Free Sprint Confidence Voter
The anonymous 1-10 scale to predict project success before you commit resources.
Anonymous voting • 1-10 confidence scale • Instant results
The HIPPO Effect: Why Junior Engineers Stay Silent
In sprint planning, the Highest Paid Person's Opinion (HIPPO) dominates. When the engineering lead says "This is doable in two weeks," junior engineers notice the technical debt, the missing requirements, and the optimistic assumptions—but stay silent.
The cost is brutal: sprints fail predictably, teams burn out meeting impossible commitments, and morale collapses when nobody admits the plan was flawed from the start.
Anonymous 1-10 confidence voting solves this. When a junior engineer can vote "4/10" without explaining themselves publicly, truth surfaces. When the team average is 5.2/10, you know the sprint is doomed before a single line of code is written.
This isn't about undermining leadership—it's about making invisible doubt visible before it derails execution. A low confidence score is a gift: it tells you to revisit scope, clarify requirements, or adjust timelines before resources are committed.
Predict Failure Early: The 6/10 Problem
Research on team estimation shows a consistent pattern: when a team's average confidence score is below 7/10, the project misses deadlines or fails to deliver the expected outcome over 70% of the time.
Confidence Score Predictors
High confidence — likely success
Team believes the plan is solid. Proceed with execution.
Medium confidence — investigate concerns
Team has doubts. Review scope, risks, and assumptions before committing.
Low confidence — expect failure
Team does not believe in the plan. Do not proceed without major changes.
The key insight: if your team votes 6/10, you are going to miss the deadline. The sprint will drag, scope will creep, and someone will work weekends trying to salvage a plan nobody believed in.
Better to know now. A 6/10 score doesn't mean cancel the project—it means stop, understand why confidence is low, address the concerns, and revote before committing resources. It's the difference between a controlled pivot and a chaotic scramble three weeks later.
When to Run a Sprint Confidence Vote
Sprint Planning Closing
After committing to sprint goals, run a quick confidence vote: "How confident are we this sprint is achievable?" If the score is below 7/10, revisit scope before the sprint starts.
Quarterly Roadmap Review
When leadership presents quarterly goals, check if the team actually believes the roadmap is realistic. Low scores reveal resource constraints or unrealistic expectations.
Go-Live Decision
Before launching a feature or product, vote on readiness: "How confident are we this is ready for production?" Low scores indicate missing testing or unresolved bugs.
Technical Architecture Review
After proposing a technical approach, measure team confidence in the architecture. Low scores surface concerns about scalability, complexity, or technical debt.
Estimation Calibration
When story points or time estimates are set, check confidence in those numbers. Consistently low scores indicate chronic underestimation patterns.
Post-Incident Planning
After defining remediation plans for incidents, vote on confidence that the fixes will prevent recurrence. Low scores mean the root cause isn't addressed.
Ready to Predict Sprint Success?
Create a session, ask your team how confident they are, and see the results instantly.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you run a sprint confidence vote?
At the end of sprint planning, create a confidence vote session with the question "How confident are we this sprint is achievable?" Share the link with your team and have everyone rate their confidence from 1-10 anonymously. Review the average score and any written concerns before finalizing the sprint commitment. If the score is below 7/10, revisit scope or timelines.
What is a good confidence score for a sprint?
A healthy sprint confidence score is 8/10 or higher. Scores of 6-7/10 indicate significant concerns that should be addressed before committing. Scores below 6/10 predict failure—the team does not believe the plan will work and proceeding anyway will waste resources. If your team consistently scores below 8/10, you're likely overcommitting or underestimating complexity.
Should confidence voting be anonymous or public in Scrum?
Anonymous voting reveals true confidence levels that public voting suppresses. In public votes, junior team members hesitate to contradict senior voices, and social pressure drives artificial consensus. Anonymous 1-10 voting removes hierarchy and allows everyone to express genuine doubt without fear of judgment. The goal isn't to identify dissenters—it's to surface concerns while there's still time to address them.
Can people explain their confidence scores?
Yes. After voting 1-10, participants can optionally add a one-line reason for their score. This context helps the team understand what's driving low confidence—whether it's technical complexity, unclear requirements, resource constraints, or unrealistic timelines. These explanations are anonymized so people can be candid without attribution.
How many people need to vote for valid results?
Results appear once 2 or more people vote. For small teams (3-5 people), every vote matters significantly. For larger teams (10+), you'll see clearer patterns. The average score becomes more reliable as more people participate, but even with minimal participation, a dramatically low average (like 4/10) is a strong signal worth investigating.
What if the team votes low confidence but leadership wants to proceed anyway?
A low confidence vote doesn't force cancellation—it forces conversation. Leadership should review the anonymized concerns, understand what's driving low scores, and make an informed decision. Sometimes proceeding is necessary despite low confidence, but at least everyone knows the risks upfront. Document the decision and the concerns so when issues arise later, the team can learn from the early warning signs.
Do I need to create an account?
No. The confidence voter is completely free and requires no signup. Click "Start Confidence Vote," set your question, share the link with your team, and view results as votes come in. Sessions are temporary and disposable—use it as often as needed for sprint planning, roadmap reviews, or go-live decisions.