On June 24-28, 2009, our Annual National Cohousing Conference will feature a number of Top Cohousing Process Consultants - some very well-known, established consultants with years of experience with facilitation, consensus training, and group process consultations and numerous Cohousing Communities - and some who's emerging practices are generating new ways of thinking about group decision making.

Those who attend the 2009 conference have the opportunity to enjoy and learn with...

In principle, the three fundamental steps that make a meeting great are to (1) plan what you are going to meet about, (2) actually meet according to the plan, and then (3) write up the meeting results.
Practical tip: In the case of an upcoming meeting, the meeting facilitator and/or group leaders should huddle in advance to be clear on the meeting objectives, agenda, roles, how it will be recorded, and logistics such as invitations, space, food, nametags, etc. Talk it through and plan out how each part of the meeting will work. Advance planning increases chances that you will have on hand the things you need for the meeting to go well and sharing the plan in advance increases chances that participants will come prepared and that their expectations will be on target.
Then, run the meeting according to plan (although always be prepared to be flexible and responsive to things unplanned). Meeting according to plan provides security for participants.

In principle, it is best to make the rules before taking the field, before starting the meeting. When we decide HOW we are going to make decisions before we find ourselves in the tension of making them, it lowers our chances of conflict. It is much easier to establish proposal development steps and decision criteria in the hypothetical rather than when actually confronted with a real proposal and with real personalities. “We’ll figure out the rules as we go,” rarely turns out fair and often leads to conflict and resentment. Establishing rules of engagement beforehand lets everyone know what to expect, gives everyone equal opportunity to participate, and increases chances of creative, peaceful decisions.

In principle, it is a shared vision that holds a group together; a common view of how people want things to be different in the future. If my opinion of how things should change does no overlap with yours, in at least a tiny way, we have no reason to work together. It may be that we disagree on specific approaches – how much money to spend, who to hire, when to do what – but for a good group decision to result we must have a shared vision of the outcome; where we are heading.
Practical Tip: Identify and write down what your group agrees on and what you all hope to achieve. For an established group this might be a mission statement, a vision statement, or a set of goals. For a one-time group (perhaps gathered at a public hearing, for instance), begin with a statement of why the group is gathered and make sure at the outset that everyone is there for the same purpose. Starting off knowing that there is something everyone agrees on helps later.