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Winter 2003

Making Sense of Consensus

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Good Meetings

There are many components that make up a good meeting. There needs to be a fairly high level of organization and structure to keep strong functioning. Good events and actions are rarely spontaneous; they are thought up and planned in meetings. It's important that meetings don't take over your lives! They need to be balanced with socializing and taking action! Good meetings should be:

· Open - accessible to everyone, no matter what their experience, background or beliefs. This means exploring issues, which might be barriers to participation.

· Effective - a meeting needs to produce results. Discussion should focus on action and decisions.

· Informed - intelligent debate and discussion makes sure that the most effective and relevant method or solution is agreed upon.

· Inclusive - diversity of ideas and opinion encouraged. Everyone in your group should feel like they belong.

· Democratic - try to avoid alienating anyone with the discussion and decision making structure of your group - spend time now finding group procedures that everyone is happy with to avoid conflict later!

· Organized - it's easy to equate organization with hierarchy, and some groups don't like hierarchy. But organization and hierarchy are not the same thing. Meetings need to be structured in order to ensure they are democratic and effective.

· Enjoyable - Meetings can (and should) be fun and dynamic - especially when they take into account the rest of this list!

· Empowering - we want people to walk away from meetings feeling better for having been there - believing they can make change happen, and looking forward to taking action.

Basic Organization of Meetings

In advance of the meeting the Chair or Committee Secretary should:

1. Prepare an agenda and send it in advance to the committee members. Note whether the items are for information, for discussion, or for decision. Note the names of the people responsible for reporting on each agenda item. Attach any reports that need to be reviewed in advance.

2. Inform committee members of dates, times and locations of meetings. Request that members who cannot attend provide you with information about the status of the tasks that have been assigned.

3. Come early, and if necessary, set up the meeting room, arrange handout materials, etc. Have extra copies of the agenda available for committee members and observers.

At the beginning of the meeting:

4. Start on time.
5. Have members and observers introduce themselves. (or offer a brief time for check-ins)
6. Circulate an attendance sheet.
7. Review, revise and order the agenda, as needed.
8. Set clear time limits, if necessary.

During the meeting:

9. Take minutes (or assign a member to do this).

10. When assigning tasks, make sure specific dates are set for their completion and each member knows what his/her specific task is.

11. Keep the meeting on track by maintaining a "Speaker's List" (a list of those who want to speak next), and by keeping the conversation focused. If someone is dominating the discussion, it is your role as chair to calmly and politely take control of the meeting, and encourage other people to speak up. If necessary speak with the individual following the meeting to discuss their behaviour.

12. Close the meeting crisply and positively. Wrap-up by deciding the next date if necessary.

After the meeting:

13. Ensure minutes are circulated promptly.
14. Follow-up on action items and begin to plan the next meeting.
15. Follow-up with committee members to ensure that they are completing their action items.

Casual Group Decision-Making

Many groups choose not to operate with a formalized structure of decision-making. These groups tend to use a simple majority, voting procedure for decision-making or even a common agreement style (a little less organized than consensus).

In cases like these the following tends to happen:

· One member of the group chairs, or the facilitation is rotated from meeting to meeting.

· Another member of the group (often rotated) takes minutes. · The chair maintains order of the meeting by setting the agenda (often in consultation with the group); and maintaining a speaker's list for discussions. When the chair wants to speak they simply add themselves to the list.

· Motions or decisions for action can be made by an individual and may or may not require a seconder.

· Motions/decisions are often made after the majority of the discussion has taken place, rather than the discussion being taken on the actual motion.

· Amendments can be made to the motion but are usually incorporated with the agreement of the movers of the motion rather than voted on individually.

· On a non-contentious issue the chair often just calls for agreement. On a contentious issue, the chair will call for a vote, usually votes themselves, and "winning" requires a simple majority.

· Decisions are recorded in the minutes, as well as action items. Minutes may or may not reflect the discussion as well.

Consensus Decision-Making

What is Consensus?

· Consensus is a process for group decision-making. It is a method by which an entire group of people can come to an agreement. The input and ideas of all participants are gathered and synthesized to arrive at a final decision acceptable to all.

· Consensus is based on the principle that every voice is worth hearing, every concern is justified. If a proposal makes a few people, even one person, deeply unhappy - then there is a valid reason for that unhappiness, and if we ignore it, we are likely to make a mistake.

· Through consensus, we are not only working to achieve better solutions, but also to promote the growth of community and trust.

· With consensus people can and should work through differences and reach a mutually satisfactory position. It is possible for one person's insights or strongly held beliefs to sway the whole group. No ideas are lost, each member's input is valued as part of the solution.

What does consensus mean?

Consensus does not mean that everyone thinks that the decision made is necessarily the best one possible, or even that they are sure it will work. What it does mean is that in coming to that decision, no one felt that her/his position on the matter was misunderstood or that it wasn't given a proper hearing. Hopefully, everyone will think it is the best decision; this often happens because, when it works, collective intelligence does come up with better solutions than could individuals.

Consensus takes more time and member skill, but uses lots of resources before a decision is made, creates commitment to the decision and often facilitates creative decision. It gives everyone some experience with new processes of interaction and conflict resolution, which is basic but important skills building.

For consensus to be a positive experience, it is best if the group has:

· common values
· Some skill in group process and conflict resolution, or a commitment to let these be facilitated
· commitment and responsibility to the group by its members
· sufficient time for everyone to participate in the process - it usually fails to work well in large groups, simply because there isn't time to hear everyone

Forming the consensus proposals

· The consensus usually works with a facilitator, who is agreed upon by the group at the start of the meeting.

· One person puts forward a proposal. The facilitator makes sure everyone gets a chance to put forward concerns, or speak for it. Negative reactions are not expressed as hard/fast positions. Instead of saying, "I am categorically against it" you say "I am concerned about it, because…"

· Voicing concerns allows the proposal to be modified, amended or withdrawn. During this discussion period it is important to articulate differences clearly. It is the responsibility of those who are having trouble with a proposal to put forth alternative suggestions.

· When a proposal seems to be well understood by everyone the facilitator(s) can ask if there are any objections or reservations to it. If there are none they call for consensus. If there are still no objections then you have your decision. Once consensus is reached, it helps to have someone repeat the decision to the group so everyone is clear on what has been decided.

Difficulties in reaching consensus

If a decision has been reached, or is on the verge of being reached that you cannot support, there are several ways to express your objections:

· Non-support ("I don't see the need for this, but I'll go along")
· Reservations ("I think this may be a mistake, but I can live with it")
· Standing aside ("I personally can't do this, but I won't stop others from doing it")
· Blocking ("I cannot support this or allow the group to support this. It is immoral." If a final decision violates someone's fundamental moral values they are obligated to block consensus.)
· Withdrawing from the group. Obviously, if many people express non-support or reservations or stand aside or leave the group, it may not be a viable decision even if no one directly blocks it. This is what is known as "lukewarm" consensus and it is just as desirable as a lukewarm beer or a lukewarm bath.
If consensus is blocked and no new consensus can be reached, the group stays with whatever the previous decision was on the subject, or does nothing if that is applicable. Major philosophical or moral questions that will come up with each affinity group will have to be worked through as soon as the group forms.

Modified Consensus

Some groups work with a modified consensus model. In these instances they work towards consensus but agree that at some point they will take a vote if the issue cannot be resolved. This should only be used in extreme cases if a group is committed to the consensus model. v