Set up the session
About 50 minutes in one meeting. You need one answer card and a pen for each person, and this page on a screen everyone can see.
Everyone answers about the same thing. Mixing views of the team and the whole organisation blurs the spread.
Works with 3 people or more. Below five, a lone answer is easier to guess, so agree up front that nobody will try. With fewer than eight, treat the type of any disagreement as a lead to check in the room.
How to run it
- Hand out the cards.One each. No names.2 min
- Set the rules.Nobody talks about an answer until every card is in. There are no right numbers. Write a dash if it hasn’t come up, and a question mark if you can’t tell.1 min
- Ask the 15 questions.Start with the “Before you start” screen, then show each question for about 45 seconds. Everyone writes a number next to the question number.12 min
- Collect and shuffle.Cards are folded, collected and shuffled.2 min
- Enter the cards.You type in each card’s answers, about 30 seconds a card, while the team takes a break.5 min
- Show the spread.Questions hidden at first. Ask the room where you agree and where you don’t.5 min
- Show the questions and the findings.Talk about the disagreements before the problems.15 min
- Agree one thing.Pick one item to work on, name an owner, and set a date to run the check again in 90 days.5 min
The answer card
Each card holds numbers only. The questions stay on the screen, so by the time the answers are revealed, people remember the spread better than their own number.
Prints 2 sheets of A4, four cards to a sheet. If printing doesn’t start, open the cards as a PDF and print as many copies as you need.
Which tool do you need?
Before you start
- Think about the past three months, unless the question says otherwise
- Answer about our team, from what you’ve seen or done yourself
- 1 Never · 5–6 About half the time · 10 Always
- Write – if it hasn’t come up in that time
- Write ? if it happens but you can’t tell how often, for example because it happens in meetings you’re not in
- Don’t write your name, and don’t talk about any answer until every card is in
That’s all fifteen.
Fold your card and pass it in. No discussion yet: the cards get shuffled and entered first.
Use the arrow keys to move between questions. The numbers on the cards follow the order on screen. For a second screen, open the questions in a new tab. This tab shows the questions only. Enter the cards in the other window.
Enter the cards
One row per card, in any order. Nothing you type leaves this browser.
These are the example team’s cards, so they can’t be changed. Choose “Leave the example” in the bar above to enter your own.