Re: the importance of clearly defined process & power--consensus recommendations
From: Tree Bressen (treeic.org)
Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2002 03:44:01 -0700 (MST)
Dear Maggi,

>Do you, or anyone else, have suggestions regarding resources for helping a
>new group come up with a fair, simple decision-making process?  Examples
>would be helpful -- is there a good handbook?  Would you recommend having
>a professional come in at the beginning and doing a workshop with all
>participants?

I have *lots* of resources to suggest, a bunch of which will soon be posted
on my website.  However, since my site won't be ready for at least a few
weeks, here is an initial response.

I'd say there are two handbooks in widest use at communities.  Here is a
description of each that i wrote for Communities magazine a while back:

-----------------

        For basic information on how to do consensus, the book many facilitators
recommend first is Building United Judgment: A Handbook for Consensus
Decision Making, originally published by the Center for Conflict Resolution
(CCR) in Madison, Wisconsin. Sample chapters include "Structuring Your
Meeting," "Working With Emotions," "Communication Skills," and "Common
Problems: What To Do About Them." 
        Chock-full of useful knowledge presented in an accessible manner, 
Building
United Judgment also includes fascinating insights and opinions by
individual authors and commentators, set off in boxes next to the text. For
example, on paraphrasing: "This technique is tricky and often mis-used. . .
. Gotta be tuned in to the speaker emotionally for this to work." The
chapter on blocking includes an engaging description of the actual process
the authors went through when they couldn't agree on what to write about
the topic! Overall this book has a very down-to-earth feel; while the extra
bits give it the sense of being a work-in-progress, it's clear that the
information has been "field-tested" through real experiences.
        The other consensus manual in use by many communities is On Conflict and
Consensus, by C.T. Butler. This booklet is simple and clear, providing a
step-by-step procedure for using consensus decision making complete with
flow chart. There is a section on how to evaluate meetings (something many
groups overlook), and descriptions of possible roles (such as Agenda
Planner, Advocate and Doorkeeper). Criticisms of the "Formal Consensus"
approach that some communities have voiced are first, that it expects all
issues to be raised in the form of a proposal, instead of allowing for
raising of a question or situation followed by collective development of a
proposal, and second, that it focuses a lot on concerns, which can lead to
a negative atmosphere in meetings. However, communities can choose to tweak
the Formal Consensus guidelines to allow for more flexibility in these areas.

---------------------

Building United Judgment is available through Fellowship for Intentional
Community at store.ic.org, or call 800-462-8240.

The full text of the Formal Consensus booklet is available for free over
the web, author CT Butler's site is www.consensus.net.

In response to your second question, about whether or not to have a
professional come in early, i think the answer is a strong yes.  Of course
i may be quite biased since i am one of those professionals!  However, i
heard many comments at the North American Cohousing Conference last summer
about how important it is for new groups to get focused training in group
process and decision-making, and how overlooking that while focusing on
site planning leads to lots of regrets and problems later.  I'm confident
there are folks on this list who could speak to that from personal
experience. . . .

Cheers,

--Tree



-----------------------------------------------

Tree Bressen
1680 Walnut St.
Eugene, OR 97403
(541) 484-1156
tree [at] ic.org
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