Some people talk to think, while the others think to talk. If we don't provide for these two different scenarios, we may lose good ideas to conformity bias.
Group decision making makes space for the minority voice and the people who don't speak often. For example, a common approach during Sprint Retrospectives is to use silent brainstorming. Silent brainstorming is where we ask team members to work as individuals initially, for example, to write their ideas down on post-it notes first. We wait until everyone is finished transcribing their ideas before we share them with the group.
Silent brainstorming enables us to hear all the voices in the room without individuals being swayed by the person who speaks the first, the person with the most influence, or by the group in general. If all the opinions are voiced and considered, then we're more likely to reach a place of consent without anyone in our team feeling sidelined.
Here are some example group decision-making practices that can be used by our team:
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Fist to five |
We often want to gauge how our team feels on a scale rating from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Fist to Five allows us to do this, with team members being asked to rate how they feel, with their fist equal to zero (strongly disagree) and their open hand equal to five (strongly agree). If we get all fives and fours, we're OK to proceed with the idea. If we get zeros and ones, we should not proceed. Anything in between we should discuss as a group, after which if we feel the mood has shifted, we can try a re-vote. If the group sentiment still hasn't shifted, we should put the idea on the backburner or find an alternative. |
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Roman voting |
Thumb up = yes Thumb down = no Thumb to the side = neutral/unsure |
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Round robin |
Everyone takes a turn to speak. The one rule of this approach is that we decide who speaks first, not just the people who always speak. |