Pie Chart Agenda

Purpose

The Pie Chart Agenda gives participants ownership of meeting time by letting them visually allocate a pie chart’s slices to the topics they care about most. It democratizes agenda-setting, surfaces hidden priorities, and ensures the group spends time proportional to importance.

At a glance

• Group size: 4–20
• Duration: 10 minutes
• Difficulty: Beginner
• Facilitation style: Participatory agenda-setting
• Setting: In-person or virtual

How to run

1. Brainstorm topics (3 min). Ask: “What should we discuss today?” Collect topics on sticky notes.
2. Draw the pie (1 min). Draw a large circle on the board.
3. Allocate slices (4 min). As a group, decide how much of the pie each topic deserves. Draw slice boundaries. Bigger slices = more time.
4. Translate to time (1 min). Calculate actual minutes per slice based on total meeting time.
5. Run the meeting (1 min setup). Use the pie chart as the visible agenda. Point to the current slice throughout the meeting.

Materials needed

• Whiteboard or flip chart
• Markers
• Timer

Pitfalls & common mistakes

• Equal slices for everything. Push the group to make real trade-offs — not everything gets equal time.
• Adding topics after allocation. New topics can be parked but shouldn’t hijack the agreed agenda.
• Ignoring the allocations. Use the pie chart to time-box each discussion and move on.

Inclusion & accessibility

• Allow topic suggestions in writing for those who don’t want to speak up.
• Make the pie chart large and clearly labelled.
• Announce time allocations verbally for remote or visually impaired participants.

Variations

• Dot vote on slices: Give participants dots to vote on topics before drawing slices.
• Digital pie: Use a simple pie chart tool to create and display the agenda.
• Standing meeting pie: Use the same pie structure weekly, adjusting slice sizes.

When NOT to use this

• When the agenda is fixed and non-negotiable.
• When there is only one topic to discuss.

Source & further reading

• Gray, D., Brown, S., & Macanufo, J. (2010). *Gamestorming.* O’Reilly Media.