What is the Dot Voting template?
Gather with your team in one virtual space and collaboratively vote on sticky notes, Jira issues, or any other items you place on your whiteboard to pick the next object for discussion or simply prioritize ideas. Specify the voting constraints and remind the participants of the purpose and value of the voting exercise before you start. Let your team members know how they’re supposed to assign votes, how many of them are available per person, and how the session’s outcome will be used.
Once all individuals cast their votes, converge and jointly discuss the results. The content will resemble a heat map with concentrated dots in areas that received the most votes. Depending on the goal, consult why your teammates voted a particular way and assess the next steps. Whenever you have a tie among top options, vote again to establish a clear winner.
What are the benefits of the Dot Voting template?
Thanks to the Dot Voting template, you can:
- Democratically prioritize items in an easy and quick way and narrow down the alternatives with your entire team.
- Rank topics on sticky notes for upcoming team discussions or workshops.
- Prevent the HIPPO effect and allow all team members to contribute equally.
- Allow all participants to express a preference for more than one option at the same time.
- Move your team towards collective consensus and use their insights for further exploration. Easily convert ideas into Jira issues and continue your work.
How to use the Dot Voting template in a few steps?
- Open the Dot Voting template on a new board or add it to an already existing one.
- Invite your team to the board by sending them an email invitation or sharing the board URL.
- Join the audio and video chat with your teammates to be able to see and talk with each other during the voting session.
- Provide your teammates’ names in text blocks next to the appropriate dots. Try to remember which color represents which person.
- Start writing down your ideas on available sticky notes. Set the timer to ensure the ideation part of the meeting doesn’t last too long.
- Start placing dots next to the sticky notes you like the most when the time is up. Use this group voting method for quick and easy decision-making, narrowing down the options, or prioritizing work.