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Decision Making

You can search for postings containing "Decision Making" in the Cohousing-L archives.

The following pages and articles on this website are also tagged "Decision Making":

  • Handling inappropriate blocks in consensus
    by Tree Bressen, Walnut St. Co-op
    February, 2007

    When a block arises in consensus process, the situation is typically scary for everyone involved, and it can cause so much frustration that it gives the whole process a bad rap. The accepted wisdom says that blocking should happen extremely rarely. Doyenne Caroline Estes says that in 45 years of facilitating hundreds of groups she’s witnessed a correct block less than a dozen times. But less skilled groups often struggle with more frequent blocks. Blocking based on the individual’s personal preference or values rather than on the group’s well-being and values is the most common mistake in attempts at consensus process. What can you do when someone blocks inappropriately? Here are suggestions.

  • Getting started: The first eight steps
    by Rob Sandelin, Sharingwood Cohousing
    November, 2006

    These are some of the elements to consider working on in the first months you spend together. This assumes you have brought together a core group of at least two or three households. Three or four households is even better.

  • Sociocracy and Consent
    by Donna Freiermuth
    November, 2006

    One of the toughest challenges communities face is how they reach decisions. Although consensus is the ideal for many cohousing projects, let’s flirt with the idea that there is an alternative decision-making process. “I was ready to listen,” says Sharon Villines of Takoma Village Cohousing (Washington, DC) when she was told “sociocracy is a way to govern ourselves that respects the equal value of all persons as individuals and that produces more effective, responsive, transparent and productive organizations.”

  • May 2008: "Good Information Makes Decisions Self-Evident"

    In principle, there are basically three ways to influence the choices people make. You can regulate what people cannot do and punish violations. You can offer incentives to encourage certain choices. Or you can provide accurate information that rings so true it compels good choices.

    If you believe that for the most part people want to do the right thing, the most effective and peaceful method of influencing good decisions is to provide good information so “the right thing” becomes self-evident.

  • April 2008: "Good in Everyone"

    In principle, the chances of making good group decisions are greatly increased if all the participants believe there is good in everyone. We are more likely to do well if we look for the best in each other. For some, believing that there is good in every person is a moral conviction. For others, seeking and bringing out the best in people is just plain practical.

    Practical Tip: Act as if there is good in everyone, even when it is not apparent. Treat every person along your path as if they are special. If you believe in God, act as if there is that of God in every person.

  • Eris Weaver, Facilitator & Group Process

    Consensus is a powerful process for collaborative decision making and building group cohesion. However, it is not something that comes naturally to those of us who’ve grown up in an individualistic, competitive culture! Many cohousing communities find that investing in training and occasional outside facilitation can greatly improve the quality of their meetings and increase the depth of their interpersonal connections.

    Eris Weaver’s career as a professional facilitator and group process consultant has grown directly out of her years of experience living and working in cohousing. She works with communities to:
    * Facilitate meetings on difficult or emotional issues
    * Coach process teams on agenda planning and facilitation techniques
    * Teach workshops on consensus and other collaborative decision-making techniques; communication skills; and conflict resolution.

    707-338-8589
    Eris Weaver - Website (www.erisweaver.info)

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