A fair way to decide who's on call

It was one of those project kick-off meetings where the energy is high, but the tricky logistical questions are still hanging in the air. We had the timeline, the deliverables, the budget—everything but a clear, fair way to handle the on-call schedule for the next quarter. You could feel the slight tension, the unspoken worry about who would get the holiday weekend slot.

The moment we needed something neutral

I’d brought up the idea of using a digital wheel spinner before, but this was the first time we were actually going to do it live. There were a few skeptical glances, but mostly, people just looked tired of the usual debate. We needed a method that removed any perception of bias, something that felt transparent from the start.I pulled up the tool on the shared screen. The silence in the room shifted from apprehensive to curious. It wasn't about avoiding the responsibility; it was about trusting the process to distribute it fairly. We all knew the work had to be done, but how it was assigned mattered just as much.

Watching names land in their slots

I entered everyone's name and hit spin. There's something uniquely definitive about watching that wheel slow down and stop. It landed on the first name, and we just typed it into the calendar slot for week one. No discussion, no negotiation. We just moved to the next spin.We went through the entire quarter like that, methodically. A couple of people got what might be considered tougher slots, but there were no complaints. The process itself had absorbed the potential for conflict. When the final name settled into the last week, there was this collective exhale in the room.The relief wasn't dramatic. It was a quiet, practical kind of relief. The schedule was set, it was done, and everyone had seen it happen. We could finally move on and talk about the actual work, which was a much better use of our time.