Ground Rules Teleclass Series - Ground Rule 9

Group Myth: All decisions need to be made by consensus. Ever heard this one? You might chuckle at it, but it is one of the most commonly implemented misconceptions out there.When facilitators and leaders try to make all group decisions by consensus, they waste valuable time drive their colleagues mad in the process.

Group Reality: Leaders and group members must make decisions without consensus. It would be irresponsible to do otherwise. When there's time pressure, a disagreement, or when the decision doesn't require high levels of commitment to implement,other decision-making approaches can and should be used.

The Catch, and the Ground Rule: The further you move away from consensus, the less genuine commitment you're likely to solicit when you make decisions. This groundrule is about choosing a decision-making rule that matches the amount of support the decision requires. Using this ground rule also means telling people early on which decision-making rule you are going to use so they aren't surprised later.

The intent behind the decision is critical. You can push subtly and unilaterally for consensus in a meeting, or you can make decisions alone and genuinely seek feedback after the fact. The decision-making rule matters less than your intent.

This teleclass is designed to help you get the level of support you need for group decisions. The goal is to do this in a way where, over time, people trust you more.

• Which decision-making rules you can use for decisions that require high, medium and low levels of commitment
• How to build trust even when you make a decision alone
• How to determine whether group members really support a decision or are just going along

Your stories, opportunities and challenges will be the practice field. I'll share some key concepts – mostly via advance reading – and we'll quickly move into "clinic" mode, where we work together to make the material practical and meaningful for you.

We'll do all this in a fast-paced, focused way, and the class will be highly interactive. We're limiting participation to 12 people to ensure this, and the teleclass will be an hour long.

There will be a short written assignment beforehand, as well as some prereading. This will help us focus, in the call, on your learning and your real situations.

If you can't attend, you can purchase a recording of the entire class. If you choose this option, you will still receive all the supporting materials and assignments.

If you are still reading, I think you'll find the teleclass quite valuable. I invite you to participate.

• The advance assignment and course materials to help you get the most out of the teleclass.
• The dial-in information for the teleclass (if you're participating live)
• The digital recording of the teleclass. We will send you a link to download it (or, if you need it, ship you a CD recording), along with the materials above.
• The complete transcript of the call, if purchased.

If you think this teleclass is what you're looking for, I invite you to join in right here.

I encourage you to sign up for the entire Ground Rules teleclass series to maximize your learning; when used together, these groundrules are much more powerful than they are on their own.