This strategy can be used for: Team Decision Making | Choosing a Topic for Research
Stickers are used by individual team members to indicate a vote or endorsement of an idea or topic, and viewed publicly as a group. Linking one sticker with one vote helps team members physically link their vote to a choice, and provides a concrete reminder of the total number of votes they can place. An additional benefit of sticker voting is that the team can immediately identify the most endorsed topics or ideas.
The following steps are usually followed for sticker voting:
- Several topics or ideas are written on a poster, piece of paper, or other type of display. These topics or ideas are typically generated using other strategies (see for example, flip chart, physical sorting of concepts). Usually there are no more than 10 total topics or ideas.
- Members are provided with stickers, each representing one "vote." The number of stickers or votes each member receives may vary based on the number of presented topics or ideas, or the final goal. For example, if there are 8 topics or ideas being considered, and the goal is to identify the top 2 ideas, each team member may receive 2 stickers.
- Team members receive instructions to guide their vote. For example, they can "vote for the favorite" or "vote for the topic you think is most important to most people."
- Team members physically place their sticker on the topic or idea in response to the instructions.
- Team members can choose to place the stickers in any combination. For example, they may place one sticker on each topic they endorse, or they may place all their stickers on one topic they very strongly endorse.
Accommodations for Remote Collaboration
- Use collaborative documents or other apps to allow all team members to simultaneously type their name or place an icon next to the topic or idea they endorse.
- As the team reviews the choices using the screen share feature in video conference platforms, team members raise their hand for the choice they endorse. If multiple votes are allowed, the facilitator should call on each team member with a hand raised to determine how many "votes" they are casting for the choice.
- Team members may need support to keep track of their votes. See access accommodations and support below.
- Create an online survey that asks team members to choose a designated number of topics to endorse.
- After reviewing the choices using the screen sharing feature in video conference platforms, provide team members with a template to individually record the topic or idea they endorse.
Note: The last two remote accommodations may require additional time to compile results across team members, and may not produce the immediate results usually associated with this strategy.
Access Accommodations and Support
- If there are a large number of topics to choose from, team members can first identify the topics or ideas they do not endorse to reduce the total number of topics to consider.
- If voting virtually during the meeting using the hand raise function, team members may find it helpful to write down their choices ahead of time using one of the resource templates below.
Resources
- Virtual voting template 1
- Virtual voting template 2
- Virtual voting template 3
- Video Directions: Using "Raise hand" and other emojis and notifications in Zoom
Tools to Explore
- Miro, IBM Mural, and Google JamBoard are online tools where you can make diagrams and share information on “post it” notes as a team.Team members can vote using these tools by drawing a check mark, typing, and/or moving “post-it” notes.
References
Examples of studies using this strategy
Benevides, T. W., Shore, S. M., Palmer, K., Duncan, P., Plank, A., Andresen, M. L., Caplan, R., Cook, B., Gassner, D., Hector, B. L., Morgan, L., Nebeker, L., Purkis, Y., Rankowski, B., Wittig, K., & Coughlin, S. S. (2020). Listening to the autistic voice: Mental health priorities to guide research and practice in autism from a stakeholder-driven project. Autism : The International Journal of Research and Practice, 24(4), 822–833. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361320908410
Kramer, J.M., & Schwartz, A. E. (2018). Development of the Pediatric Disability Inventory-Patient Reported Outcome (PEDI-PRO) measurement conceptual framework and item candidates. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 25(5), 335–346. https://doi.org/10.1080/11038128.2018.1502344
Examples of studies using this accommodation
Benevides, T. W., Shore, S. M., Palmer, K., Duncan, P., Plank, A., Andresen, M. L., Caplan, R., Cook, B., Gassner, D., Hector, B. L., Morgan, L., Nebeker, L., Purkis, Y., Rankowski, B., Wittig, K., & Coughlin, S. S. (2020). Listening to the autistic voice: Mental health priorities to guide research and practice in autism from a stakeholder-driven project. Autism : The International Journal of Research and Practice, 24(4), 822–833. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361320908410
Kramer, Jessica M., Schwartz, A. E., Watkins, D., Peace, M., Luterman, S., Barnhart, B., Bouma-Sims, J., Riley, J., Shouse, J., Maharaj, R., Rosenberg, C. R., Harvey, K., Huereña, J., Schmid, K., & Alexander, J. S. (2019). Improving research and practice: Priorities for young adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities and mental health needs. Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 12(3-4), 97-125. https://doi.org/10.1080/19315864.2019.1636910