Thumb Gauges (Group Tools)

(About a 5-minute read.)

If you've been around the team building world I'm sure you've used various thumb gauges. A simple 'thumbs up' gets a lot of use (hopefully more than the thumbs down). I frequently use (and share) two thumb gauges with my groups - they are TOOLS to transmit information quickly. One is Thumb Voting and the other is the Thumbometer. ​

Thumb Voting
I learned Thumb Voting from my friend Tom Leahy. He uses it as a 'Consensus-Building' tool. When faced with a decision where consensus is desired (meaning everyone agrees to something at some level), groups can use this tool to quickly see everyone’s position on a proposed decision.

For example: A group works together before a particular challenge to come up with a plan. When a plan seems to be formulated, someone verbalizes the plan to all group members. Then (knowing about the Thumb Vote tool), they take a Thump Vote - everyone votes at the same time with one thumb so everyone can see.

A thumbs up indicates the person understands the plan and is ready to support the plan. A thumb to the side means the person may not be completely clear about the plan but is ready and willing to do their part and figure out how to help as they go. A thumbs down indicates the person needs some clarity about the plan in order to understand what's going to happen and how they can be a part of the group's success. In other words, this person has a question (or two) about the plan.

(Note: I use this tool with groups who possess some average communication skills - willing to let everyone share information and willing to listen to each other. If used too early, Thumb Voting can be used by someone to hold the group 'hostage' by using a thumbs down vote to indicate they don't like the plan and they want their own plan put in place.) 

In most cases, Thumb Voting is a quick way to 'see' who has questions and then answer the questions in a way to help the group move forward. Using our example above, after someone asks a question the plan might change. Then another Thumb Vote is needed to see if everyone is on board, at some level of consensus, before implementing the plan. 

Thumbometer
The Thumbometer tool is used to gauge how much someone liked (or likes) something or how much someone valued (or values) something. After I show my participants what the Thumbometer scale is ("10" is a thumbs up, "0" is thumbs down, and the other numbers in between) here are some questions I might ask using the Thumbometer: 

On a scale of Zero to 10, 10 being the highest score...

• how fun was the activity? 
• how much did you like the activity? 
• how well did you all follow through with your plan? 
• how was the leadership during the activity? 
• how well did you communicate with each other during the activity? 

This shows participants, with one sweeping look at the thumbs, the different perspectives they have about the question. (Rarely have I seen 100% agreement on perspectives.) 

As a way to enhance understanding and group improvement you can follow up with this question: If you're not at a 10, what would you like to see from the group in order to bump your score up one point? We find out where people are at and then determine where they want to go. 

Thumb Gauges are quick ways you and your group can check in with each other in order to determine next steps. 

What other Thumb Gauges are out there? Leave us a Comment below. 

I could use your help spreading the knowledge. If you know someone who could benefit from OnTeamBuilding information, please forward them this email. Thank You!

All the best, 

Chris Cavert, Ed.D. 

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