Lesson Plan for Teaching the Consensus Process

This is an example outline for a quick introduction to Consensus decision-making. The training should take about 1.5 hours.

Intros

5 minutes

5 minutes

Purpose of meeting
Review agenda
Get a scribe
Ground rules:
- Hold on to your questions until the end -- you may get your answer later on in the presentation
- Take turns
- If you've already spoken, generally wait for everyone else to weigh in before speaking again.
- Don't repeat what others have said when all you want to do is express your support. (It's OK to clarify when needed.)

5 minutes

Decision-making process whereby everyone in the group either agrees with or is neutral on a decision. It is more than a 100% vote -- it is a decision that everyone in the group can live with, and the majority of the group feels good about and invested in.
For it to happen right, we follow a certain structure of proposing ideas, running meetings, discussing proposals and deciding on proposals that helps make sure the decisions we make are solid, smart, and reflective of the group’s will.
A group using consensus requires a culture of cooperation, openness and involvement.

maybe some comparisons with majority rule (with brief reasons for the differences)

Decisions are made that everyone feels invested in.
Sometimes everybody is wrong on something, but one person has a key insight or feeling that leads to the right decision; that lone voice is usually silent in Majority-Rules decisions. Quaker saying “Everyone has a piece of the truth”. Everyone can be wrong; everyone can be the watchdog.
It’s great for groups that have to work together often and in an intense way because it forces us to work better together, respect everyone’s needs, and keep everyone involved.

10 minutes

25 minutes