The Fountain Institute is an independent online school that teaches advanced UX & product skills.
Getting your team to agree on strategy
Dear Reader,
Do you sometimes feel like you're herding cats when it comes to strategy?
Trust us, we know the feeling. Getting stakeholders to agree can feel like an uphill battle.
But fear not! We've got a tool to help you navigate the choppy waters of team alignment. Sam Kaner's gradient of agreement scale is a useful tool for visualizing a team's opinions and can help identify areas of agreement, disagreement, and uncertainty.
Here's how it works in a nutshell:
- Ask your team to rate their level of agreement on a scale of 1-8 with a statement related to your UX strategy. 1 being "Whole-hearted Endorsement" and 8 being "veto".
- Once everyone has rated their level of agreement, visualize all the results on a 1-8 scale.
- Identify the areas of agreement, disagreement, and uncertainty. This will help you understand where your team stands and where you need to focus your efforts to get everyone on the same page.
- Use this information to facilitate a discussion among your team. Ask those who rated their agreement levels differently to share their thoughts and reasons. This can help uncover assumptions and misunderstandings, leading to better alignment and agreement.
By using the gradient of agreement scale in workshops or meetings, you can create a safe and collaborative space where everyone's opinions and perspectives are heard and valued.
This can help you overcome challenges such as having the HIPPO in the room, not being the decision-maker, or people not sharing their opinion when their bosses are in the room.
Remember, not everyone will always agree, but that's okay!
By using a tool like the gradient of agreement scale, you'll be able to identify the areas where you need to focus your efforts and work towards a common goal.
So what are you waiting for? Grab your team, some markers, and a whiteboard, and let's make your next strategy workshop a success!
We just launched a book club...
Our first book will be Continuous Discovery Habits by Teresa Torres in April. Grab the book and join the #book-club channel in the Guild of Working Designers Slack to join!
MEETUP: B2B Survival Guide for UX Designers
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
Learn to improve the user experience when your customer is another business.
Reserve a seat
Defining UX Strategy
April 17-May 8, 2023
Learn how to build a winning UX or product strategy that aligns design with business.
Reserve a seat
Facilitating Workshops
May 15-Jun. 5, 2023
Learn how to design creative working sessions and lead collaborative work.
Reserve a seat
💪 Daily ethical design practices
This guide outlines daily ethical design practices including how to peruse well-being, equity, and sustainability.
shared by Joshua Stehr
Learn more
📖 The Solutionists: How Businesses Can Fix the Future
The Solutionists sets out what it takes to join the new generation of entrepreneurs and leaders transforming business to create a more sustainable society.
shared by Lizzie Hamblin
Learn more
Apply to join the Guild of Working Designers here.
shared by Filipe Monteiro in the Guild
Until next week!
Hannah Baker
Educator & Co-Founder
The Fountain Institute
The Fountain Institute
The Fountain Institute is an independent online school that teaches advanced UX & product skills.
What Can't AI Do in Design in 2026 By Hannah Baker Dear Reader, If you work in design, your feeds are probably saying the same two things on repeat: Here’s everything AI can do for you, and Here’s why you should be terrified. Most of that conversation focuses on tools and job titles: “Will designers be replaced?” “Which roles are safe?” It makes for good headlines, but it’s not how the work actually changes in real life. A few months ago, walking to my studio listening to a Planet Money...
Does the Double Diamond make sense for AI-enabled teams? by Jeff Humble Dear Reader, For twenty years, the Double Diamond has been our north star. Discover, Define, Develop, Deliver. It's elegant. It's teachable. It's in every junior's UX case study. And it made sense…when it was created. All that upfront research made economic sense when coding was the most expensive part of the process. Better to get it right before handoff because it's expensive for engineering to make changes later. But...
When Frameworks Fail and Gut Feelings Take Over By Hannah Baker Dear Reader, You know that moment when the data looks clear, the framework is airtight, and yet something in your stomach says, don’t do it? That’s judgment, the quiet, inconvenient voice that shows up when the evidence has already spoken. It’s also the thing most of us struggle to explain, even though our careers depend on it. Businesses love reasoning. We build frameworks to make decisions look rational, dashboards to make them...