Listening Session 1

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Gather feedback across five operational areas and identify which items colleagues prioritize for action.

Use it when: Use during internal retrospectives or team health checks when leaders or facilitators need structured employee input on support, environment, and daily work.

Skip it when: Skip if the session is meant to resolve a single technical incident or if leadership cannot commit to reviewing and addressing the prioritized input.

Group arrangement: Individual writing followed by whole-group silent review, dot-voting, and focused plenary discussion

Timing: UWT suggested duration. The source template lacks a set run time; 40 minutes provides adequate time for five prompts, voting, and initial review.

Materials and tools

• 5 flip chart sheets or poster boards (one per question)
• Sticky notes (at least 15 notes per participant)
• Fine-tip markers or pens (one per participant)
• Small dot stickers (5 dots per participant, or pens to draw dots)
• Timer

Before participants arrive

1. Write one of the five template questions at the top of each of the five flip chart sheets.
2. Mount the five sheets spaced apart along the room walls so participants can move between them freely.
3. Place pads of sticky notes and markers on participant tables.

Say this to open

Today we are running a structured listening session to collect feedback on five specific areas of our work. You will write your observations on sticky notes and post them under the matching prompt. After everyone posts, we will read the board silently and use dot votes to highlight which points need our attention first. Writing and posting are optional, and you do not need to put your name on your notes.

How to run it

1. Introduce prompts and boundaries 5 minutes

   Read the five questions posted on the walls aloud. Remind participants to write one clear idea per sticky note. Provide a concrete, neutral example: under challenges, write 'Onboarding documentation has broken links to internal repos' rather than general complaints like 'Everything is broken.' Reiterate that sharing is voluntary and anonymous.

2. Write and post feedback 12 minutes

   Participants work individually and silently. They write their responses on sticky notes and walk up to post them beneath the relevant wall prompt. Participants may contribute to all, some, or none of the columns according to their experience. Stop writing when the timer sounds.

3. Review and cluster 8 minutes

   Invite participants to walk along the walls and read the posted notes silently. With participant input, the facilitator or a designated volunteer moves duplicate or closely related notes next to each other within each column without deleting or altering any text.

4. Vote on priority items 5 minutes

   Distribute 5 dot stickers to each participant (or have them mark with a marker). Participants place their dots on the notes they believe are most urgent or important for the team to address. They may distribute dots across multiple columns or place multiple dots on a single note.

5. Debrief top priorities 10 minutes

   Gather the room. Point out the two to three notes that received the most votes across the boards. Open the floor for clarifying remarks on those top items, limiting full-room comments to 3 or 4 people to stay within the time limit. Record who will take custody of the notes for action planning.

Debrief questions

• Which themes or patterns in the high-vote items stand out most clearly?
• What is one small operational adjustment we could make immediately based on these notes?
• What topic on the wall requires deeper investigation before we can decide on an action plan?

Finished output: Five posters of clustered feedback notes with dot votes highlighting the group's top priorities for action planning.

Remote

Create an online whiteboard with five labeled columns matching the questions. Give participants 10 minutes to type and place digital sticky notes in the columns. Facilitator assists in grouping duplicates. Distribute 5 digital voting tokens or use built-in board voting tools for a 5-minute silent vote, then convene on video for the 10-minute debrief.

Hybrid

All participants, whether in the room or online, use a single shared digital board. In-person participants use their laptops or room tablets to write notes and cast votes, ensuring identical visibility and anonymity for both cohorts. Display the shared digital board on the physical room screen.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may choose which questions to answer and may pass entirely without explanation.
• Colleagues who prefer not to walk around can hand notes to the facilitator or write on personal devices.
• All notes are anonymous; no participant is required to claim or explain an individual note.

If the session gets stuck

Participants post broad grievances that cannot be acted upon.

Ask the room to clarify the practical friction behind the note: 'What specific workflow step is causing this delay?'

One prompt receives dozens of notes while another receives none.

Reassure the room that uneven distribution is valid data; focus the debrief time on the columns that generated the strongest energy.

Terms used here

• Dot-voting: A simple prioritization method where each person places a limited number of adhesive dots or marks on their preferred options.
• Retrospective: A dedicated team meeting held to inspect recent working practices and agree on improvements.