Pre-work and Engagement
Tracking responses as a facilitator
Read the Responses tab efficiently — by member, by task, aggregated where it makes sense, per-member where it matters.
The Responses tab is the facilitator's read-out of incoming prep. By session day, it's the page you'll spend most of your prep-related time on — scanning what participants said, spotting gaps, building the live agenda around the points that matter most.
This page covers how to read it efficiently. Most of the value is in knowing which view to use for which task type — most facilitators default to the per-member view for everything, and miss the at-a-glance signal aggregate views provide.
Two reading modes
Aggregate
All responses to a task summarised together. Best for tasks where the distribution of answers is the signal — polls, opinion scales, priority rankings, picture polls.
Per-member
Each response in its own card, attributed to the participant. Best for tasks where the individual content matters — open text, video responses, file uploads, contact info.
The Responses tab lets you flip between modes per task. The right answer is task-type-dependent — see the table below.
Picking the right view per task type
| Task type | Default to | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Poll | Aggregate | The distribution is the answer. Per-member shows you a list of identical-looking selections. |
| Opinion scale | Aggregate | Distribution + average + spread. Per-member only matters when you spot an outlier worth investigating. |
| Priority ranking | Aggregate | The cross-participant ranking is what you're after. |
| Picture poll | Aggregate | Same as poll — the distribution across images is the signal. |
| Open text | Per-member | Each response is unique content. Aggregate doesn't make sense. |
| Answer list | Per-member | Same as open text — each list is its own contribution. |
| Video response | Per-member | Each video has to be played individually. |
| File upload | Per-member | Each file is its own artefact. |
| Embed (Mural / FigJam / Doc) | Per-member | Each participant's interaction with the embed is separate. |
| Contact info | Per-member | Identity-tied data; aggregation is meaningless. |
The pattern: distribution-shaped tasks → aggregate; content-shaped tasks → per-member. If you're not sure, default to per-member — it's slower but never wrong.
The control panel
The Responses tab has a control panel at the top that lets you scope what you're looking at:
- Member filter — see responses from one specific participant across every task. Useful when you want to read a single participant's full prep end-to-end.
- Task filter — see responses to one specific task across every participant.
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Step-through —
←/→arrows to walk task by task without having to scroll. - View toggle — flip between aggregate and per-member for the current task.
- Missing-response indicator — at-a-glance count of how many participants haven't responded to the current task.
The "missing responses" play
One of the highest-value uses of the Responses tab is spotting and acting on missing responses before the session.
The control panel shows a "missing" count alongside each task — "3 of 12 participants haven't responded." You can:
- Filter to those participants by name.
- See which tasks they've completed and which they've skipped.
- Send a targeted nudge — "Hi Sam, you've done the first three tasks but haven't gotten to the video — it'll only take 4 minutes if you can squeeze it in before tomorrow."
Personal nudges work much better than blast reminders. The Responses tab makes the targeted version feasible.
Walkthrough
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1
Open the Responses tab
From the Session Planner, open the Responses tab. The first task in the prep is selected by default.
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2
Step through every task in aggregate
Use → to walk the prep task-by-task. For poll / opinion-scale / priority tasks, the aggregate view gives you the shape of the responses in seconds. For text / video / list tasks, it'll prompt you to switch to per-member.
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3
Switch to per-member for content tasks
For each open-text / video / file task, flip to per-member and read each response. Mark the ones you want to surface in the live session.
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4
Spot the missing responses
Check the missing-response indicator on each task. If a participant has skipped multiple tasks, send a targeted nudge — they're more likely to complete prep when the ask feels personal.
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5
Build the live agenda around what you found
The most valuable prep responses — strong opinions, surprising disagreements, the questions that came up in the comment threads — should anchor the live conversation. Plan your live agenda accordingly.
Tips & pitfalls
Default to aggregate; switch to per-member when you need to. Most facilitators do the reverse — they read every response one-by-one regardless of task type. Aggregate first is faster and gives you the shape of the data; drop into per-member only for the tasks where individual content matters.
Read with a pen. The point of reading prep isn't to know what people said — it's to decide what to do with it in the live session. Mark the responses you'll surface; mark the questions you'll ask; mark the disagreements worth airing. Reading without acting is half the value.
Quote responses back in the session. Nothing rewards good prep like having a participant's response quoted back to them at the start of the live conversation. They'll remember; the rest of the group will engage harder; everyone's prep next time will be sharper.