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!
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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.
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