Re: Consensus training | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Mona Loofs (Mona.Loofsutas.edu.au) | |
Date: Tue, 9 Dec 1997 20:35:53 -0600 |
>re: Training in using consensus > >Any comments on the general usefulness of consensus workshops? In our >group, using consensus without group training has been compared to >trying to teach yourself to drive by reading a manual. Can a group >learn to use consensus effectively by reading a book, or by having >several of its members attend training and then come back and train the >rest of the group? I'm from a cohousing group in Australia, so I cannot comment on people or prices, but our group did organise a consensus training workshop to improve our decision-making process. I think the best way to learn to use consensus is to find out as much about it as you can and then DO it. You may do it "wrong", it may take a long time, it may be messy, but the more you do it the better at it you get. At times I think it becomes obvious that your group has progressed as far as it can with the information available in the members, and it is when you reach this sort of plateau that it would be useful to get outside help and training. This is IMHO, from someone with bits and pieces of experience from working in different co-operatives over the last 13 years. In our situation, the group had made a difficult decision in a way that we weren't happy with. We decided we needed help and more training to make those kinds of decisions in a better way in the future. As it turned out, the workshop we got was not the workshop we asked for - it was more about figuring out our common values and bonding as a group than it was about learning the skills needed to make difficult decisions. So we would not used the same person in the future, but it does not mean the workshop was a waste of time. We DID bond together a lot as a group, we DID learn a few things about decision making and we DID learn what it was that we really needed to know. I suppose what I'm trying to get at is that you shouldn't hold back practising consensus just because you haven't been "trained" and you shouldn't worry too much about getting EXACTLY the right person to train you. Of course it does help if you get a great and experienced teacher, but chances are you will learn a lot no matter what you do. And, if you're group will be together for the long haul, there will always be opportunities in the future to learn the things you didn't learn in the first workshop. You can't learn everything in a weekend anyway! Oh well, that's my two-cents worth, from a relative newcomer to the consensus workshop scene. Hope it goes well! Mona ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mona Loofs Hobart Tasmania Australia ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- RE: Consensus Training, (continued)
- RE: Consensus Training Rob Sandelin, November 15 1996
- Consensus Training Zpaiss, November 20 1996
- Re: Re: Consensus Training Sarah Kerr, November 25 1996
- Consensus training Paul Kilduff, December 9 1997
- Re: Consensus training Mona Loofs, December 9 1997
- Consensus training Ron Usher, December 9 1997
- Re: Consensus training Michael McIntyre, December 9 1997
- Re: Consensus training Dspreitzer, December 10 1997
- Re: Consensus training Andy Sachs, December 11 1997
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