Hi, I'm Julie Tietz, and welcome to Conflict Resolution, putting the pieces together. Today, we're going to talk about consensus-based decision-making. In a consensus-based process, we were trying to meet the needs of all of the group members as best as we possibly can.
So it's a decision-making process that involves groups, a group, rather, and it's where we're trying to reach a general agreement of the group. And consensus is defined as trying to get a general agreement on the rightness of a belief, action, or a decision that is about to be made. And we can see this process as a variation of our typical conflict resolution processes that we are familiar with.
So when a group is gathered to make a decision, and they decide to utilize consensus, we are trying to get a general agreement. And there are some advantages and disadvantages to this process. And advantages could include we have a wide range of perspectives. So we have everybody in the room that needs to be there and is impacted or a part of this decision, and we have a lot of different perspectives that we can utilize and take information from.
And so we have a lot of a variety of options that we can use in the process, and that's a good thing, because the more options that we have, the better we may be able to find the best decision possible. And because this is a group process, and the group members are coming up with the decision, we are creating buy-in and giving the decision-- the people involved ownership of this process. And really, when people feel like they own the process and buy into it, they're more likely to stick with it and really give thoughtful and meaningful contributions to the group.
Some disadvantages on consensus-building processes would include time. To reach consensus, it takes a rather long time, and the individuals involved need to make that commitment and realize that it's going to take time. It's not going to take a day or two. It may take a few weeks or even months to get through this process. And sometimes, we don't have the time or the opportunity to give up that time on certain decisions. Some decisions need to be made in a quick manner, and so consensus would not be a suitable route to go in making decisions that need to be done in a quick manner.
And sometimes, the process of consensus doesn't always fit in with the organizational or decision-making structure that the decision is going to be made upon. So for example, if it's a policy matter that the group is going to try and make a decision on, maybe they don't have the authority to make that decision. It is a process that takes into consideration everybody's perspective and ideas in the process to reach an agreement, and sometimes, some organizations don't allow for that or it doesn't fit in with their decision-making structure, and so, therefore, we would not be able to use consensus in those situations.
So when we are in this consensus-based decision-making process, I mentioned earlier that it's a variation of our typical conflict resolution process. So we're going to use, again, those conflict resolution techniques that we know are so helpful in conflict resolution processes. So we're going to use our I messages. Having the parties or helping the parties before the process starts, really understanding some of these techniques and giving them the skills to use as they go through this process. Because there will be times when there are heated moments and conflict will arise in consensus-building processes, so if we give them the techniques of I messages, where they take ownership of their own feelings rather than blaming or shaming others in the group, and really working to identify interests, so we're going to ask some clarifying questions, what's important to the parties, why it's important to them, so we can uncover the interests and see, maybe, through this process, if there are some shared and mutual interests as we go along with all of the parties involved.
And we're also going to do some brainstorming. Again, as I mentioned earlier, we have a lot of different perspectives in the group in consensus-based decision-making, so we're going to have a lot of options that we can come up with in our brainstorming sessions. And really, get the parties involved in the mindset that the decision that they are making is a joint problem to solve. So this is very similar in our conflict resolution processes where we are trying to get the parties to work together and have some win-win thinking, and consensus-based decision-making also utilizes this technique.
One important thing that we need to know about consensus based decision making is that it doesn't mean that we're going to have equal agreement on everything in the decision. It's what is going to get the parties to agree on, as much as possible, the decision that it works for the whole group. Sometimes, there's going to be parts or areas of the decision that is not going to be agreeable to everybody, but at least they can live with it.
That's the idea of consensus. You may not absolutely love the overall outcome, but can you live with it? And if you can, then that is part of the consensus-based decision-making process.
So some places that consensus has been used is in public policy. So for example, some transportation issues where parties and neighborhoods are affected by the process, as well as environmental concerns and decisions through neighborhood associations, cooperatives, and even workplaces. The only thing that we need to be sure is we have the time and the commitment for the parties to engage in the process, because it takes quite a bit of time. And also, we have the structure in place in which we can have the ability to make the decisions that are coming out from this process.
And as I said earlier, it takes quite a bit of time, and we could be going through a lot of different issues. And so each of the members of the group need to agree on the points that they are going to be brought up with. Whether it's fully or partially, we have the opportunity to discuss our perspectives in consensus-based processes, and how we show this is through-- I like to use the red, yellow, and green.
So each participant has a red, yellow, or green piece of paper and they hold it up. Red means that they absolutely can't agree with that and then we count those up, yellow means that they can live with it, but there are some things that they'd like to add, and green is they fully agree with that point and then we can move on. So we may have to vote a few different times with those processes or holding up those colors as we go through, and there are various other methods that can be used in the process as well.
Let's look at our key points on consensus-based decision-making. We know that it's a group decision-making process that is a variation of conflict resolution processes, and it's where we are seeking general agreement of the group on certain decisions that need to be made. And everyone doesn't have to fully agree on every specific thing of the decision, but they have to at least feel that they can live with it or the decision is made to the best degree possible in meeting the needs of everybody in the group. And we use our conflict resolution techniques in this process, so I messages, brainstorming, utilizing our clarifying questions to find and identify the interests of the parties involved.
Here are your key terms before we go. Feel free to pause and look at them closer. Thank you so much for taking the time out, and I hope that you learned something. And I can't wait to get to you again next time.
