Dot Voting & Weighted Dot Voting

Dot voting is a simple and effective way of making group decisions by allowing members to cast their vote and express their preferences.

It can be used in team-building activities, brainstorming sessions, and decision-making processes where it is necessary to prioritize ideas, concepts, or options.

Standard Dot Voting Method:

After idea generation, it’s time to narrow down the options and prioritize.

Using a large piece of paper, separate it into several different sections.

You don’t have to use paper for this, you could you paper cups or containers or anything else where it’s easy for people to make a choice.

You can give each participant a sticker or a token to place their choice.

You should end up with something like this that’s easily countable:

However, this doesn’t allow for participants to show how strongly they feel about one option or another.

Weighted Dot Voting

Enter weighted dot voting!

Instead of giving each participant one token, give them all 6.

Participants are allowed to place all 6 tokens on one choice if they prefer, or they could spread their votes across their different preferences.

Perhaps you have a strong craving for pizza, but if that’s not the popular choice, you’ll settle for tacos.

In that scenario, you could place 4 tokens in the pizza box and 2 in the tacos box.

Outcome

Dot voting is a quick and easy way to gather opinions and reach a consensus in a group setting. It helps to ensure that everyone has a voice and that the final decision reflects the collective preferences of the group.

Pros of Dot Voting

1. Easy to Implement: Dot voting is a straightforward and simple method that can be easily set up and implemented, even with large groups.
2. Encourages Active Participation: By allowing participants to physically vote, dot voting encourages active engagement and participation from all participants.
3. Provides Immediate Feedback: Dot voting provides immediate feedback on the ideas or topics that are most important or relevant to the group, making it an effective way to gauge the collective opinions of the group.
4. Fosters Collaboration: By encouraging participants to work together to identify and prioritize the most important or relevant ideas or topics, dot voting fosters collaboration and teamwork.

Cons of Dot Voting

1. Limited Depth of Feedback: While dot voting provides immediate feedback, it doesn’t necessarily provide a deep understanding of why participants voted the way they did. This can make it difficult to identify and address specific concerns or challenges.
2. Potential Bias: If participants are not given equal voting power, or if the facilitator has an influence over the voting process, there is a potential for bias.
3. Limited Context: Dot voting doesn’t provide context for why certain topics or ideas received more votes than others, making it difficult to understand the nuances of the group’s opinions.

Example

You are leading a workshop on project management and want to know what topics the participants find most important. You provide each participant with five dots and asks them to vote on the topics they find most relevant.

The topics include:

• Project planning
• Team management
• Risk management
• Stakeholder management

At the end of the voting process, you count the dots and sees that team management received the most votes. This provides you with immediate feedback that the participants consider team management to be the most important topic.

You can then use this information to tailor the remainder of the workshop to the participants’ needs and interests.

In conclusion, dot voting is a simple and effective way to gather feedback and gauge the opinions of a group. While it has its limitations, it can be a valuable tool for facilitators looking to encourage active participation and foster collaboration among participants.