--- title: "Lean Coffee" description: "Participants propose discussion topics on sticky notes, vote to rank them, and discuss them in timed blocks with continuation votes." last_updated: "2026-09-07" canonical: "https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/lean-coffee/" --- # Lean Coffee Participants propose discussion topics on sticky notes, vote to rank them, and discuss them in timed blocks with continuation votes. **Time:** 30 minutes. UWT standard 30-minute block to allow topic generation, voting, and three to four prioritized discussion cycles. **People:** 4 to 24. Whole group for 4 to 8 participants; split into parallel tables of 4 to 6 people for 9 to 24 participants. ## Choose this exercise **Purpose:** Build and execute a prioritized conversation agenda based on immediate group interest. **Use it when:** Use when a team needs to clear backlogged discussion topics, conduct an open-ended retrospective, or run an agenda-less working session. **Skip it when:** Skip when the meeting has a strict mandatory briefing agenda or when regulatory compliance dictates exact discussion topics. ## Materials and tools - 1 pad of sticky notes per table - 1 fine-tip marker per person - 1 whiteboard or poster paper per table with columns labeled 'To Discuss', 'Discussing', and 'Done' - 1 shared countdown timer per table ## Before participants arrive 1. Draw three vertical columns on the board or chart paper: 'To Discuss', 'Discussing', and 'Done'. 2. Place sticky notes and markers at each table. ## Say this to open Welcome. We are using Lean Coffee to build our agenda together right now. You will write topics you want to discuss, we will vote to prioritize them, and then we will talk through them using timed blocks. Write one clear topic per sticky note. ## How to run it ### 1. Generate topics (4 minutes) Participants write topics they want to discuss on sticky notes, one topic per note. Anyone may submit multiple notes or choose not to submit any. Facilitator invites people to post their notes into the 'To Discuss' column as they finish writing. ### 2. Pitch and vote (5 minutes) Facilitator reads each note aloud or invites the author to state the topic in ten seconds. Each participant gets three dot votes to allocate across any notes on the board. Sort the notes in the 'To Discuss' column from highest vote count to lowest. ### 3. Discuss top topics (18 minutes) Move the top card to 'Discussing'. Start a 4-minute timer and open the floor for discussion on that topic. When time expires, call for a Roman vote: thumbs up to continue discussing for 2 more minutes, thumbs down to move on, sideways neutral. If major thumbs up, reset timer for 2 minutes. Once finished, move card to 'Done' and repeat with the next highest-voted topic until time runs out. ### 4. Wrap up and capture actions (3 minutes) Stop discussion cycles. Ask the group if any concrete action items emerged from the discussed topics. Facilitator records volunteered next steps next to the completed notes. ## Debrief questions - Which discussion item led to the clearest takeaway today? - How did the time limits change the way we communicated? - What remaining topic on the board should be scheduled for a dedicated follow-up? **Finished output:** A board showing discussed and remaining topics, accompanied by a written list of volunteered action items. ## Remote Use an online board with three columns ('To Discuss', 'Discussing', 'Done') and built-in voting. Facilitator runs a digital timer on screen. Participants use video thumbs or chat (+1 / -1) for Roman voting. ## Hybrid Maintain the single board in a shared online workspace that in-person attendees access on laptops or via a central room screen. Remote and in-person members cast votes digitally and speak through a shared room microphone queue. ## Access and participation choices - Participants may submit topics anonymously or pass on writing notes entirely. - Participants may contribute verbally, write thoughts in chat, or observe without speaking. ## If the session gets stuck **One person dominates the discussion window.** Remind the group when two minutes remain and explicitly invite someone who has not spoken yet to share. **Tied votes between multiple sticky notes.** Facilitator picks the order randomly or asks the authors to do a five-second pitch before a quick hand vote. ## Terms used here - Roman voting: A quick visual consensus check where thumbs up means keep going, thumbs down means move to the next item, and thumbs sideways means no preference. ## Sources and adaptation Observed in Parabol documentation, which attributes the method to Jeremy Lightsmith and Jim Benson (Seattle, 2009) and leancoffee.org. The core mechanic of Lean Coffee (democratic agenda creation, kanban columns, timeboxes, and continuation voting) is drawn from the cited sources. UWT established a 30-minute pacing structure, exact subgroup sizes, parallel breakout rules for larger groups, and concrete Roman voting mechanics. [Parabol](https://www.parabol.co/templates/sprint-retrospectives/lean-coffee) [Parabol](https://www.parabol.co/templates/sprint-retrospectives/lean-coffee/) Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/lean-coffee/