Fist to Five • WorkshopBank
Also Known As Fist of Five Five Finger Voting When to Use It You need a quick consensus check during a meeting without opening a full debate A proposal has been discussed and you want to gauge whether the group is ready to move for
How to run it
- Group size: 3 to 30 people. Works best with 5 to 20. Above 30, it becomes difficult for the facilitator to read all the hands at once.
- Allow extra time if you need discussion rounds with low voters
- Any room where participants can see each other
- Seating in a circle or U-shape helps the facilitator scan the room
- Virtual rooms work with cameras on (or use a digital polling tool as a substitute)
- A clearly stated proposal or question, written where everyone can see it (flip chart, slide, or whiteboard)
- Optional: a printed or projected scale showing what each number means
- Everything in between gives the facilitator an instant, honest read of where the group stands, without anyone having to speak first.
- It turns the usual murmured "does everyone agree?" into a clear, visible snapshot of the room's actual position.
- Also Known As Fist of Five Five Finger Voting When to Use It You need a quick consensus check during a meeting without opening a full debate A proposal has been discussed and you want to gauge whether the group is ready to move for
Run this exercise live
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Materials:
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Prompts to use +
Group size: 3 to 30 people. Works best with 5 to 20. Above 30, it becomes difficult for the facilitator to read all the hands at once.
Virtual rooms work with cameras on (or use a digital polling tool as a substitute)
Everything in between gives the facilitator an instant, honest read of where the group stands, without anyone having to speak first.
It turns the usual murmured "does everyone agree?" into a clear, visible snapshot of the room's actual position.
Also Known As Fist of Five Five Finger Voting When to Use It You need a quick consensus check during a meeting without opening a full debate A proposal has been discussed and you want to gauge whether the group is ready to move for
Run this with your AI assistant +
Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.
Adapt this exercise for my exact room. Exercise: Fist to Five • WorkshopBank. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: Group size: 3 to 30 people. Works best with 5 to 20. Above 30, it becomes difficult for the facilitator to read all the hands at once.; Virtual rooms work with cameras on (or use a digital polling tool as a substitute); Everything in between gives the facilitator an instant, honest read of where the group stands, without anyone having to speak first.; It turns the usual murmured "does everyone agree?" into a clear, visible snapshot of the room's actual position.. Return a concise facilitator script with timing, wording, safety notes, and remote/in-person adjustments.
Origin unverified
- Where we observed it: The strongest current observations come from WorkshopBank; aggregators are listed as additional observations, not origin proof. (1 source observed, including WorkshopBank.)
- What that means: we track where an exercise has been observed in public sources. We do not claim to know who created it, or how popular it is.
- No efficacy claims: appearing in this library is not a claim that the exercise is proven effective. Facilitator judgment and context decide whether it works for a given room.
- Corrections: if you have evidence of an earlier or more accurate source, read our methodology and trust boundary and tell us.