What is multivoting?
Multivoting is the fastest fair way to get from twenty ideas to three. Everyone has the same number of votes, so quiet participants count as much as loud ones, and the result shows not just the favourites but how broad the support is. Running it in rounds focuses the discussion: after the first vote, the team only debates the items that have real support.
How to run multivoting
- Clarify and combine the items so everyone understands them; merge duplicates.
- Give each person N/3 votes (one per item, unless you agree otherwise).
- Vote at the same time, with sticky dots or a show of hands per item.
- Count the votes and keep the top half.
- Repeat with N/3 of the shorter list until a short list remains.
Multivoting example
Eight members of a continuous improvement team choose between twelve problems to tackle this quarter. With 4 votes each (12 ÷ 3), the first round spreads 32 votes; long changeovers lead with 6, and six items with 3 or more votes go through. In round 2, with 2 votes each, long changeovers (5 votes), missing parts at assembly (4) and late supplier deliveries (3) clearly stand out. The team takes those three to an impact/effort matrix before committing.
After the vote
- Check the short list with a decision matrix if the stakes are high.
- Use nominal group technique when you need a full ranking.
- Turn the winners into an action plan with owners and dates.
How to use this Multivoting tool
- List the items. Add the items to choose from, or paste a list from your brainstorm.
- Set the votes. Enter the number of participants; the tool suggests N/3 votes per person.
- Count the votes. Click each item to add the dots people placed. The tool checks the total against the votes available.
- Narrow the list. Start the next round with the top half (ties at the cut-off included); N/3 is recalculated.
- Repeat until short. Stop when 3 to 5 items remain or a clear winner emerges.
- Export. Export the chart and the votes of every round to PDF or Excel.
Frequently asked questions
What is multivoting?
Multivoting (also called dot voting, N/3 voting or multi-voting) is a quick way for a group to narrow a long list. Each person gets several votes to spread across the items, the votes are counted, and the top items go into the next round until a short list remains.
What is the N/3 rule?
Each participant gets about one third as many votes as there are items: with 12 items, 4 votes each. This gives enough votes to express priorities without everyone voting for everything. In later rounds, recalculate N/3 on the shorter list.
Can people put several votes on one item?
In classic multivoting, each person gives at most one vote per item, which shows breadth of support. Some teams allow stacking votes to express strong preference; agree the rule before voting.
How many rounds should we do?
Usually two or three. After each round keep roughly the top half and vote again with fewer votes each, until you have the 3 to 5 items the group can act on. Stop earlier if a clear top set has emerged.
What is the difference between multivoting and nominal group technique?
Multivoting spreads a fixed number of equal votes. Nominal group technique has each person rank their top items and gives more points to higher ranks, after a structured silent idea generation. NGT gives a finer ranking; multivoting is faster.
How do I avoid bias in dot voting?
Clarify all items before voting so everyone understands them, vote at the same time (or anonymously) so people do not follow the leader, and combine duplicates first. Treat the result as a short list for discussion, not an automatic decision.