoughts as you are planning your workshop.
While you read through the guide, we have marked moments to pause and reflect. In those reflective moments, use the space in the planning document to capture your thoughts.
Section 3
The template
The workshop moderator guide template
The post-election workshop moderator guide template is the final agenda that you will use to run your workshop. After you have read the guide and filled out the planning document, synthesize your thoughts into the moderator guide template. This is the tool you will use on the day of the workshop to help you run the show!
A filled-out agenda document keeps you organized on the big day. It is a place for you to:
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- Keep track of time
- Write notes to yourself
- Script out directions or things you do not want to forget