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Consensus Decision-Making – How Do We Decide?

Decision-making in a professional setting is a complicated process. It can also be quite daunting. And the ultimate decision might also be something not everyone in the team agrees with. Which is usually why teams resort to consensus decision-making. While this might sound like a great idea, there are many things to keep in mind so that it turns out to be a genuine consensus. Making decisions as a team has benefits such as increasing the collaborative spirit of the group. It also increases the feeling of being a stakeholder in the ultimate decision, prompting feelings of responsibility towards the outcome.

Consensus decision-making process

To begin, let’s see how exactly a consensus decision-making process generally takes place. First, a problem is defined. Second, each member of the team suggests a solution or part of a solution. This can happen in many ways. It can be a group brainstorming session, or one that doesn’t call for much interaction at all. After that, the third and final step is to decide which of all the submitted ideas is the best either through the decision of the leader of the team or one everyone is satisfied with.

“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dangers of consensus decision-making

There are some things to consider before engaging in a consensus decision-making process;

Beware of 100% agreement

While a 100% agreement sounds like a great outcome, and it might be in certain situations, in consensus decision-making, that’s not the goal. In situations where people are asked for their opinion, often they might not be comfortable giving their answer. They might be self-conscious of how their decision might seem to the rest of the group, they might feel like they will be judged because of what they have said, or they might wonder if they’ve given the ‘right’ answer. In these situations, people will consciously or unconsciously borrow the most popular answers. They feel a pressure to conform and that can be damaging to the project at hand and this unfortunately defeats the purpose of the exercise. So care must be taken during the process that encourages individual and unique inputs from everyone, insisting there are no right or wrong answers.

One-sided benefits

The outcome of consensus decision-making will be preferable to those who chose that option. While the ones who didn’t will either feel strongly against it or feel disconnected towards it. So while this is beneficial to the people who truly believe in the solution, it proves inconsequential or even a hindrance to those who don’t truly believe in the solution. So, as a leader, you need to make sure that this is understood and taken into consideration before engaging the team in such an exercise.

Agreeing with bad decisions

In group situations, often a few outspoken members might unknowingly dominate the conversation. Either by influence or by leadership. And if they have settled on a bad decision because of their own reasons, the others in the team might follow their lead and also believe in a bad decision. Look out for signs that might suggest this and try and control or divert the situation. Or even keep an open mind and review the decision accordingly.

Groupthink dangers

Groupthink creates an illusion that might be devastating to the team. The pressure to maintain harmony and conformity can affect people’s decisions while they might not even realize it. Members might ignore their intuition because all members are on the same page. It also creates self-doubt and ultimately weakens the foundation of the team. This also means that not only is a damaging choice being made to solve a problem, but also the actual problems and issues are not being fixed.

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Damaging decisions

This kind of broken system leads to a solution that is compromised and inappropriate for the challenge at hand. A compromised solution will be put into effect, while team members are under the impression that a suitable solution has been put into action.

Consensus decision-making tends to work better in smaller groups, with less complicated challenges. It also helps to use anonymity as a tool while making group decisions to avoid the above issues. But when you do need to explore the option these points will shed some light on the things you need to consider. And once a decision has been made and a plan has been put into action, it’s important to revisit and evaluate the plan on a regular basis and possibly repeat the consensus decision-making process to make sure at every step of the way, the whole team is involved in the outcome and success of the project.

FAQs

Q. What are a few of the dangers of consensus decision-making?

A. Consensus decision-making could lead to a bad decision being implemented, lopsided benefits, and diluting the team spirit.

Q. What can groupthink affect a consensus decision-making process?

A. Groupthink creates an illusion that the choice each member is making is their own without influence. But in reality, the pressure to maintain harmony and conformity can affect people’s decisions while they might not even realize it. It can create self-doubt and will eventually be detrimental to the foundation of the team.

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