1-2-4-All

Collaborative Problem Solving

1-2-4-All. Why?

We’ve all been in meetings in which a small number of voices are heard and everyone else is silent. Is that because they have nothing to say? Absolutely not.
There are many valid reasons that folks may be silent during a call, but having them remain silent is not the answer. Everyone has ideas and experience that can contribute toward a better outcome, and the ‘1-2-4-All’ approach is a technique we’ve used to engage the entire group in contributing to ideas and solutions

How does it work?

It starts with a question or a problem for the group. This might be a specific technical issue, or equally, it’s a good tool to use in activities such as retrospectives.

1 - Working individually each member of the group takes a minute to think about the issue and note down their thoughts, culminating in a single idea, thought, suggestion to resolve the issue. Sticky notes are good for this.

2 - Once the minute is up, have the team members pair up. Discuss their suggestion and refine their ideas. Restrict this session to 2 minutes

4 - Now have the pairs join with another pair, making groups of 4, discuss their ideas, and identify a couple of ideas to refine and take to the next round

All - Each team now shares their ideas with the entire group. Timebox this activity and reduce them down to one or two ideas to take forward.

Sometimes the ideas falling out at the end of the ‘All’ session may be sufficiently developed to action immediately, or the ideas may need further refining, in which case you may wish to repeat the process.

Benefits of 1-2-4-All

• Prevents the group lead from dictating what should be done
• Engages the entire group
• Promotes team autonomy
• It's fun 🙂

credit for lightbulb icon used in image: Lightbulb icons created by Pause08 - Flaticon