INTRODUCTION

> Work groups are never as effective as they could be
Have you ever had the impression in a meeting that you are wasting your time? Is it always the same people who speak and the same people who say nothing?

> What are the reasons for this?
Timidity, apprehension about addressing superiors, fear of making a mistake … Numerous factors prevent many people from expressing themselves spontaneously. Often, it is as a result of peer pressure (groupthink). On the other hand, when views are expressed by someone in a confident and forceful way, the group may end up spending time discussing and developing certain ideas which really do not deserve to be accorded this treatment.

> L’Abaque de Régnier (Régnier’s Abacus) : an extremely simple idea
The principle of l’Abaque was conceived by François Régnier in France back in 1973, when he was responsible for setting up case studies and surveys with student engineers and with researchers in the pharmaceutical industry. It was then that he realised that many significant ideas did not come to light during the course of meetings. He was convinced that the value of this “lost” data was considerable..

> From wooden cubes to the internet
At the beginning, Régnier’s Abacus relied on wooden cubes, to be replaced later by magnetic squares. With the advent of computer technology, an Apple 11c version appeared in 1984, a MS-Dos version in 1988, and a Windows 3 version in 1992. Today, l’Abaque de Régnier is marketed by e-motive and TopTeam under the name ColorVote®. It is now able to cover the complete range of consultations possible, from small groups in a meeting to worldwide internet communities of thousands.

> Many important users over a period of 30+ years
Since its conception, L’Abaque de Régnier, now ColorVote®, has been used by many major European companies, national and local government organisations, universities and training bodies : Groupama, Sncg, EDF, Alcatel, Merlin Gérin, AFNOR
Colorvote is  now available in uk.