Consensus Building for Teams
One of the most important, yet poorly understood or applied, tools in a problem solving team is consensus. Consensus often is reduced to meaning "a vote," "what the most verbal agreed to," or some other dysfunctional process. But real consensus decisions can empower groups and produce superior solutions, definitions and results. Below are some guidelines.
Team Consensus Decision Rule:
No judgement may be incorporated into the group decision until it meets at least with the tacit approval of every member. This is not a ground rule of unanimity, where each person is in total agreement; rather, it represents a feeling that one can "live with" the judgement or is at least willing to give it an experimental trying out.
Guidelines for Team Member:
- Avoid arguing for you own position.
Present it as dearly and logically as possible, but be sensitive to and consider seriously the reactions of the group in any subsequent presentations of the same point.
- Avoid "win-lose" stalemates in the discussion of opinions.
Discard the notion that someone must win and someone must lose in the discussion.
- Avoid changing your mind only in order to avoid conflict and to
reach agreement and harmony.
Withstand pressures to yield which have no objective or logical])’ sound foundation.
- Avoid conflict-reducing techniques
Such as majority vote, averaging, bargaining, coin-flipping, trading out, and the like. Treat differences of opinion as indicative of incomplete sharing of relevant information on someone’s part
- View differences of opinion as both natural and helpful rather
than as a hindrance in decision making.
Generally, the more ideas expressed, the greater the likelihood of conflict will be; but the richer the array of resources and creativity will be as well.
- View initial agreement as suspect.
Explore the reasons underlying apparent agreement; make sure people have arrived at the same conclusions for either the same basic reasons or for complementary reasons before incorporating such opinions into the group decision.
- Avoid subtle forms of influence and decision modification;
e.g., when a dissenting member finally agrees, don’t feel that he must be "rewarded" by having his own way on some later issue or point.
When to Use a Consensus Process:
Any complex issue requiring maximum input and agreement. Examples could include Choosing a Team Problem to Work on; Defining Your Team’s Charter; Creating a Corrective Action Plan, etc
When Not to Use Consensus:
Since consensus building is usually time consuming, routine or non-complex issues can often be resolved by other means. They might include. Team Operating Guidelines; Lists of Problems and Barriers; and most other group decisions. Consensus is a powerful tool, but should not be overused!