This week we released a new workshop designed to help teams kick off 2026 with intention, energy and clarity.
Instead of diving straight into business as usual, Ignite 2026 gives your team space to reflect on the past year, choose what matters most, and leave with concrete plans for making this their best year yet.
Tip: You can use our AI to adjust all our detailed workshop frameworks for session length, group size, or audience in seconds if you become a Pro Member.
The Ignite 2026 Workshop
A 2-hour team kickoff for the new year.
Most teams start January with vague good intentions that fade by February. This workshop gives them a structured way to set direction together and leave with real commitments.
Participants will:
- Reflect on the past year to extract lessons and celebrate progress
- Choose from 16 topic areas based on what matters most to them
- Work in breakout groups to create practical outputs in parallel
- Share work across groups and build on each other's ideas
- Leave with simple action plans they are genuinely motivated to follow
When to use it: The first week or two back after the holidays. When a team needs to reset after a tough year. When you want a meaningful alternative to "let's just get started."
What makes it work: The team chooses their own focus from 16 options across four categories: Reflective and Introspective, Energizing and Action-Oriented, Playful and Creative, and Structured and Goal-Focused. Because they pick what matters to them, you get buy-in from the start. The parallel breakout structure means more ground gets covered in less time.
The 16 Topics Your Team Can Choose From
The workshop includes ready-to-use process handouts for each topic. Breakout groups can run these independently without needing a facilitator in each group.
Reflective and Introspective
- Year-in-Review: celebrating wins, acknowledging challenges, extracting lessons
- Personal Values Clarification: what matters most and how well are we living it
- Energy Audit: what drained us vs. what energised us
- Gratitude and Appreciation: recognising contributions and support within the team
Energizing and Action-Oriented
- Vision Setting: what does our best year look like
- Goal Architecture: turning aspirations into concrete intentions
- Accountability Structures: how we will support each other in following through
- Removing Obstacles: identifying what gets in the way and planning around it
Playful and Creative
- Future Self Visualisation: connecting with who we want to become
- Team Rituals and Traditions: creating or refreshing shared practices
- Exploring Possibilities: what would we attempt if we knew we could not fail
- Strengths Spotting: highlighting each other's superpowers
Structured and Goal-Focused
- OKRs / Word-of-the-Year: goal-setting frameworks for focus and clarity
- Role Clarity and Collaboration: how we work together most effectively
- Habit Design: small consistent actions that compound over time
- Quarterly Rhythm Planning: breaking the year into manageable chunks
Why this workshop is different
Most New Year planning sessions are either too vague (lots of inspiration, no action) or too rigid (one framework forced on everyone). Ignite 2026 is designed differently:
✅ Team-led focus - participants vote on which topics to tackle, so energy is high from the start
✅ Parallel working - breakout groups cover more ground in less time than plenary sessions
✅ Self-facilitated breakouts - each topic has a complete process handout so groups can run independently
✅ Practical outputs - every group creates something tangible to share back
✅ Built-in accountability - the workshop ends with simple action plans and check-in commitments
✅ Novice facilitator friendly - detailed facilitator notes help you handle timing, group dynamics and common problems
What you get with this workshop
- Complete facilitation guide with 6 detailed steps
- Precise timing and activity instructions
- Debrief questions for every step
- Secret Sauce facilitator notes for handling tricky moments
- Topic Menu for voting (ready to print)
- 16 Topic Process Handouts for breakout groups (ready to print)
- Action Plan Template
- Facilitator Prep Checklist
Perfect for the first week back
If you are looking for a way to bring your team together in January that feels meaningful without being cheesy, this is it.
Get the Ignite 2026 Workshop here
Questions? Send me an email. I read every response.