Method guide · Arrange people and ideas
Ranking
Order option cards against one criterion while retaining ties, unresolved positions, and options that fail mandatory conditions.
- People
- 5–20
- Base procedure time
- 20 minutes
- Recording
- Shared record
Purpose: Organise and narrow ideas; Make a decision.
English guide
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How this method works
A convergence method for moving cards against one criterion to create an order that retains ties and unresolved positions. Write options one per equally sized card and set the one ranking criterion for this occasion. Separate cards that do not meet mandatory rights, safety, or legal conditions from the ranking. Create a provisional line or leading group and move only disputed positions. If the same two cards make two round trips, place them alongside as tied or unresolved. At the end, record the order, ties, unresolved positions, and non-compliant options separately. Do not use this to force incomparable conditions into one line.
Phase schedule
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- Separate options onto individual cards0–3 minutes from the start (3 minutes)
Action: Separate. Participation: Small groups working with the same cards.
Shared record
- Set one ranking criterion3–6 minutes from the start (3 minutes)
Action: Set. Participation: Small groups working with the same cards.
Shared record
- Arrange a provisional order6–11 minutes from the start (5 minutes)
Action: Arrange. Participation: Small groups working with the same cards.
Shared record
- Move only disputed positions11–16 minutes from the start (5 minutes)
Action: Move. Participation: Small groups working with the same cards.
Shared record
- Record ties and unresolved positions too16–20 minutes from the start (4 minutes)
Action: Record. Participation: Small groups working with the same cards.
Shared record
Facilitation steps
- For 3 minutes, write at most twelve options to compare, one per equally sized card.
- For 3 minutes, set one criterion for this ranking and separate mandatory conditions from the ranking.
- For 5 minutes, arrange the cards in a provisional line or leading group within the small group, placing ties alongside too.
- For 5 minutes, hear reasons and move only disputed positions; mark cards that have made two round trips unresolved.
- For 4 minutes, write the final order, ties, unresolved positions, and non-compliant options separately on the ranking record sheet.
If something changes
If
At the end of checking the criterion, two or more ranking criteria remain.
Then
Do not begin reordering. Choose one criterion for this occasion or create separate rankings for each criterion.
If
The relative order of the same two cards has moved twice without agreement.
Then
Place them alongside as tied or unresolved, without forcing them into one fixed line.
If
One or more cards fail mandatory rights, safety, or legal conditions.
Then
Remove them from the ranking and place them in the non-compliant field; do not offset this against scores for other options.
Preparation
Materials
- One set of option cards per group, at most 12 items
- One ranking-criterion card per group
- One ranking record sheet per group
- 2 broad-tip pens per group
Room and setup
- A table where all cards can be moved into one line or a leading group
Adjust for people and time
With 5–10 people, work as one group. With 11–20, divide the participant count by 5 and round up to determine the number of groups; distribute people evenly into groups of no more than 5, each with the same cards and criterion. Place group rankings side by side, returning only cards whose positions differ by three or more ranks to everyone as unresolved. Do not automatically combine several rankings by averaging or majority vote.
Safety and non-applicable situations
Keep cards failing mandatory rights, safety, or legal conditions outside the ranking, without offsetting failures through other scores. Do not force incomparable conditions or unresolved card pairs into one line, or automatically merge group rankings through averages or majority voting.
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.
- The guide and fourth step use two round trips for unresolved cards, while the second branch says the same pair's relative order has moved twice. These different movement descriptions remain; the translation does not equate two moves with two round trips.
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.
- Seeds for Change Facilitation Tools: Ranking
https://www.seedsforchange.org.uk/tools
anti-copyright adaptation; changes made
- Conditions for applying anti-copyright
https://www.seedsforchange.org.uk/resources
anti-copyright
Diagram, print, and video language
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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.