ROTI: Fist of Five
The ROTI (Return on Time Invested) Fist of Five technique is a quick, visual method for collecting feedback on meeting effectiveness. This simple yet powerful check-out activity helps teams evaluate whether their time together was well spent and provides facilitators with actionable insights for improvement.
What Is the Fist of Five Method?
Fist of Five is a consensus-building and feedback tool where participants show their level of agreement or satisfaction using hand gestures - from a closed fist (zero) to all five fingers extended. In the ROTI context, it measures how valuable participants found the meeting relative to the time they invested.
The scale works as follows:
- Zero (Fist): Complete waste of time
- One finger: Little value gained
- Two fingers: Some value, but could have been better
- Three fingers: Worth my time
- Four fingers: Great use of time, very valuable
- Five fingers: Exceptional value, couldn't have been better
Benefits & When to Use
This template is particularly effective when:
- Concluding regular team meetings to track meeting effectiveness over time
- Wrapping up workshops or retrospectives to gauge participant satisfaction
- Identifying which meeting formats work best for your team
- Seeking quick feedback without lengthy discussions
- Building a culture of continuous improvement in your meeting practices
Development teams appreciate this method because it provides immediate visual feedback while respecting everyone's time—the entire exercise can be completed in under 2 minutes.
How to Run a ROTI: Fist of Five Session
Set the context (30 seconds)
- Briefly explain the Fist of Five scale and what each rating means
- Clarify that you're seeking honest feedback to improve future meetings
Ask participants to rate the meeting (45 seconds)
- Have everyone select the hand gesture image that represents their rating
- Optionally, invite participants to add sticky notes with specific feedback
Review the distribution (30 seconds)
- Take a quick look at how ratings are distributed across the scale
- Acknowledge the feedback without judgment
Optional: Discuss improvement opportunities (2-3 minutes)
- For lower ratings (0-2), ask: "What would have made this meeting more valuable?"
- For higher ratings (4-5), ask: "What specifically worked well that we should continue?"
Apply insights to future meetings (after the session)
- Use the feedback to adjust meeting structure, content, or facilitation style
The entire exercise typically takes 2-5 minutes, depending on whether you include discussion.
Tips for a Successful Session
- Make this a regular practice at the end of meetings to normalize feedback
- Consider keeping ratings anonymous to encourage honesty
- Don't get defensive about low ratings—view them as opportunities to improve
- Watch for patterns over time rather than focusing too much on individual meetings
- If ratings are consistently low, consider more substantial changes to meeting format
- Compare ROTI ratings across different meeting types to identify which formats your team finds most valuable
- Use the optional comments feature to collect specific, actionable improvement ideas
By consistently using the ROTI: Fist of Five method, you'll develop more effective meeting practices that respect your development team's time and increase overall satisfaction with collaborative sessions.
