Hello!
Nice to meet you. Thank you for all your free resources!!
My name is Clare and I am a staff member at a non-profit in Indianapolis, IN , USA. We focus on Peace Education, with content/programing focused on Equity learning, Social Emotional Learning and Conflict Resolution, as well as Restorative Practices.
www.peacelearningcenter.org
As an org we have been looking internally to include more equitable practices, and have been working to use consensus. We are creating a handbook to help connect consensus to our internal processes and have a few questions and concerns that have come up we cannot find answers to in on-line material.
Can you help?
One question is: What role could/should no vote/abstain play in a consensus decision? How may abstains can exist without jeopardizing the proposal voted on and the group collaboration needed? Under what circumstances are abstain votes allowed?
(We have used them when staff have not been involved in the conversation enough (only work as contractors , less then part time or just started their job the day of the vote, or when a staff member did not do research/gather enough info on the different proposals that they felt unsure on their understanding of what was being discussed and suggested to vote)
Another question: What happens if someone wants to change their decision after the official vote? Is there suggestions around time frame or times when allowed, or why or why not it should be allowed?
We had one such situation recently. After our proposal stages and discussion, we took an e-mail based vote. The decision was 3 stand asides, which took us back to the need to go back to discussion. When e-mails started to come up about the time frame for changes and participation, and how to move forward, one of that stand asides asked to change to approve. Thus, the proposal was passed, after the first vote. It happened within 24 hrs I believe. I am sure this kind of situation could pop up again.
Also, do you do training on consensus with staff groups in USA?
Thank you for any ideas or suggestions you may have!
Thank you for writing to us with your very thoughtful questions. While we are not experts in this particular field, to our best knowledge there is no official source that has been universally adopted on these points. The fact that you report working on your own in-house manual would itself seem to confirm this; accordingly, developing your own manual seems like a good idea.
Our own view is that several different policies regarding consensus decision making are justifiable, and one criterion for the “best” may be a policy that your group will agree to and use in practice. In different words, whatever policies or guidelines you do adopt need to be both agreed to and followed by the members of your organization, over and above their particular content. The same basic analysis would probably apply to vote-switching as well.
One source that has impressed us and shaped our own thinking is Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making (3rd edition), by Sam Kaner et al. The authors there point to different meanings of “abstain,” and different degrees of “consensus,” which they regard as different from “unanimity.” We found their chapter on “Striving for Unanimity,” toward the end of the book, to be especially thought-provoking and enlightening.
In addition, in your own work, once you have arrived at decision making policies, you might also decide to review them on an annual basis, to see if they are working as intended, and if any adjustments might need to be made.
Regarding training, we don’t usually do formal training\on consensus building, but you could write my colleagues at toolbox@ku.edu, mention that you wrote to Ask an Advisor, and see if they have any leads. Alternatively, you might try to track down the authors of the Kaner book.
We hope this much may be helpful to you. Thanks again for writing, and all best wishes as your important work continues.