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FREE online courses on Effective Meeting Facilitation - Orchestrating The Meeting - Decision making by Consensus

 

Over the past 15 years, making decisions by consensus has gained acceptance, yet a number of misconceptions remain. Consensus is the cooperative development of a decision that is acceptable enough so that all members of the group agree to support the decision. Consensus means that each and every person involved in decision making has veto power. Keep in mind, though, that members of the planning group are team members, not adversaries. Responsible team members use power only to achieve the best results vis a vis the group's purpose, not for their own personal gain. In other words, if a team member objects, it behooves the others to find out why and give considerable thought to the concerns expressed by the dissenting member.

 

The remarkable result of giving individuals veto power is that they rarely use it! If participants are reassured nothing can go forward without their approval, they tend to relax, contributing more to the content and worrying less about procedural matters.

 

Consensus does not mean there is an absence of conflict. It does mean there is a commitment of time and energy to work through the conflict. Consensus requires taking all concerns into consideration and attempting to find the most universal decision possible. Groups able to make decisions by consensus usually demonstrate:

  • Unity of purpose, a basic agreement shared by all in the group regarding goals and purpose of the group
  • Commitment to the group, a belief that the group needs have priority over individual needs
  • Participation, ideally no formal hierarchy equal access to
  • power and to some degree, the group's autonomy from
  • external hierarchic structures
  • Recognition that process is as important as outcome
  • Underlying attitudes of cooperation, support, trust, respect, and good communication
  • Understanding and tolerance of differences, acceptance of conflicting views
  • TIME willingness and capability to devote time to the process

 

Factors working against consensus include: competition, individualism, passivity and solution-orientation

 

 

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