🕹️Host controls

The Host controls are available when Meeting mode is active, and they help you run a productive collaboration session.

Switch to Meeting Mode

Either by selecting 'Start Meeting' at the top of the board UI or by using the mode switcher in the toolbar.

Meeting controls

Click on the 'Meeting In Progress' status indicator at the top of the board.

Meeting Tool	Function
Change Tools	Change the board tools available to meeting participants
Hosts	Add or remove hosts to help with your meeting
Private Writing	Enabled by default. Show or Hide text on participant sticky notes
Meeting Timer	Enable/Disable a timer for your meeting
Hide Identities	Create a space for candid feedback by making everyone anonymous
Ready Check	Provides a button for participants to mark themselves as ready
Run Poll	Anonymously ask your participants a question and view results
End Meeting	Finish the meeting

Changing tools for meeting participants

In the Meeting Tools menu you can adjust what your participants are able to access, these options are grouped in 3 categories, Collaboration, Design, and Gestures.

If you do make any changes to our defaults, be sure to click the 'Update' button when you're done.

Hide Identities

One of our Host Controls which requires special mention is Hide Identities, it allows you to make all participants anonymous, and to stop Metro Retro tracking what they wrote or where they voted.

When Hide Identities is on:

• you can’t tell who is who

• you can’t tell who wrote a sticky note, ever!

• voting is anonymous

Hide Identities is a mode that you can turn on and off, to use whenever you need - whether for the whole session or just one activity.

With Hide Identities enabled

Anything written or voted on when Hide Identities is active stays that way, forever. Nothing can ever be tied back to an individual.

When you’re done, turn Hide Identities off to go back to regular mode, where all new contributions and votes are tracked again.

Regular mode	Hide Identities on
Everyone has an avatar	All avatar pictures replaced with a single question mark
All sticky notes show the author	No authors
Individual handwriting for each person	Everyone’s handwriting is the same font
Can spotlight a person’s stickies and votes	Spotlight disabled in anon mode
Can spotlight a person's votes	All votes are anonymous
Can Follow other people	Following is disabled during anonymous mode
Export contains who wrote and voted	Export does not contain who wrote and voted while in anon mode

Why isn’t everything always anonymous in Metro Retro?

In short - we don’t believe anonymity should be default for team sessions, but we recognize that anonymity can be a useful tool in certain scenarios:

• helping newer teams raise awkward issues

• reducing bias like zombie groupthink, or the HIPPO effect

• is another useful tool in a facilitators toolbox