Dot Voting

Dot voting helps you see your team’s preferences to reveal patterns while democratizing decision making.

It’s a great way to get everyone’s input and gives each person the opportunity to indicate their preferences and opinions before any decisions are made.

By democratizing the decision-making process, you ensure that no single voice or idea takes precedence, and everyone is encouraged to be thoughtful so the team can find the favored option amongst the many ideas presented.

Best Practices

Ensure equal participation. Make sure everyone gets a say. If needed, stagger voting or consider silent voting to prevent peer influence.

Curate and clarify options. Make sure all choices are clear, concise and distinct. Merge similar items to reduce confusion.

Limit the number of options. Too many options to vote on dilute votes and slow decision-making. Keep it manageable – ideally under 20 items.

Set voting criteria of time. How many votes per person (e.g., 3-5)? Can they vote multiple times on the same item? Will votes be anonymous or visible?

Basic Steps

1. Identify the subject of your polling activity. What problem are the presented ideas trying to solve?

2. Give each reviewer dots or sticky notes as voting tabs. They will use these to cast their votes on the idea(s) they like best.

3. Review the voting criteria. Share how each person can use their voting tabs during the vote.

4. Present each idea or concept. Review each idea that is being voted on so everyone understands each concept prior to casting their vote.

5. Vote! Instruct everyone to vote simultaneously. Tally the votes upon completion.

6. Invite discussion. Ask if anyone would like to share what they vote for and why.

Benefits

• Helps you rate and order preferences
• Reveals themes and patterns
• Reduces overbearing opinions
• Democratizes decision making