Expected outcome
Helping groups to define a list of preferences and urgencies among different choices, without creating polarization and tensions. It enhances lateral thinking, and encourages creative solutions.
Between 10’ and 20’; less when the group become accustomed.
Large sheets of paper, flipcharts, colored markers.
This tool is a classic facilitation technique.
For additional information :
http://www.thecircleway.net/
“Preference, not vote” is a simple tool to help groups set their priorities without ending up in a win-lose situation. It is based on the concept of abundance, the core idea being that each person has a certain number of preferences that they can freely assign to any of the options that are up for evaluation.
This tool is particularly useful when the number of available options is more than 2, for instance after a brainstorming session or any dynamic that triggers free creativity, including working in small groups that come up with a wide range of ideas for the plenary.
A note of caution: this is NOT a voting procedure, all options are still open after this dynamic, but it gives the group a clear sign as to where its energy is pointing. A formal decision making process will still be needed if accepting one solution eliminates the other ones.
This process is often used to prioritize topics for a meetings. After the process, the group looks at the result and decides on the agenda of the meeting, how much time to allocate for what topic, which topics can be dropped or delegated, with the information of the priorities of the group.
Feel free to contact us and share your own tools!