Group pressure in the room: why anonymous voting helps

In the 1950s, Solomon Asch conducted a simple experiment. Participants saw a line and had to say which of three other lines was the same length. An easy question, one you would almost never get wrong without a group. But the other people in the group were confederates and deliberately all gave the same wrong answer.

About three-quarters of the real participants went along with the group at least once, against their own perception.

Two things made a difference

• One ally. If one other person gave the right answer, people were much more willing to give their own answer.
• Anonymity. If people did not have to say their answer out loud, they were less likely to go along with the group.

For anyone who works with groups, those are two useful levers to pull.

What this means in a room

I see the same thing in brainstorming sessions, workshops and conferences. If the director or a well-known speaker has already given their opinion, the room goes quiet. Or everyone nods along. Not because they agree, but because it feels uncomfortable to disagree.

The result is that an organisation makes decisions based on support that does not really exist. Everyone agreed in the room, and then at the coffee machine you hear what people really thought.

The common mistake

The mistake I see most often is well-intentioned. The manager opens the session with their own view, "to get the conversation started". That closes the conversation straight away. Another classic is asking "does everyone agree with this?" in a packed room. Almost no one raises their hand to say they disagree.

What I do about it

• Vote first, then talk. Ask everyone to give their opinion anonymously first, for example on their smartphone, and then show the results. That way, you can see what the room really thinks.
• Put hierarchy last. Ask managers to respond only after others have had their say.
• Look for an ally. If I see someone hesitating, I explicitly ask if anyone sees it differently. One dissenting voice makes it easier for others.

An approach for your next session

1. Phrase the question so that genuinely different answers are possible.
2. Ask everyone to vote anonymously before anyone has said anything about it.
3. Show the results and ask the minority first: who voted differently, and why?
4. Ask the manager to respond last.

What this means for the client

If you want to know what people really think at a workshop or strategy day, bring in someone to facilitate the process. A facilitator for a brainstorm or workshop, a moderator for a panel or audience discussion. In the article about the differences between the roles, you can read which role suits your session.

For the facilitator who wants to stand out

This is also one of the reasons we started using tools years ago that let an audience vote anonymously and ask questions. Not for the technology itself, but because it helps you bring a group's real opinion to the surface. As a less well-known facilitator, you stand out by doing exactly that: the client hears something afterwards that they did not know before.