How To Get Consensus in the Team Without the Members Noticing it by Hans Bool

Those who are not in favor of systematic approaches and methods should read about this way to facilitate the communication process.

Communication is a very wide area, but normally includes the process of a group of people that are exchanging ideas or thoughts. Now, how would you structure such a process? Imagine that there are eight team members of which you would like to know the individual opinions. People get easily influenced in a discussion. Sometimes your opinion is not finished, but being assembled as you go through an (interview) process.

Also for the sake of the team you do not want an individual opinion make that others keep quiet, because they do not quite agree. The communication market is a market like any others with a demand and supply side. And too much supply of a single opinion will get the communication unbalanced.

In such a case where individual opinions are important, the diversity and variety of feedback is needed you should make the individual input anonymous.

Then, when every team member could give their personal input irrespective of what others have uttered (even without knowing this) you are ready for a first group feedback. Again, you present the group results in an anonymous way; not letting know who has said what. Then, based on your own input and what you observe as additional feedback from your colleagues you are offered a new round to reply. Having seen others opinions you can separate your input from these or as you are convinced that the majority will be right you can connect to the consensus that is being formed.

Doing so requires an ambience in which each respondent is able to provide anonymous input, an independent facilitator who is steering this process and a few rounds to get an opinion which is shared by the group.

And this is nothing new, not an invention, but a proved method; the Delphi method.

© 2006 Hans Bool

Hans Bool is the founder of Astor White a traditional management consulting company that offers online management advice. Astor Online solves issues in hours what normally would take days. You can apply for a free demo account

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