Dotmocracy / Dot voting
Description
Time
5 mins
The power of the dot! This is a very quick and handy voting method, you can use to help a group land on a collective decision. It should be used when there are a number of options or ideas ‘on the table’ which need to be assessed or prioritized.
Instructions
🌏 IN PERSON:
Place all the ideas up on a wall, one idea or option per post-it. Have the group cluster similar ideas and remove any duplicate post-its. Ensure that all ideas on the wall are clear to all members in the group, by running through all and inviting clarifications.
Have the group vote by dots. Each group member gets between 3 (or another number) of dots to vote with. These dots can be distributed in any way: one dot each to 3 different ideas, all 3 dots to one idea, etc.
Once all members have distributed their dots, the group could proceed in a variety of ways:
An open dialogue about the prioritization; which ideas got more dots? Which less?
Organize the ideas on a line from most to least dots, then discuss
Take only the top three ideas and spend time developing these further
ONLINE:
Follow the instructions above for the ‘in person’ dot-voting technique. The only thing to change is your setting! Instead of having post-its on wall, create a Mural, Miro or Google Slides whiteboard. Invite participants to the link and have them add and vote on post-its accordingly.
Top tip:
Mural has a built in voting tool specifically for dot-voting. Give it a go! Otherwise you can pre-create the right amount of small voting circles on your board, ready for when the group needs them.
Materials // Remarks
Dot-stickers or markers
Notes
See Dotmocracy.org for more information and resources.
Sources: Jason Diceman, Dotmocracy.org hyperisland.com
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