Journeys action: add or remove Members from a list

Journeys can now do more than send emails — they can update your manual distribution lists automatically based on where a member is in a Journey. With the Add to List and Remove from List steps, your lists stay accurate and current without any manual work.

What This Does

When a Journey member reaches an Add to List or Remove from List step, Workshop automatically updates their list membership in real time. No exports, no spreadsheets, no manual updates needed.

This is especially useful for programs where list membership should reflect what an employee has actually done — clicked a survey or link (RSVPed to an event or opted into a newsletter), completed a journey, or taken a specific action in response to a communication.

Before You Start

• You can add members to one existing manual list in your Workshop account
• You can create a new list directly from the Journey builder step, or under the Lists page
• Add to List and Remove from List support manual lists only at this time
   

How to Add a List Step to a Journey

1. Open an existing Journey or create a new one
2. At the point in the Journey where you want the list action to occur, click Add step
3. Under Actions, select Add to List or Remove from List
4. Choose your target list from your existing lists — or create a new one directly from this view
5. Continue building your Journey as normal
6. The action will execute automatically in real time when a member reaches that step

You can include multiple Add to List and Remove from List steps in the same Journey, each targeting a different list.

Common Use Cases

Event RSVPs Add an Add to List step after a Journey email with an RSVP link. Use a conditional split to route members who member click the link to be added to a manual attendance list. 

Newsletter opt-ins and opt-outs Use a conditional split to route members who click an opt-in CTA to an Add to List step, and members who click an opt-out CTA to a Remove from List step. Your subscription list updates automatically with no manual reconciliation.

ERG or group onboarding Add members to an ERG distribution list when they complete a welcome Journey — no manual updates required after each new member joins.

Segmentation Based on opens and clicks completed by members in a journey, you can add those highly engaged members to a targeted list for future priority sends.

Software migrations or compliance Remove members from a "needs to complete" list automatically when they confirm an action via a CTA — so your list always reflects who still needs to take action.

Example: build an SMS Opt-In Journey

1. Create a new Journey and add an automated email
2. In the email, include a clearly labeled CTA button — something like "Yes, sign me up for text updates"
3. After the email step, add a Timing step (wait for a period of time) to give the members time to open the email and click the CTA
4. Then add a Conditional Split and set the condition to: clicked [your opt-in link]
5. On the Yes path, add an Add to List step and select your SMS manual list as the target
6. On the No/else path, you can add a follow-up email, another reminder, or simply end the Journey
7. Publish your Journey — employees who click the opt-in button will be added to your SMS list automatically in real time

Employees can opt out of receiving texts at any time by replying STOP to any SMS message from your organization.