Consensus Building In Group Decision Making

This book is intended for researchers and postgraduates who are interested in the consensus reaching process in group decision-making problems. It puts forward new optimization-based decision support approaches to help decision-makers find roadmaps to consensus with minimum adjustments. Simulation experiments and comparison analysis are subsequently conducted to assess the validity of the proposal. After reading this book, readers will possess a number of valuable tools for building consensus with minimum adjustments in the context of group decision-making. Further, the proposed approach can effectively reduce costs in consensus building.​

Real organizational change isn't brought about by decree, pressure, permission, or even persuasion. Sustained change comes when people are passionately and personally committed to a future that they have helped to shape. If you want to turn your organization's cynics into owners, give them a voice in the decisions that impact their work. Consensus Through Conversation shows how. Consensus is a cooperative process in which all of a group's members develop and agree to actively support a decision. It's not mere acquiescence--consensus goes several steps beyond, transforming people from resigned instruction-followers to dedicated champions of an idea. Larry Dressler shows you exactly how to prepare for a successful consensus-building process, takes you step-by-step through that process, and offers tips for success and traps to avoid. Throughout, he provides a host of tools and examples that make this an eminently practical and immediately useful guide. Consensus Through Conversation will give you the tools you need to use consensus effectively in your organization. It is a handy, vital reference that you will turn to again and again in your efforts to tackle high stakes issues, make high quality decisions, and build enthusiasm and commitment to action.

Building United Judgment describes the techniques and skills which groups can apply to make the principles of consensus work effectively. Whether you are new to consensus or a "practiced hand," whether your group uses consensus in the "classic" form or wants to apply consensus principles to your own decision making structure, this book provides a thorough review of practical methods that can make your efforts work. A classic introduction to secular consensus, Building United Judgment was recently brought back into print by the Fellowship for Intentional Community. It is an excellent explanation of what it means to make the switch from voting to consensus, and how to unlock the potential of groups working with the whole person. Highly recommended, Building United Judgment is a perfect companion publication to A Manual for Group Facilitators. Chapters in Building United Judgment include: A Step-by-Step Process Attitude and Consensus Your Participation in Consensus When Agreement Can't be reached Structuring Meetings The Role of the Group Facilitator Communication Skills Working with Emotions Conflict and Problem Solving Techniques for Group Building Adaptations for Special Situations Handling Common Problems "This is THE consensus process manual, used by many intentional communities around the country. It offers practical advice on working with consensus groups, how to run meetings, dealing with difficult issues and people. The book itself was written by a group of people that used a consensus process to determine the content and coverage. In places the styles of the differing authors vary a little. There are also fascinating notes at the margins and bottoms of pages which illustrate the development of the content of the book. If you have only one consensus book in your library, this is the one to have. If you are a group attempting to use consensus, you will benefit hugely from the practical advice this book has to offer." - Rob Sandelin, experienced consensus teacher from Sharingwood Cohousing Community

This book explores clustering operations in the context of social networks and consensus-reaching paths that take into account non-cooperative behaviors. This book focuses on the two key issues in large-scale group decision-making: clustering and consensus building. Clustering aims to reduce the dimension of a large group. Consensus reaching requires that the divergent individual opinions of the decision makers converge to the group opinion. This book emphasizes the similarity of opinions and social relationships as important measurement attributes of clustering, which makes it different from traditional clustering methods with single attribute to divide the original large group without requiring a combination of the above two attributes. The proposed consensus models focus on the treatment of non-cooperative behaviors in the consensus-reaching process and explores the influence of trust loss on the consensus-reaching process.The logic behind is as follows: firstly, a clustering algorithm is adopted to reduce the dimension of decision-makers, and then, based on the clusters’ opinions obtained, a consensus-reaching process is carried out to obtain a decision result acceptable to the majority of decision-makers. Graduates and researchers in the fields of management science, computer science, information management, engineering technology, etc., who are interested in large-scale group decision-making and consensus building are potential audience of this book. It helps readers to have a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of clustering analysis and consensus building in large-scale group decision-making.

"Everything about the way your company does business is changing, from the type and number of people employed to the way decisions are made." --Publisher description.

A step-by-step guide to the most efficient and effective method for participatory group decision-making Are you frustrated by that common challenge called group decision-making? Consensus-Oriented Decision-Making can help! Clearly written and well organized, keep this book by your side and refer to it often. Groups you are part of will function better as a result. -- Peggy Holman, author, Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity For any group or organization to function effectively, it must be able to make decisions well. Consensus-Oriented Decision-Making is the first book to offer groups (and group facilitators) a clear and efficient path to generating widespread agreement while fostering full participation and true collaboration. Poised to become the new standard for group facilitation, Consensus-Oriented Decision-Making combines: Deep insight into complex group dynamics Effective conflict resolution techniques Powerful communication skills Groups using this simple, step-by-step approach experience increased cohesion and commitment and stronger relationships as a result of their successful cooperation. Incorporating the principles of collaboration, inclusion, empathy, and open-mindedness, the consensus-oriented decision-making (CODM) process encourages shared ownership of group decisions. The method can be used in any group situation, regardless of whether the final decision-making power rests with a single person or team, a vote of members, or unanimity. Business, government, nonprofit, social, and community organizations can all benefit from Consensus-Oriented Decision-Making . Whether you are a designated facilitator or an active participant, understanding this powerful framework will help you contribute to the success of your group through achieving maximum participation and efficiency, a clearer decision-making process, better decisions, and improved group dynamics. Tim Hartnett, PhD, is a group facilitator and mediator who blends extensive knowledge of non-violent communication with insightful understanding of group dynamics and effective techniques for conflict resolution.