The room was quiet, just the hum of the projector and the soft click of a mouse. Everyone was settling in, coffees in hand, but the usual question of who would volunteer for the next task was hanging there, unspoken. I wanted to avoid that moment of pointed silence or the feeling of always picking the same person.
The weight of assigning tasks
I’ve noticed how a direct ask can sometimes feel like a burden, especially first thing in the morning. It puts someone on the spot, and the choice always feels a bit personal, even when it isn’t meant to be. There’s a subtle pressure in that exchange that I wanted to diffuse.So instead of looking around the table and making a decision, I pulled up the wheel on the screen. It was just a simple circle with our names on it. The act of spinning it shifted the focus from me to the mechanism itself. It became about the wheel’s choice, not the manager’s.
When the wheel decides
There’s a different energy when the pointer lands. The person selected usually gives a small, resigned smile or a light chuckle. The team’s reaction is more of a collective ‘ah, okay then’ rather than any scrutiny of my judgement. It feels fair in a way that my own selection sometimes struggles to achieve.It doesn’t solve everything, of course. But it handles that initial, awkward allocation. It gets us moving into the work without that first, heavy decision setting the tone for the meeting. The responsibility is shared with the spin, and that seems to make it easier for everyone to accept.
A neutral starting point
It’s become our little ritual for kicking off certain workshops. That pause before we start is now filled with the anticipation of the spin, not the dread of assignment. It’s a small thing, but it sets a different, more collaborative tone right from the beginning.
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