“On a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being ‘haven’t started’ to 10 being ‘we’re done! Let’s move on!’, how are we doing on this strategic objective?”
The client is just finishing up year one in a three-year strategic plan – and the pandemic consumed most of their attention and activity. So when we were doing our year in review and plan for 2021, there was a bit of skepticism in the air. After each report out of the strategic objective, we polled the leadership team – using a “Likert Scale Poll” vs. the polling feature.
Surprise, surprise, they had made more progress than they realized (see the gold stars) and made bold goals for 2021 (see the hearts)!
In the virtual world, I’m finding this type of polling is quite effective as it spurs conversation: Are we in agreement? If not, why not? What do we need to do to move the answer into a more favorable position?
How to Do a Likert Scale Poll in the Virtual Environment
- Carefully select the question you want to have the team answer. Set up a continuum slide with 1 being the worst possible answer and 10 being the best possible answer.
- When ready to take the poll, display your screen and show the range. Ask the team to “annotate” the placement of their answer. (Note, many may not be familiar with this functionality in Zoom, so you have to coach them to go to the toolbar, go into “view options,” select “annotate” and then “stamp.” If you want them to use a specific stamp e.g. a star or heart, you have to tell them so.)
- If you don’t have an annotation feature, you can ask them to put their answer in the chatbox (specify if they should send their answer to everyone or to you privately)
- You can also use a separate app or weblink such as SurveyMonkey, however, I like to keep everyone on the same platform.
- When all have voted, ask the team how close/far apart they are. Probe further if you’d like/have time! Get a sense for what the average answer is.
For more information about how to lead your team in the virtual environment, use these resources.
KRISTIN ARNOLD, MBA, CPF | Master, CSP is a high-stakes meeting facilitator and professional panel moderator. She’s been facilitating teams of executives and managers in making better decisions and achieving greater results for over 20 years. She is the author of the award-winning book, Boring to Bravo: Proven Presentation Techniques to Engage, Involve and Inspire Audiences to Action.
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