View source for Topics for Mini-lessons on Consensus Process

Some groups, including the board, occasionally make time for a mini-lesson in consensus topics at meetings. The intention is to help the entire group become more skilled in the process. These are some potential topics for future lessons.

* Beyond the stack: other ways facilitators guide conversation
* Understanding others' concerns (Basically, listening techniques. The quick moral of this one is: the point is less to defend your point and "win" than to understand the other's position and concern and make sure it's addressed.)
* Preparing to present
* What's a clarifying question?
* Pulling together an agenda (whose responsibility, how to add things, how to structure one)
* Subcommittees (when to create them, giving authority, reporting back, dissolving them - or not)
* What to do if you don't feel understood
* Capturing conversation in the minutes
* Brainstorming (when it's appropriate, basic groundrules)
* Stand asides vs. blocks
* When to call the question
* Basic flow of consensus decision (see QIS cards)
* How to extend a meeting (or not!)


[[Category: Meetings]]