Method guide · Work with a structured grid
Actual Effort Tally
Understand the range of total effort on completed work without displaying individual time values.
- People
- 6–12
- Base procedure time
- 30 minutes
- Recording
- Shared record
Purpose: Reflect and learn; Make a decision.
English guide
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How this method works
A reflection method for understanding total time spent on work as a range without revealing individual values. Participants record the shortest and longest actual effort times on individual slips, including coordination and rework. Collect at least 5 people's slips and show only the sum of the shortest times, the sum of the longest times, and the number who did not respond, without displaying individual values. Show a range of differences only when planned total person-hours were set beforehand; otherwise, state that the difference cannot be calculated. Retain the result as one reference example for the next estimate and confirm who will use it next and where it will be stored. Do not use it for attendance appraisal, wage calculation, or settings where individuals can be inferred from small numbers.
Phase schedule
Minutes are cumulative from the start of the base plan, not a live timer. Read scaling for any additional time. Phase controls do not advance automatically.
Use the arrow keys, Home or End while these controls have focus. The complete phase schedule remains below, including without JavaScript.
- Define the completed work0–4 minutes from the start (4 minutes)
Action: Build. Participation: Small groups gathered around a record.
Shared record
- Record actual effort4–11 minutes from the start (7 minutes)
Action: Record. Participation: Small groups gathered around a record.
Shared record
- Add the person-hours11–18 minutes from the start (7 minutes)
Action: Restate. Participation: Small groups gathered around a record.
Shared record
- Compare with the plan18–25 minutes from the start (7 minutes)
Action: Compare. Participation: Small groups gathered around a record.
Shared record
- Keep the observed range25–30 minutes from the start (5 minutes)
Action: Keep. Participation: Small groups gathered around a record.
Shared record
Facilitation steps
- For 4 minutes, define the completed work. If there are 2 or more different scopes, narrow this tally to their common part and separate the rest into another tally.
- For 7 minutes, each person writes lower and upper bounds of actual effort that they can state with confidence on a sealed individual slip.
- For 7 minutes, the facilitator adds the total lower bound, total upper bound, and missing-response count without showing individual values.
- For 7 minutes, calculate the interval of difference from the plan only when pre-approved planned total person-hours are available.
- For 5 minutes, transfer the actual total range to one reference example for the next estimate, and return or shred the individual slips.
If something changes
If
At least one person cannot give actual effort as a single value.
Then
Do not invent an estimated point value; add the lower and upper bounds the person can state confidently to the total lower and upper bounds separately.
If
There are fewer than 5 valid responses.
Then
Do not return totals to participants; close with the result treated as missing data and return the individual slips to their owners or shred them.
If
There are no pre-approved planned total person-hours for the same scope.
Then
Do not invent a retrospective plan value; mark the plan difference as not calculable and return only the actual total range and missing-response count.
Preparation
Materials
- One sealed individual response slip per person for lower and upper bounds of work, coordination, and rework
- One summary table per group for planned total person-hours, actual total lower and upper bounds, missing-response count, and difference
- One opaque collection envelope per group
- One calculator per group
Room and setup
- Choose one completed task of the same type with a consistent deliverable scope, and planned total person-hours covering that same scope
- Explain that only the facilitator totals the individual slips, responding is voluntary, missing data are not treated as zero, and slips are returned or discarded after aggregation
Adjust for people and time
Use 6–12 people, with one facilitator privately aggregating at least 5 valid individual slips. With 13 or more, separate into tallies of no more than 12 people by deliverable or responsibility category. Do not share individual slips, subtotals, or small-number categories; return each category's actual total range and missing-response count. Return a plan-difference interval only for categories with pre-approved planned total person-hours for the same scope, and do not add categories together again.
Safety and non-applicable situations
Responses are voluntary. Only the facilitator aggregates slips, and individual values, subtotals, and small-number categories are not shared. Do not treat missing responses as zero or invent point estimates or retrospective plans. With fewer than 5 valid responses, do not return totals. Return or shred the slips, confirm the next user and storage location, and do not recombine categories. Do not use the results for attendance appraisal, wage calculation, or where small numbers could reveal individuals.
Historical translation and source notes
These original notes are retained verbatim with their fixed source versions. This historical label does not resolve a source-specific concern or establish current acceptance.
- For 13 or more participants, the source requires separate tallies of no more than 12 but does not specify a remainder-allocation rule. Its minimum of 5 valid responses and prohibition on sharing small-number categories remain; no new grouping or disclosure rule is invented.
Manuscript's recorded references
These translate the original manuscript's source and rights claims. They remain separate from any current-page notice below; they do not establish new verification.
- Designed by the Taiwa no Fumen editorial team
This description is original.
Diagram, print, and video language
Original Japanese guide, diagram, and print view. Their labels and print text have not been translated; an English print edition is not provided here.
English video-library navigation. Original Japanese audio, subtitles and transcripts remain labelled Japanese resources. Their translations are separate later work. No remote player is embedded here.
The manual English phase controls are a navigation aid, not a live facilitation timer. Interactive diagram motion remains pending.
Editorial provenance
Japanese source status and logs are provenance only. They do not mean this English text or interface was field-tested. Historical fixed-text acceptance and hold records remain specific to their recorded versions; displaying them neither asserts current acceptance nor resolves source-specific restrictions.