Voting

Stakeholder technique · See it on the map

Runnable here

A group decides by each member stating a preference, then applying an agreed rule to it.

When to use it

When a decision needs the group's buy-in and there's no single accountable decision-maker better positioned to just decide — choosing among a short, already-narrowed set of options.

When to avoid it

Don't vote on a decision that needs technical or safety expertise the group doesn't have — a popular answer isn't necessarily a correct one. And don't vote without first agreeing the rule: unanimity, majority, and plurality can each produce a different winner from the exact same set of individual preferences, so picking the rule after seeing informal sentiment is picking the outcome, not running a vote.

Steps

1. Narrow the decision to a short list of concrete options before voting opens.
2. Choose and announce the voting rule before anyone votes: unanimity (everyone must agree), majority (more than half), or plurality (most votes among 3+ options, without needing half).
3. Collect votes, in the open or by secret ballot depending on whether visible peer pressure would distort the result.
4. Apply the announced rule and declare the outcome.
5. If unanimity or majority fails to produce a decision, name the fallback (a re-vote on a narrowed list, or escalation) in advance rather than improvising one after the fact.

What it produces

• A decision selected under a stated, pre-agreed rule.
• A record of the vote, useful if the decision is challenged later.

Common pitfalls

• Choosing the voting rule after an informal show of hands, so the 'real' vote just ratifies whichever rule produces the already-favored answer.
• Using plurality across many options and mistaking a 30% winner for a mandate, when 70% of the group preferred something else.
• Voting on a question the group doesn't actually have the standing or expertise to answer, then treating the result as settled.

Worked example

A steering committee of six is choosing among three vendor shortlist finalists. Under plurality, Vendor B wins with 3 of 6 votes split against 2 vendors that together took the other 3. The chair notices this before announcing the result, and instead runs a second round between B and the closer second-place finisher under a majority rule, which the group had agreed as the fallback in advance — avoiding a decision that a bare plurality would have made look more settled than it was.

Source

• PMBOK-6 §5.2.2.4

Where it comes from: this technique is named by the PMBOK Guide, 6th edition.