The silence after asking for a volunteer

We were wrapping up the weekly sync, and the last item was deciding who would own the new integration project. I asked if anyone felt strongly about taking it on. The silence that followed was the kind you could feel in your ears.It wasn't that the team was disengaged. It was a complex, unglamorous task, and everyone was already at capacity. You could see the mental calculations happening, the slight shifts in posture.

Introducing a neutral option

That's when I mentioned the idea of a simple draw. I framed it not as a way to avoid responsibility, but as a neutral mechanism when no clear volunteer emerged. It was about removing the weight of the decision from any one person's shoulders.The relief in the room was subtle but immediate. The tension of a potential awkward negotiation just dissolved. It shifted the focus from 'who should do it' to 'let's just get it assigned fairly so we can move on.'

How it works for us

We keep a short, shared list of these kinds of tasks. They're the necessary but non-urgent items that tend to slip through the cracks. The ones that everyone agrees need doing, but no one is jumping to claim.When the list has a few items, or when we hit another one of those silent moments, we spin the wheel. The rule is simple: whoever it lands on owns it, no debate. It's become a kind of ritual.

The unexpected benefit

It's actually reduced the minor friction around task distribution. There's no perception of favoritism or dumping work on the same person. The randomness is the fairest referee we have.

What goes on the wheel

Only tasks that are genuinely shared responsibilities. Nothing mission-critical or requiring specialized skills. Just the rotational stuff that keeps the team machine humming.