Facilitate consensus building

• Facilitate consensus building among stakeholders by identifying shared goals and working towards a common solution.

Consensus building involves reaching an overwhelming agreement that satisfies stakeholders’ underlying interests, not just their demands. Facilitation and mediation are key skills for guiding groups through discussions and resolving disagreements, with mediators often handling additional tasks beyond the meetings. Recording keeps a visual track of decisions, while convening involves gathering parties to discuss issues. Conflict assessment identifies the main points of contention and potential agreement. The single text procedure and strategies for creating and claiming value focus on maximizing joint gains. Success in consensus building is measured by surpassing the Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA), not by achieving unanimous ‘win-win’ outcomes.

Read more in: A Short Guide in Consensus Building – An Alternative to Robert’s Rules of Order for Groups, Organizations and Ad Hoc Assemblies that Want to Operate By Consensus.

Available at: https://web.mit.edu/publicdisputes/practice/cbh_ch1.html