Consensus Decision-Making Grove Community School - Parent Council Training Workshop

AgendaIntroduction Who's Here?Consensus BasicsDialogue for Consensus Techniques for an Efficient CouncilTools for Effective Community Engagement Community Meeting Scenario Next StepsParents can talk to grade reps (OPTIONAL)

IntroductionWorkshop Goal: Skills building among parentsPlan to create a Parent Council

IntroductionJason Diceman&Simone Arsenault-May

Who’s Here?

What is Consensus? Democratic form of group decision-making that works best in small groups (less than 15).Process: Creative and cooperative discussion of ideas and opinions.Goal: Find the best solution that everyone can live with.Equal opportunity to participate. Promote the growth of community and build trust.

What Consensus is Not Not necessarily unanimous agreement with 100% enthusiastic satisfaction.Not voting on competing options (e.g. Robert’s Rules).Not debating or bargaining to win your view.Not going with the lowest common denominator.Silence interpreted as consent.Not just going along with ‘the leader’.

Your DefinitionYour group will create and agree upon your own working definition of consensus, and when and how other kinds of decision-making will be used e.g. voting, delegation.

Basic Steps of ConsensusIntroduction: Presentation of issue to be addressed.Clarification: Questions and information gathering.Dialogue: Discussion of ideas and opinions towards the formation of a proposal.Address Concerns: Ask for concerns with proposal and seek solutions.Call for Consensus: Each member states their level of support for proposal.If lacking support, further dialogue is likely required.Option to use alternative decision-making (e.g. delegate, vote).Shelve the decision to be addressed at a later date.

Levels of Support

Using Alternative Decision-MakingConditions for using other forms of decision-making need to be determined in advance. Participants should be sincerely seeking consensus, not sabotaging in order to force a vote.When the decision at hand is very subjective it might be better to delegate. When urgent decisions are required it may be better to delegate.

Dialogue for Consensus Role Playing Dialogue vs. Debate: What should be our special lunch day menu?

Tips for an Efficient CouncilHard working and cooperative individualsExperienced meeting chair personConsistent use of a discussion email list (e.g. Yahoo Groups, Google Groups)Up-to-date documentation on the web(e.g. Google Sites, WikiSpaces.com)Simple web tools to help schedule meetings (e.g. Doodle.com, MeetingWizard.com)

Methods for Community MessagesEmail list / e-newsletterUp-to-date websiteTake home lettersPostersBulletin Boards

Techniques for Community Engagement‘One-window’ contacts One person and set of contact details responsible for managing communication to and from the councilPromotes consistency and group accountabilitySpeak w/one voice - avoid conflicting messagesOnline Surveys (e.g. SurveyMonkey.com)

Techniques for Community EngagementForumsOpen House EventsStudy Circles

Dotmocracy Sheets

Dotmocracy Wall

Dotmocracy Wall

Community Meeting ScenarioDEMONSTRATIONUse Dotmocracy sheets to recognize agreements concerning:What should our policy be for what students can take to school?

Next StepsSlides to be posted at www.cooptools.ca/groveworkshopsept29