PMI — for facilitators

Samvinas

• Pipe in the options to scan. Each becomes a card with three sections:
  • Plus — the good points.
  • Minus — the weak or problematic points.
  • Interesting — anything noteworthy, curious, or "what if…" about it.
• PMI is fast — use it to open up a considered discussion, not to score a winner.

PMI consumes idea items. If you need a choice afterwards, pipe onward into Voting or an Evaluation Matrix.

Paper and pen

You need: a flip-chart sheet per option, fat markers, and a timer.

• Rule each sheet into three columns — Plus, Minus, Interesting — with the option written across the top.
• Direct everyone's attention the same way at the same time: two minutes where the whole group offers only Pluses, two of Minuses, two of Interestings. Scribe fast; no discussion yet.
• The Interesting column takes the leftovers judgement would discard — implications, questions, "I wonder whether…". Prompt for it explicitly.
• Failure mode: letting it slide into a debate or a tally. Nobody argues a point during the scan, and nobody counts the columns at the end — it's a scan, not a score.
• Keep the sheets on the wall for the discussion that follows; photograph them before the group moves on.

When & why

Reach for PMI when the group is reacting for or against too quickly and you want a deliberate look in all three directions before the conversation starts. A few minutes per option is enough.

The Interesting column is the whole trick: it parks judgement for a moment and surfaces what people would otherwise miss — the same move as deferring judgement, in miniature.

• Insist on the Interesting column; it's the part that changes minds.
• Keep it quick — momentum matters more than completeness.
• What usually follows: Voting or an Evaluation Matrix if you need a choice, or PPCO to properly develop the option the scan favoured.