A quick way to gauge the team’s belief level

Sometimes, team members have reservations that (for whatever reason) they don’t feel comfortable stating outright. Maybe they think no one else shares the same thoughts, and they don’t want to be the naysayer. Or maybe they’ve got a feeling they can’t quite put into words.

Which is why we’re fans of gut checking the team’s belief level. The “finger shoot” is one gut-check method we use all the time. Here’s how it works:

• Create a scale of 1 to 10 for the topic you want to gut check. For example, how do people feel about Plan X, with 1 being “I think it’s a big mistake” and 10 being “I feel great about it.”
• On the count of 3, have everyone do a show of fingers to indicate where they fall on the scale.
• Then ask each person who’s feeling under an 8 to say what they’d need to see to raise their score by a point or two (e.g., to go from a 6 to an 8).

Once the team has a clear sense of where everyone stands, it’s much easier to create alignment. A finger shoot also energizes the team, by giving every person a voice. It’s particularly helpful to do at the end of a decision-making meeting.