Agree or Disagree?
An engaging icebreaker activity that encourages team members to express opinions openly in a safe, visual format. This versatile template helps remote development teams build psychological safety while warming up for more in-depth discussions in workshops or retrospectives.
What Is the Agree or Disagree Template?
The Agree or Disagree template is a structured exercise where participants respond to thought-provoking statements by placing their personalized tokens along a spectrum between agreement and disagreement. Unlike simple yes/no polls, this activity reveals the nuanced range of opinions across your team, making it an excellent opener for meetings that require honest input and diverse perspectives.
This template creates a low-pressure environment where team members practice expressing viewpoints, hearing alternative perspectives, and recognizing that differences in opinion are not only normal but valuable for team growth and decision-making.
Benefits & When to Use
- Builds psychological safety by establishing that differing opinions are welcome and valued
- Increases participation from quieter team members who might hesitate to speak up in traditional discussions
- Warms up critical thinking before tackling more complex topics in retrospectives or planning sessions
- Reveals team dynamics and thought patterns that might otherwise remain hidden
- Creates natural conversation starters that flow into deeper discussions
Use this template at the beginning of retrospectives, planning sessions, team-building workshops, or any meeting where you need to encourage open dialogue and honest feedback from all participants.
How to Run an Agree or Disagree Session
Prepare your statements (5 minutes)
- Choose 3-5 statements relevant to your team or purpose
- For icebreakers, use light topics that prompt friendly debate
- For retrospectives, use statements about team processes or recent work
Introduce the activity (2 minutes)
- Explain that there are no right or wrong answers
- Demonstrate how to customize a token with initials
- Show how to place tokens on the agree/disagree spectrum
Gather responses (5-10 minutes)
- Have each participant place their tokens along the spectrum for each statement
- Optionally, ask participants to add sticky notes explaining their positioning
- Encourage honest responses rather than following the group
Facilitate discussion (10-15 minutes)
- Review each statement and the distribution of responses
- Invite participants to explain their positions, starting with outliers
- Look for patterns across different statements
- Acknowledge all viewpoints as valid contributions
Bridge to your main activity (2 minutes)
- Connect insights from the exercise to your meeting's primary purpose
- Highlight how diverse perspectives strengthen team outcomes
Total time: 25-35 minutes
Tips for a Successful Session
- Choose statements carefully: Avoid topics that might be divisive or uncomfortable for your specific team context
- Use a mix of light and work-related statements to ease into more serious conversations
- Start with lighter statements before moving to work-related ones to build comfort
- Consider anonymity options for sensitive topics by having participants place tokens without identifying information
- Watch for clustering patterns that might indicate groupthink or hesitancy to express minority opinions
- Build on the format for retrospectives by creating statements like "Our sprint goals were achievable" or "Our retrospectives lead to meaningful change"
- Keep track of responses over time to measure changes in team sentiment and dynamics
For retrospectives specifically, try statements about team collaboration, process effectiveness, or sprint outcomes to gather initial data points before deeper discussion.
