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| Criterion |  Facilitation Mind Mapping |  Facilitation Dot Voting |  Innovation Lotus Blossom |  Facilitation Consensus Workshop |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a topic is still unclear and too many thoughts surface at once, Mind Mapping creates an open surface for ordering them. It makes connections, subtopics, and starting points visible without fixing them too early. | When a workshop has produced too many options and the group needs to condense quickly, dot voting makes preferences visible in a short time. It bundles individual votes into a solid signal for the next selection. | When a central question feels too large, the method breaks it into neighboring topic fields with their own depth of ideation. It holds structure and openness at the same time, so adjacent perspectives don't get lost. This grows an idea space out of a core problem. | When a group needs a solid decision without outvoting individual factions, a Consensus Workshop creates a negotiable common ground. It makes agreement, reservations, and open tensions discussable at the same time. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 15-45 min | 5-15 min | 45-90 min | 1-3 h |
Participantsdifferent | 1-10 | 3-20 | 3-10 | 5-30 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Mind Map, Topic Clusters, Open Questions | Ranked list, Consensus signal, Shortlist | Lotus Diagram, Idea Themes, Shortlist | Consensus Clusters, Theme Titles, Priority Areas |
Tagsno overlap | BrainstormingIdeasMappingStructureFacilitation | FacilitationVotingConsensusPrioritization | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityDivergenceWorkshop | FacilitationConsensusWorkshopAlignment |