Pre/post measures — the delta is the score

What the two passes are for

The pre pass captures the habit as it usually runs — "When I give instructions, I check what the listener already assumes." answered about last week, not about the game about to start. The post pass asks the same rows about the session just completed. The delta is the session's fingerprint: which habits actually moved, which rows stayed flat, and where the debrief should point next time. A single post-session score measures mood; two passes measure change.

Run it on one sheet

The printable answer sheets on this site carry both blocks on one A4 page — first block before the activity, second after the debrief. Two rules make it work: hand the sheet out before anyone pairs up (a pre pass collected after the reveal is worthless), and keep the whole thing under two minutes per pass. Every activity folder ships the sheet, the JSON preset and the workbook version: see Blind Portrait or any pair exercise.

The reverse item is the lie detector

Polite rooms score everything high — including "Nothing from today will change how I work." That is why honest measures carry reverse-scored rows: answered high, they pull the delta down and expose the applause effect. When every row rides high including the blocker, trust the blocker. And report deltas at group level, never per person — these rows measure a loop the pair or team ran, not anyone's talent.

When a pre/post measure is the wrong tool

Three cases. One-off content talks with no behavior to rehearse — a feedback form fits better. High-stakes populations where any score feels graded — skip the measure or anonymize completely. And anything you plan to use to rank people: a pre/post delta ranks nobody; the moment it feeds a leaderboard, the answers stop being honest and the instrument dies.

The five steps

1. Print one answer sheet per person Both blocks on one page; a pen and two minutes each pass.
2. Collect the pre pass before pairing up Answer about the usual week — not the game about to start.
3. Run the activity and the debrief The measure frames the experience; it never replaces the debrief.
4. Collect the post pass right after Same rows, now about the session just completed.
5. Report group deltas, never individuals The gap is the lesson; a leaderboard kills the instrument.

Questions people ask

Go deeper

• Folders with printable answer sheets
• Measuring training effectiveness
• The agent workflow (three steps)
• FormLM — the same measure as a live form (optional)