Voting on Topics

How Voting Works

Voting is how your team collectively decides which topics matter most. During the vote phase, each participant distributes a limited number of votes across the cards and groups on the board. The items that receive the most votes are discussed first, ensuring the team spends its time on what the group considers most important.

Voting happens after the group phase and before the discuss phase. The facilitator advances the retro into the vote phase when grouping is complete.

Vote Limits

Each participant receives a fixed number of votes to distribute across the board. This limit forces participants to prioritize rather than voting on everything. The constraint is what makes voting useful: it surfaces true priorities rather than general agreement.

Default vote allocation

By default, each participant receives 5 votes per retrospective. The facilitator can adjust this number during the draft phase based on the size of the board and the number of participants.

Configuring vote limits

1. In the draft phase, open the retro settings panel.
2. Find the Votes per participant setting.
3. Set the desired number of votes. A good rule of thumb is to allow roughly one-third the number of total cards or groups on the board.
4. Save the settings. The vote limit applies to all participants equally.

Casting Votes

During the vote phase, each card and group displays a vote button. Participants click the button to cast a vote on that item.

How to vote

1. Review the cards and groups on the board.
2. Click the vote button (thumb or plus icon) on the items you consider most important.
3. Each click uses one of your available votes. Your remaining vote count is displayed in the toolbar.
4. Continue voting until you have used all your votes or are satisfied with your selections.

Multiple votes on one item

You can cast more than one vote on a single card or group if you feel strongly about it. Each additional click on the same item's vote button adds another vote. This allows participants to signal the intensity of their preference, not just their interest.

Removing a vote

If you change your mind, you can remove a vote from an item during the vote phase. Click the vote button again on an item you have already voted on, or click the remove indicator next to your vote count on that item. The vote is returned to your remaining allocation.

Viewing Vote Counts

Vote visibility depends on the phase and settings:

• During voting — By default, individual vote counts are hidden while voting is in progress. This prevents anchoring bias, where early votes influence later participants. The facilitator can optionally enable live vote counts if the team prefers transparency.
• After voting — Once the facilitator advances to the discuss phase, all vote counts are revealed. Cards and groups are reordered by vote count, with the highest-voted items at the top.

Your own votes

You can always see your own votes during the vote phase. Items you have voted on display a highlighted indicator showing how many of your votes are on that item.

How Votes Influence Discussion Order

The primary purpose of voting is to determine the order of discussion. When the retro enters the discuss phase, cards and groups are sorted in descending order of total votes. The item with the most votes is discussed first.

Tie-breaking

When two or more items have the same number of votes, they are ordered by the number of unique voters (items with votes from more distinct participants rank higher). If still tied, the items appear in the order they were created on the board.

Zero-vote items

Cards and groups that received no votes appear at the bottom of the discussion list. The team is not required to discuss them, but the facilitator can choose to bring them up if time permits.

Voting Best Practices

• Read all cards before voting. Scan the entire board before casting your first vote. This helps you make informed choices rather than voting on the first items you see.
• Spread your votes. Unless you feel extremely strongly about one topic, distribute your votes across several items to give the team a broader picture of priorities.
• Vote on groups, not individual cards. If cards have been grouped, vote on the group rather than the individual cards within it. This keeps the vote count consolidated.
• Use the readiness signal. Once you have finished voting, click the readiness button so the facilitator knows you are done. This helps the team move forward without unnecessary waiting.

Facilitator Controls

The facilitator has additional controls during the vote phase:

• Vote limit adjustment — The facilitator can modify the vote limit even after the vote phase has started, if the team agrees.
• Readiness overview — The facilitator can see how many participants have finished voting and who is still active.
• Reset votes — In rare cases, the facilitator can reset all votes to start the vote phase over. This requires confirmation and should only be used if there was a misunderstanding about the voting process.