Some people we were working with invented the idea of a magnetic question
mark. Now we use a lot of them (small rectangular rubberized doodads),
and we hand them out to groups. With all the ideas on the wall highly
visible, individual members walk up to the magnetic wallboards and lay one
of the magnetic question marks on anything that they feel is dubious or
requires some form of alteration.
This is an example of what, at one time, was called "management by
exception", where what was worked on was just those things on which
agreement and understanding hadn't been achieved.
This scheme is superior to voting, because it is a lot faster, empowers
the participants, requires no staff effort to sort out votes, can be used
repeatedly with minimal effort, and allows for stripping off question
marks as quickly as the group feels the issue is resolved.
-- JOHN WARFIELD Jwarfiel@gmu.edu