Note and Vote

The Note and Vote is a technique,

created by Google Ventures,

to help teams make group group decisions quickly.

Each person gets a pen and some paper.

In five minutes (set a timer),

they write down as many ideas as they can,

without discussing with anyone else.

Next, a timer is set for two minutes.

Everyone picks one or two of their favorite items from the list.

Then, each member says their best idea aloud,

without any justification or elaboration.

You capture all the ideas on a whiteboard.

Set a five-minute timer again, and this time,

each person writes down one favorite idea from the whiteboard –

without any discussion.

Once the timer goes off,

everyone take turns to say what they wrote

and you tally it up.

15 minutes later you’ve got a nice shortlist.