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Building consensus, Summaries of Decision Making

The University of Texas at AustinDecision Making

Recommended Process. Step 1. Before the session, the facilitator needs to work with the group leader to identify a few decisions which the team needs to ...

Typology: Summaries

2022/2023

Uploaded on 02/28/2023

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Community Engagement Tools
WORLD VISION GUIDANCE FOR INTEGRATED PROGRAMMING 1
objective
To provide a means for
working through collaborative
decision-making process
time span
approximately half a day
materials
o flipchart paper
o markers
o handouts
- ‘Stages of consensus building’
- ‘Five rules of skillful discussion’
- ‘Reviewing skillful discussions’
product
Decisions with greater
collaboration and ownership
Introduction
Stakeholders always have a wide range of understanding and perceptions of
a problem. This exercise helps them to work out a common understanding
of an issue or problem. The steps provide a framework for finding a solution
that meets the most peoples needs more completely than decisions made
without such widespread participation.
Recommended Process
Step 1
Before the session, the facilitator needs to work with the group leader to
identify a few decisions which the team needs to achieve consensus on. Only
one will be used for this exercise, but it is good to have some other topics
ready in case the group resolves the first decision quickly and has time for
another one.
Step 2
Explain that this is more than just an ordinary decision-making exercise. It is
an exercise in which everyone’s voice has equal importance. This is ideal for
stakeholder groups in a partnering approach because it is about consensus
building. This will require looking at the issue or decision from many
different angles. Explain that they will also practice ‘joint thinking’ about
solutions to identify the solutions which meet their needs most fully.
Step 3
Explain that the exercise will involve a series of discussions followed by feed-
back sessions, based on the “five rules of skillful discussion” at the end of this
tool. It is useful to write the rules up on a flipchart at the start of the pro-
cess to remind everyone what they are. Then give the participants the hand-
out and go through it rule by rule, making sure each one is fully understood.
As you go through the list, encourage the participants to give examples from
their experience of times when the rules have been kept and times they have
been broken. Ask the participants to agree to try to keep these rules during
their conversation and explain that you as the facilitator will also try to help
them to obey the rules.
Step 4
Explain to the participants about the decision that they will be making and
agree that there will be a series of three short practice discussions on the
topic, followed each time by a review, and finishing up with a plan. Then
invite the team to start the first discussion.
Step 5
During the early part of the first practice discussion, intervene when you
hear signs that the group is breaking one of the rules, explain which rule they
have broken and why, and then coach and discuss with them how they could
keep the rule in that situation.
Building consensus
What is this tool?
Consensus building is used to resolve conflicts and make decisions when these involve multiple stakeholders
and complex issues. The five rules in this exercise enable teams and groups to explore shared issues and
decisions together. This exploration helps them reach real consensus and make decisions that are truly shared.
(This tool was adapted from work by Alison Hardingham on Skilful Discussions.)
who facilitates
Development facilitator
co-leads with starter group
members
who participates
Starter group members or
partnerships formed around
child well-being priorities
pf3
pf4
pf5

Partial preview of the text

Download Building consensus and more Summaries Decision Making in PDF only on Docsity!

Community Engagement Tools

objective

To provide a means for working through collaborative decision-making process

time span

approximately half a day

materials

o flipchart paper o markers o handouts

  • ‘Stages of consensus building’
  • ‘Five rules of skillful discussion’
  • ‘Reviewing skillful discussions’

product

Decisions with greater collaboration and ownership

Introduction Stakeholders always have a wide range of understanding and perceptions of a problem. This exercise helps them to work out a common understanding of an issue or problem. The steps provide a framework for finding a solution that meets the most peoples needs more completely than decisions made without such widespread participation.

Recommended Process Step 1 Before the session, the facilitator needs to work with the group leader to identify a few decisions which the team needs to achieve consensus on. Only one will be used for this exercise, but it is good to have some other topics ready in case the group resolves the first decision quickly and has time for another one.

Step 2 Explain that this is more than just an ordinary decision-making exercise. It is an exercise in which everyone’s voice has equal importance. This is ideal for stakeholder groups in a partnering approach because it is about consensus building. This will require looking at the issue or decision from many different angles. Explain that they will also practice ‘joint thinking’ about solutions to identify the solutions which meet their needs most fully.

Step 3 Explain that the exercise will involve a series of discussions followed by feed- back sessions, based on the “five rules of skillful discussion” at the end of this tool. It is useful to write the rules up on a flipchart at the start of the pro- cess to remind everyone what they are. Then give the participants the hand- out and go through it rule by rule, making sure each one is fully understood. As you go through the list, encourage the participants to give examples from their experience of times when the rules have been kept and times they have been broken. Ask the participants to agree to try to keep these rules during their conversation and explain that you as the facilitator will also try to help them to obey the rules.

Step 4 Explain to the participants about the decision that they will be making and agree that there will be a series of three short practice discussions on the topic, followed each time by a review, and finishing up with a plan. Then invite the team to start the first discussion.

Step 5 During the early part of the first practice discussion, intervene when you hear signs that the group is breaking one of the rules, explain which rule they have broken and why, and then coach and discuss with them how they could keep the rule in that situation.

Building consensus

What is this tool?

Consensus building is used to resolve conflicts and make decisions when these involve multiple stakeholders and complex issues. The five rules in this exercise enable teams and groups to explore shared issues and decisions together. This exploration helps them reach real consensus and make decisions that are truly shared. (This tool was adapted from work by Alison Hardingham on Skilful Discussions.)

who facilitates

Development facilitator co-leads with starter group members

who participates

Starter group members or partnerships formed around child well-being priorities

Community Engagement Tools

Building consensus notes (^) Step 6 After approximately 30 minutes, give a volunteer in the group the “Reviewing skillful discussion” form (attached at the end of this tool). Ask the volunteer to draw the form on a flipchart and explain the different headings to the group (symbols can also be used). Next review the discussion. Encourage them to be appreciative if they can, focusing on ways in which they succeed- ed in keeping the rules, with quotes if possible. Then go through each rule and ask the participants to read out the examples they have written down in the box next to it. Allow some general discussion on how to keep each rule before the next practice discussion session.

Step 7 Start the next 40 minute discussion session. The facilitator should try to intervene less often. Only intervene if they seem to have forgotten the rules. Instead, try to keep notes of evidence that the rules are being kept. When the time is up, repeat Step 6.

Step 8 Once the groups are using the rules, give each person in the team the ‘Stages of consensus building’ (on page 4 and 5). Ask them to work through the stages of the consensus process, from stage 4 to stage 6.

Step 9 After the decision has been made, have a “benefits and concerns” session on the topic of skilful discussion. Ask the participants to think about the decision-making process they have just participated in, and to identify where it worked well and where it didn’t.

  • What was easy?
  • What was difficult?
  • What did they learn?
  • How did it change the way the team works? Then ask the team to agree how they would like to use this skillful discus- sion-based decision making process in the future? For example, for big decisions when all team members should have a say, or maybe some of the rules could be ground-rules for normal team meetings.

Step 10 Thank the team and close.

1) Identify the issue the group want to reach consensus on.

2) Make sure that you have the right people in the room for the discussion (don’t

leave out people who can block or de-rail the group decision and make sure that the partici-

pants can legitimately speak for the groups they represent).

3) Design a process (which has a timeline and results in decision being made about the issue)

and present it to the people who will be involved for their approval. Allow the participants to

suggest any changes to the process so that no legitimate stakeholders feel their interests are

being ignored, and agree ground rules for participant behaviour. (Setting ground rules is a great

process to start with because it allows the participants to practice negotiating on something

easy before they come to the more emotional issues of the real dispute).

4) Each stakeholder is likely to have different hidden concerns about the issue, and will probably explain exactly what they think the core problem is in a different way. So a thorough problem definition and analysis needs to happen next, which allows the different stake-

holders to say exactly how they see the issue and why it is important from their point of view.

As a result, a more complete picture of the problem will emerge as more stakeholders share

how they see it, and come to understand how all their concerns and interests are linked to each

other. After everyone has explained their views of the issue, the facilitator can ask the partici-

pants to talk about the concerns or interests that lie under their initial opinions (or positions)

about how the problem should be solved. Once all sides understand these hidden interests, the

participants can start talking directly about these deeper concerns, rather than the positions

they came with, and they can start looking for new ways to address the concerns and new op-

tions for dealing with the conflict which were not obvious before they understood it from each

other’s point of view.

5) Next there needs to be an identification and evaluation of alternative solutions.

Before the group decides on any one course of action, it is best to explore a variety of options

or alternative solutions. This is extremely important in multiparty disputes, because it is unlikely

that any single option will satisfy all parties equally. Parties should be encouraged to develop

creative options that satisfy their interests and others’. As more options are explored, parties

become able to think in terms of trade-offs and to recognize a range of possible solutions.

There are various ways to find alternative solutions. One of the most common is brainstorming,

asking a group to think of as many options as possible, without evaluating any of them at first.

Brainstorming can be used in a large group; in small work groups; on different issues and on dif-

ferent aspects of the overall problem.

It is important to look for new, mutually advantageous approaches, rather than going over the

same win-lose approaches that the participants had before the consensus building process

started. After the parties generate a list of alternatives, these alternatives are carefully examined

to determine the costs and benefits of each (from each party’s point of view), and the barriers

to implementation. As with interest-based negotiation, it helps if the participants have the fol-

lowing attitudes: Be prepared to reveal / respond to emotions; be flexible and willing to negoti-

ate (give and take); recognize the relationship is as important as the task; ask genuine questions;

offer and agree compromise; give useful examples and evidence to illustrate suggestions; and

finally, be open to new solutions.

Stages of consensus building with multi-stakeholder groups

Community Engagement Tools

6) Decision making: Eventually, the choice is narrowed down to one approach, which is

adapted to meet the needs of all the legitimate stakeholders in the process, and on which all the

stakeholders agree. Consensus building is different from majority rule decision making in that

everyone involved must agree with the final decision -- there is no vote.

7) Approval of the agreement: The negotiators then take the agreement back to their

constituencies and try to get it approved. This is one of the most difficult steps, as the constitu-

encies have not been involved in the ongoing process, and often have not developed the level of

understanding or trust necessary to see why this is the best possible agreement they can get.

Negotiators need to be able to explain exactly why the agreement was drafted as it was, and

why it is to the constituencies’ benefit to agree to it. At this stage, it is important that stakehold-

er constituencies understand the trade-offs that were made. If they do not, it is likely that the

agreement will be broken sometime down the road. It is also critical that stakeholders gain the

support of those responsible for implementing the agreement, often government agencies.

8) The final phase of consensus building is implementing the agreement. Consensus build-

ing often results in creative and strong agreements, but implementing those agreements is a

separate task. If support for the agreement is not built with the stakeholder constituencies and

others who are affected by it, the agreement will fall apart. It is also important to monitor the

agreement, and make sure the stakeholders stick to it. If there are serious obstacles that prevent

the group from implementing the agreement, the original decision-making group can come back

together to solve the new problems.

Stages of consensus building

Evidence we are

keeping the rule

Reviewing Skillful Discussions

Evidence we were

breaking the rule

Remember the purpose

of the discussion

Ask as well as telling

Understand and build

understanding

Feel and think

Explore conflict