During the month of service that I gave in the Bahá’í Temple in Santiago, Chile, I had the opportunity to give one two-day workshop on Transformative Leadership to the coordinators of the different work teams, and two one-day workshops on the capability of making decisions through consultation to three of the teams.
One of the workshops on Consultation was especially powerful. When giving this workshop the last session focuses on “Steps in Decision-Making”, emphasizing the following:
1. Investigate the facts, identifying the causes of a situation and prioritizing them.
2. Identify relevant principles.
3. Suggest several lines of action or possible solutions.
4. Select a solution or a set of appropriate lines of action.
5. Apply the solution or lines of action and evaluate the results.
The group gave two valuable suggestions that made the methodology even more effective.
- At the beginning clearly delimit the topic of consultation, so that the ideas offered are more focused.
- Write the facts, principles and possible actions on a whiteboard. This helps in several ways:
- The participants know that the ideas they express are taken into account so they are less likely to repeat them.
- Having all the information on the board helps to keep attention focused.
The results were impressive! When looking over the various suggestions for action –6 or 7 in all – the group realized that there were some that the team could carry out short-term, and others with which they would have to coordinate with another team. Of all the suggestions, only one was eliminated as impractical. So the wealth of ideas was consolidated into two decisions.
Now I’m in the process of modifying the contents of the book Unity in Diversity: The Role of Consultation to include these practices.
Truly, when teaching, if we are open to the suggestions of the participants, we also learn.