After a brainstorming session generates 20 improvement ideas on sticky notes, the Scrum Master gives each team member 5 coloured stickers to place on their preferred ideas. Ideas with the most stickers get prioritised. What technique is this?
Dot voting (also called multi-voting or sticker voting) is a participatory prioritisation technique where each participant has a limited number of votes (dots/stickers) to distribute across options. It quickly surfaces group preferences without lengthy debate. Rules: participants may put multiple dots on one item (if they feel strongly) or spread them across items. It works well for narrowing a large idea set to a manageable shortlist in retrospectives and workshops.
2 / 5
A Scrum Master asks all team members to independently write their ideas on sticky notes for 5 minutes before any discussion begins. What facilitation technique is being used and why?
Silent brainstorming (brainwriting) is a technique where participants generate ideas independently and silently before sharing. This prevents HiPPO effect (Highest-Paid Person's Opinion dominating), anchoring bias (first speaker influencing all subsequent ideas), and social loafing (people deferring when others are already talking). Studies show silent brainstorming generates more diverse and numerous ideas than open verbal brainstorming.
3 / 5
During a retrospective, a team member raises an important topic about the hiring process that is relevant but outside the scope of the current retro. The Scrum Master writes it on a separate board to discuss later. What is this facilitation practice called?
The parking lot (sometimes called 'bike rack' or 'car park') is a facilitation tool for capturing valuable topics that are off-topic for the current meeting. Writing them visibly on a separate board acknowledges the contributor's input (so they don't feel dismissed), keeps the current meeting focused, and ensures the topic isn't forgotten. At the end of the meeting, the facilitator reviews the parking lot and assigns owners or schedules time for each item.
4 / 5
After a retrospective generates 8 action items, the Scrum Master ensures each has a named owner and a completion date before closing. At the next retro, she reviews which were done. What practice describes managing retrospective outcomes this way?
Action item tracking is the practice of capturing each improvement commitment from a retrospective with: a clear description, a single named owner (not 'the team'), and a target completion date. At the following retrospective, the facilitator opens with an action item review before generating new items. Research (Derby & Larsen) shows teams that track and review action items implement 3–5x more improvements than teams that generate ideas but don't assign ownership.
5 / 5
A Scrum Master asks the team to vote on a technical decision by showing 0–5 fingers simultaneously. What does each number typically represent in this technique?
Fist of Five (or Fist to Five) is a consensus-gauging technique: 0 (fist) = veto/block — cannot support, must be resolved; 1 = serious concerns, need discussion; 2 = concerns but will not block; 3 = neutral/abstain; 4 = support; 5 = enthusiastic support. The facilitator looks for any 0s or 1s and addresses them before proceeding. Unlike a majority vote, it surfaces minority concerns that binary voting would hide — making it safer for decision quality in self-organising teams.