Advanced Dotmocracy
Group facilitation methods: Analysis, Combining Ideas, Evaluation of Work, Selection / Prioritising Processes
Keywords: collecting & prioritizing ideas, decision-making
Identification
The goal of this process is to collect and discuss ideas among large groups.
This process is used to collect and prioritize ideas and as a part of decision-making processes.
Howto
The first step is to learn about the issue that will be discussed later. Both, the participants and the facilitator should be aware of what exactly is the topic. This can be done by handing out a relevant materials a few days ahead, or e.g. having an introductory lesson.
Next, the facilitator should present the topic and ask questions that could be answered during the idea generating process.
Then, answers should be brainstormed and discussed in small groups. Ideas (as many as possible) can be drafted either individually or collectively.
Following, the ideas should be written in the top left corner of the Dotmocracy sheets, which can be found in the attachment.
Always only one clear idea, and not a combination of more, should be on one sheet. Then, the sheets will be either posted on a wall, or will be handed around among the participants.
As one of the most essential steps, the participants now need to read and consider each idea individually and then record their opinion by filling out one dot per sheet in the according scale reaching from strong agreement to strong disagreement. Furthermore, the participants need to sign each sheet that they made a dot on, and the may add a brief comment on the bottom of the sheet.
If possible, each participant should have filled out each sheet, evaluating every single idea. This will give the best representation of what people think.
When the dotting process is called to a close, the facilitator needs to collect the sheets and sort them either by topic or by level of agreement. Then, all the results should be published, celebrating the most popularly ideas, and recognizing the most important disagreements.
The last step is to announce a decision. The participants need to formulate a plan that selects, combines, prioritizes and/or finds a compromise within the most popularly agreed ideas with the least disagreement. This decision then can be published, with the participants being responsible for the original preamble provided and for what has been reported as the results of the Dotmocracy process.
