Tags |
|
|
Links |
|
|
Casual Articles - Finding Common Ground Through Consensus Decision-Making
When starting a business, you have to take a lot of consideration on which items you would want to invest first in order to create a spot in the industry. Anyone who is just starting on a business usually is on a tight budget and stick to their own priorities.If your business is concentrated in providing services, you should invest on the products you need for the business as well as on the things that would help you make your own identity like a letterhead.Getting Ahead Letterheads should be eye-catching but should also embody the values of the company it represents. Letterheads usually create the company’s first impression. This happens when you are sending an invitation or a promotion to a potential customer.You can personify your letterhead according to what your company stands for. It can look as business-like as you want or as fun-looking as you would like it to be. You can use straight bold letters for the logo of the company or you can also make it as customized as you like.Letterheads usually contain the name or the logo of the company and all inform
Discussion of the idea;
Synthesis of reactions and creation of a proposal;
Testing of the proposal within the group, and modification if necessary; and
Implementation and evaluation of the decision.
The fundamental difference between consensus and majority vote is that in a consensus process a single person can block a decision. Consensus empowers each individual in a way that majority voting does not. Majority voting can accomplish decision making quickly, but it also can strain relationships and the sense of community. In achieving a majority of votes, expediency can become more important than relationship. What one individual thinks may not matter unless that individual has sufficient power. Consensus often requires more creativity, and it often results in more complete solution
If companies used the same process to hire chief marketing officers that they use when selecting advertising agencies, the wheels of commerce would grind to a halt. Imagine a CEO saying “We need a new marketing vice president. Call purchasing.” This is happening in corporate America as the advertising business is seen as a commodity entrusted to the lowest possible bidder.Gone are the days when advertising agencies were selected on chemistry, powerful ideas, and personal insights that translate into industry defining work.Today, among the last considerations are chemistry and quality of interaction between agency teams and client. Many clients are dictating price, service terms, and advertising strategy in a take-it-or-leave-it approach that leaves agencies scratching their heads.“Advertising purchase decisions are often handled by corporate purchasing agents. The process is becoming ritualized around return on investment,” says Jim Copacino, founder of Copacino+Fujikado. “I don’t see this changing soon. The only way that agencies can combat this is to focus on c
Who’s winning this company? Wrong question.
Consensus decision-making is a powerful tool for building nonhierarchical teams that can produce the best possible collaborative thinking. I am not suggesting leaderless teams and open-ended processes with no controls. Quite the opposite. I’m suggesting well-led processes that invite, engage, and expand capability and that lead to an effective and just way to make decisions, develop initiatives, and solve problems.
The prevailing method for conducting meetings and making decisions, Robert’s Rules of Order, comes from military beginnings and relies on rigid structure, rules of conduct, and strict adherence to the rule of the majority. Often nearly half the people at a meeting disagree with a decision that has been reached. In many cases, by using a more open process that encourages dialogue and participation, we can arrive at decisions that are supported, at least to some degree, by everyone affected.
Consensus is a process of synthesizing the wisdom of all participants into the best decision possible at the time. It is not unanimous agreement, and in fact, participants may consent to a decision that they disagree with, but that they recognize meets the needs of the group or the situation. The root of consensus is consent, which means to give permission to. When you consent to a decision, you are giving your permission for the group to go ahead with the decision.
Consensus is about accommodation, but, more important, it’s about nobody having to accept that to which they are vehemently opposed.
The cooperative nature of consensus yields a different mind-set from the competitive nature of majority voting. Key attributes of successful participation include humility, willingness to listen to others and see their perspectives, and willingness to share ideas without insisting they are the best ones.
Some describe consensus as a transformational process. When we use the accumulation of several peoples’ ideas and weld them together, the final product is better than what anyone could have devised on his or her own. The idea of consensus is not to eliminate conflict but to transform it.
At South Mountain Company we have used consensus decision making for seventeen years to run our business. At Island Cohousing, where I live, we have used consensus decision making for four years of development and five years of living. As the chair of the Island Affordable Housing Fund, and in many other facilitation situations, I use the consensus process even when it is not explicitly stated that we are doing so.
How Does Consensus Decision Making Work?
Consensus can be divided into five parts or stages:
Expression of an initial idea;
Discussion of the idea;
Synthesis of reactions and creation of a proposal;
Testing of the proposal within the group, and modification if necessary; and
Implementation and evaluation of the decision.
The fundamental difference between consensus and majority vote is that in a consensus process a single person can block a decision. Consensus empowers each individual in a way that majority voting does not. Majority voting can accomplish decision making quickly, but it also can strain relationships and the sense of community. In achieving a majority of votes, expediency can become more important than relationship. What one individual thinks may not matter unless that individual has sufficient power. Consensus often requires more creativity, and it often results in more complete solutions
One of great challenges for any business is to learn to efficiently and cost effectively leverage knowledge on an enterprise wide basis. We have all heard the saying that “knowledge is power”…we’ve all also heard the refinement of that saying which states that “the application of knowledge is power”. I prefer to take it one step further and say that “the successful application of knowledge at the right time, for the right reasons and with the proper emphasis results in a certainty of execution that creates power.” In this blog post I’ll provide you with some insights that will help you to not only leverage your knowledge to increase returns, but also how to protect your knowledge to mitigate risk.Let’s begin by defining knowledge management (KM)…While this alone may spur fierce debate, for simplicity sake I’ll define knowledge management as: “an organization’s ability to collect and convert data into information, turn information into knowledge and knowledge into an operating advantage.” The operational advantage created through effective KM should allow an enterprise to effective
The prevailing method for conducting meetings and making decisions, Robert’s Rules of Order, comes from military beginnings and relies on rigid structure, rules of conduct, and strict adherence to the rule of the majority. Often nearly half the people at a meeting disagree with a decision that has been reached. In many cases, by using a more open process that encourages dialogue and participation, we can arrive at decisions that are supported, at least to some degree, by everyone affected.
Consensus is a process of synthesizing the wisdom of all participants into the best decision possible at the time. It is not unanimous agreement, and in fact, participants may consent to a decision that they disagree with, but that they recognize meets the needs of the group or the situation. The root of consensus is consent, which means to give permission to. When you consent to a decision, you are giving your permission for the group to go ahead with the decision.
Consensus is about accommodation, but, more important, it’s about nobody having to accept that to which they are vehemently opposed.
The cooperative nature of consensus yields a different mind-set from the competitive nature of majority voting. Key attributes of successful participation include humility, willingness to listen to others and see their perspectives, and willingness to share ideas without insisting they are the best ones.
Some describe consensus as a transformational process. When we use the accumulation of several peoples’ ideas and weld them together, the final product is better than what anyone could have devised on his or her own. The idea of consensus is not to eliminate conflict but to transform it.
At South Mountain Company we have used consensus decision making for seventeen years to run our business. At Island Cohousing, where I live, we have used consensus decision making for four years of development and five years of living. As the chair of the Island Affordable Housing Fund, and in many other facilitation situations, I use the consensus process even when it is not explicitly stated that we are doing so.
How Does Consensus Decision Making Work?
Consensus can be divided into five parts or stages:
Expression of an initial idea;
Discussion of the idea;
Synthesis of reactions and creation of a proposal;
Testing of the proposal within the group, and modification if necessary; and
Implementation and evaluation of the decision.
The fundamental difference between consensus and majority vote is that in a consensus process a single person can block a decision. Consensus empowers each individual in a way that majority voting does not. Majority voting can accomplish decision making quickly, but it also can strain relationships and the sense of community. In achieving a majority of votes, expediency can become more important than relationship. What one individual thinks may not matter unless that individual has sufficient power. Consensus often requires more creativity, and it often results in more complete solution
Workplace violence has become one of the biggest concerns for managers, corporate executives and Human Resource Departments in the past several years. In fact, the shear number of incidents of workplace violence is staggering.A report issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) after an extensive study, showed that "homicide is the second leading cause of fatal occupational injury in the United States. The report stated that almost 1,000 workers are murdered, and 1.5 million - about 1-in-4 - employees are assaulted in the workplace each year. According to the BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), in 1998 alone, there were 709 workplace homicides which accounted for 12% of the over six thousand fatal work injuries in the United States that year."A Global ConcernThis issue is not limited to the United States, as some might assume. It seems that every country is showing a marked increase in the number, frequency, and severity of workplace violence incidents every year.Duncan Chappell and Vittorio Di Martino, in their w
Consensus is about accommodation, but, more important, it’s about nobody having to accept that to which they are vehemently opposed.
The cooperative nature of consensus yields a different mind-set from the competitive nature of majority voting. Key attributes of successful participation include humility, willingness to listen to others and see their perspectives, and willingness to share ideas without insisting they are the best ones.
Some describe consensus as a transformational process. When we use the accumulation of several peoples’ ideas and weld them together, the final product is better than what anyone could have devised on his or her own. The idea of consensus is not to eliminate conflict but to transform it.
At South Mountain Company we have used consensus decision making for seventeen years to run our business. At Island Cohousing, where I live, we have used consensus decision making for four years of development and five years of living. As the chair of the Island Affordable Housing Fund, and in many other facilitation situations, I use the consensus process even when it is not explicitly stated that we are doing so.
How Does Consensus Decision Making Work?
Consensus can be divided into five parts or stages:
Expression of an initial idea;
Discussion of the idea;
Synthesis of reactions and creation of a proposal;
Testing of the proposal within the group, and modification if necessary; and
Implementation and evaluation of the decision.
The fundamental difference between consensus and majority vote is that in a consensus process a single person can block a decision. Consensus empowers each individual in a way that majority voting does not. Majority voting can accomplish decision making quickly, but it also can strain relationships and the sense of community. In achieving a majority of votes, expediency can become more important than relationship. What one individual thinks may not matter unless that individual has sufficient power. Consensus often requires more creativity, and it often results in more complete solution
If you own a business, sooner or later you are going to run into a situation where you screw something up. This situation can be an opportunity or disaster all depending on how you handle it.To error is human, or so the clich? goes. If you are older than about six months old, you know this is one of those clich?s that is utterly and totally true. Some would even define experience as learning from your mistakes. Well, the same thing goes for your business efforts.You may be the most diligent and hardest working person in the world. This will not insulate you from bonehead moves and mistakes. Sooner or later, you will fail a client or customer. You may not even realize it until they call you. It may be something as simple as forgetting a meeting or something more serious such as missing a deadline. How you handle these situations can kill your business or form long lasting relationships to your benefit.Everyone makes mistakes. This sounds obvious, but most businesspeople seem to forget this when faced with a problem. It happens. In fact, the client or customer calling
At South Mountain Company we have used consensus decision making for seventeen years to run our business. At Island Cohousing, where I live, we have used consensus decision making for four years of development and five years of living. As the chair of the Island Affordable Housing Fund, and in many other facilitation situations, I use the consensus process even when it is not explicitly stated that we are doing so.
How Does Consensus Decision Making Work?
Consensus can be divided into five parts or stages:
Expression of an initial idea;
Discussion of the idea;
Synthesis of reactions and creation of a proposal;
Testing of the proposal within the group, and modification if necessary; and
Implementation and evaluation of the decision.
The fundamental difference between consensus and majority vote is that in a consensus process a single person can block a decision. Consensus empowers each individual in a way that majority voting does not. Majority voting can accomplish decision making quickly, but it also can strain relationships and the sense of community. In achieving a majority of votes, expediency can become more important than relationship. What one individual thinks may not matter unless that individual has sufficient power. Consensus often requires more creativity, and it often results in more complete solution
Moving from a branch manager role into an area manager position for the first time is certainly challenging. One moment they are managing a team of about 10 to 20 people, the next moment they are managing an area team of over 200 employees.As a branch manager they were able to see their team every day but seeing people periodically and having to manage at a distance is certainly a shock for many newly appointed area managers. So what are the skills of area management and what training should be arranged early on, to ensure a newly appointed area manager becomes effective as quickly as possible?Management by Objectives - is the critical skill of area management. Being able to set clear measurable objectives is a key requirement of the role as objectives cut across every aspect of area management. From day one, area managers will be given area objectives to achieve by the boss and they must be able to set improvement and development objectives for their managers from the beginning. Management by objectives is critical because it is the only performance and development tool t
Discussion of the idea;
Synthesis of reactions and creation of a proposal;
Testing of the proposal within the group, and modification if necessary; and
Implementation and evaluation of the decision.
The fundamental difference between consensus and majority vote is that in a consensus process a single person can block a decision. Consensus empowers each individual in a way that majority voting does not. Majority voting can accomplish decision making quickly, but it also can strain relationships and the sense of community. In achieving a majority of votes, expediency can become more important than relationship. What one individual thinks may not matter unless that individual has sufficient power. Consensus often requires more creativity, and it often results in more complete solutions.
Because consensus can become paralyzed by one difficult, powerful, or dysfunctional individual, I advocate a backup voting mechanism to be used when consensus cannot be reached after a specified amount of discussion. In the organizations with which I am most familiar, this mechanism has been essential but rarely used. Aside from its practical utility, its existence assures more adherence to the consensus process— when someone is being stubbornly disagreeable, that individual knows that he or she is likely to be outvoted if he or she doesn’t find a way to compromise.
Occasions do arise in which individuals are consistently argumentative for the sake of argument. They often characterize their behavior as “playing the devil’s advocate.” I once heard a facilitator respond to someone who was “just being the devil’s advocate” as follows: “Thanks for your sentiments, but I think the devil has all the help he needs.”
Consensus is a conservative process. Because it takes a new consensus to replace an existing decision, decisions tend to stand once made. Some people are uncomfortable with this conservatism because it can be hard to change a decision. To address this, some consensus proposals include a review period or a sunset clause. Requiring that the decision be renewed after some time has passed can encourage a group to experiment with new ideas without fear of being locked into a risky or unfamiliar path. It also provides an easy mechanism for incorporating new learning, over time.
One way to ensure that group time is not spent reconsidering previously made decisions when only one person—or a few—wants to do so is to require that reopening a consensus decision have a minimum number of supporters, say 10 or 20 percent of the group.
There are some issues for which consensus may not be an effective process. A classic example is style issues or color or design choices. Choosing the color scheme for corporate headquarters may not be the best decision to put to a group consensus process, because there is no best choice between blue or green; they are simply personal preferences. In these cases, using a weighted voting system on a number of choices may be a more effective way to get the job done.
Consent does not mean agreement. The goal of consensus is to come to a decision that everyone will give permission to, at least for a while. Supporters of a decision usually include true supporters of that position, those who don’t really care either way, and those who don’t fully support the position but don’t wish to stand in the way.
Blocking is appropriate only if a participant strongly believes that a proposed decision is going to be bad for the whole group or to violate the mission of the group. If a participant blocks a group decision because of his or her personal values, that individual is essentially demanding that the whole group subscribe to his or her values. It is the facilitator’s job to be clear about this and to remind participants of the powerful responsibilities that come with the ability to block decisions.
There are ways of objecting to a proposal without blocking consensus:
Nonsupport—I don’t agree with this decision but I will go along with it. Reservations—I think this decision is a mistake because ______
HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.casualarticles.com/article/23958/casualarticles-Finding-Common-Ground-Through-Consensus-DecisionMaking.html">Finding Common Ground Through Consensus Decision-Making</a>
BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.casualarticles.com/article/23958/casualarticles-Finding-Common-Ground-Through-Consensus-DecisionMaking.html]Finding Common Ground Through Consensus Decision-Making[/url]
Related Articles:
The Best Office Furniture For Your Files
The Agent interview: Strategy and Tactics
Bookmark it:
|