In short
A shared set of priorities emerges because everyone spreads points instead of casting a single vote. Weaker options drop out round by round, so the conversation naturally narrows to what matters most. That stops the loudest voice in the room from deciding the outcome.
The problem with the classic strategy day
You probably recognise it: a leadership team of six to twelve people, a flipchart full of ideas, and at the end of the day still no real choice. Everyone has a favourite topic and nobody wants to be the first to admit theirs might be slightly less urgent. The discussion tends to drift towards whoever speaks loudest or asks the most follow-up questions, while the rest quietly disengage. You close the day with a list of ten action points that are all 'priority one', which in practice means there is no priority at all.
ConsensIQ turns prioritising into a concrete, visible step rather than a loose conversation. You put the candidate priorities in as options in a question, each team member gets a hundred points, and spreads them across the options they genuinely think matter.
Why spreading points beats a show of hands
A simple vote ('who is for A') only shows one preference at a time. With point spreading, everyone shows in a single step how they weigh all the options against each other: perhaps forty points on one theme, thirty on another, and the rest spread across smaller items. That gives the leadership team a far richer picture than a plain yes or no, and it stops anyone feeling forced to pick between two extremes when they actually lean a bit towards both.
Which themes should get priority next year?
- Improving customer satisfaction
- Launching a new product line
- Digitising internal processes
- Recruiting and retaining staff
- Reducing procurement costs
- International expansion
Each leadership team member spreads a hundred points across these six themes. You see the balance of preferences live.
Rounds sharpen the conversation
The useful thing about multiple voting rounds is that they steer the conversation without anyone having to force it. After the first round, the theme with the least support drops out, and whoever had points on it gets them back to spend again. That moment is often the most interesting: someone who first put thirty points on cost savings now has to decide where those points go instead. That forces a sharper judgement than the first round, and the team's real second preference comes to the surface.
How to set up a prioritising session
- 1
Collect the candidates
Pull the five to ten themes that are genuinely up for debate from earlier conversations or a short brainstorm.
- 2
Write clear options
Phrase each theme as a short, concrete option so nobody is unsure what it actually covers.
- 3
Explain the point spreading briefly
In a few sentences, explain that everyone spreads a hundred points and can still adjust them during the round.
- 4
Let discussion happen between rounds
Use the pause function to talk briefly about a theme that drops out or unexpectedly scores high.
- 5
Close with the result
Export the final outcome so everyone, including those not present, can see how the priorities were reached.
From discussion to a decision that sticks
A priority reached this way tends to hold up better than a decision pushed through by the chair or the most senior person in the room. Everyone has spent their points somewhere and can see how the collective choice was built from individual trade-offs. That makes it easier to refer back to later, for example when someone tries to push a different topic back to the top three months on.
Curious what a session looks like in practice? Read how ConsensIQ works.
Useful beyond the leadership team
The same approach works just as well for a department meeting choosing between projects, or an annual offsite that needs to divide budget across initiatives. You can run the session yourself with a day licence, or opt for guided support if you would rather leave the technical side to someone else while you focus on content.
A strategy day doesn't have to end in an unordered wish list. With a handful of well-chosen options and some point spreading, a leadership team can reach a prioritisation in under an hour that everyone can explain and recognises themselves in.