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For more on Kill Radio (Kill Corporate Radio), visit killradio.org.
Kill Radio Collective Docs
September 19, 2001,
Los Angeles, Ca
Consensus Decision Making
What is a collective?
Short version: Kill Radio has an organizational structure that is fairly unique in our
society. No one is in charge, no one has power over anyone else, and no
decisions are final until everyone is satisfied with the outcome. None of the "Joe is
club president, Jill is vice president, the majority rules and the minority is screwed"
stuff that you're probably used to. An organization that lacks such hierarchy is
called a collective, and this decision-making process is called the consensus
model.
Basically, we take turns leading/facilitating the meetings, where the important KR
decisions are made. When someone has an idea or a plan, we discuss our
thoughts and concerns about the plan, and then make changes and compromises
with the plan until it takes a shape that everyone likes, or at least one that
everyone can live with. Granted, the process can be time consuming and difficult.
Democracy can be a pain in the ass, but consensus really is one of the most fair
and equitable ways for groups of people to make decisions.
What is consensus?
Consensus is a decision making process in which each member of a group agrees
to the decision of the whole group. The objective is to have the final decision
acceptable to everyone involved. By doing so we promote a community based on
trust (please visit consensus.net for more info).
General Assumptions We Make to Allow for Consensus
The way we work for social change is a vital link to the change itself.
Each individual is important to the group.
Differences of opinion are normal and healthy and can be worked through.
They need not result in a divided group.
Creative solutions are possible.
Every member of the group has a right to be heard.
Why should you use consensus?
When each individual shares in the decision of the group, then all have a
greater commitment to implement the groups decisions.
Better decisions are made because more ideas are generated and
discussed which creates more freedom for creativity.
Consensus helps to avoid the adversarial confrontations and the anger and
potential for hurt feelings generated in a win/lose style decision-making.
It increases group strength by decentralizing authority, and allowing more
people in the group to take on leadership roles. This really helps to increase
personal empowerment.
Conditions needed for Consensus
You need a group that shares values and goals. This emphasizes the
importance of your group to come up with a mission statement together.
Members must have commitment to the group and it.s processes
Equal access to power, you can not have any hidden hierarchical structures
People must be aware if issues which can lead to inequalities of power.
These are things like diversity and gender balance.
There must be willingness to acknowledge differences of opinion, and
willingness to take the time to work through them.
The toughest one is having willingness to let go of ego-identification with
one.s own proposals and ideas. "Once an idea leaves your mouth it no
longer belongs to you."
For a group to use consensus it demands responsibility from the members, which
means a commitment to the group and a commitment to yourself. You must be
able to listen to others as well as speak on issues about which you have strong
feelings.
Consensus decisions take a lot more time than voting. The time you spend is an
invaluable investment into the community of your organization. Groups will be
much better off if objections and concerns are expressed respected and creatively
resolved. The alternatives end up with hasty decisions in which objections are
suppressed. This can damage your group and cause unnecessary pain, which in
the end can take much more time to repair.
Consensus and Facilitation Tips
Meeting Roles
Facilitator(s):
Move group through each stage of
consensus process; call on people
(usually no more than 3 in a stack);
allow only one proposal at a time;
repeat proposal frequently to keep
people clear about its current wording;
suggest meeting tools and help people
participate equally
Time Keeper:
Keep time; give warnings as each time
limit approaches; force group to bargain
for more time if it wants to go over time
on any agenda item.
Note Taker:
Take notes and distribute accordingly;
announce decisions made at previous
meetings
Vibes Watcher:
Point out the emotional undercurrents in
the group; intervene if people are
getting tired or cranky; suggest meeting
tools, breaks, games, etc.
Tools for Successful Meetings
Meeting Process:
Written agenda,
Evaluation (at middle and end),
Visual aids,
Strategy development
Conflict Resolution:
Active listening,
Articulating feelings,
Criticism/self-criticism,
Fishbowls,
Decision-Making
Go-arounds,
Straw polls,
Brainstorms,
Small group discussions,
Dyads or triads,
Fishbowls
Stress Reduction:
Breaks,
Calm voice,
Breathing,
Silence,
Humor,
games
The Meeting Process
Each meeting begins with several members volunteering to take on specific roles
for the course of that meeting. The Facilitator(s) lead the group through the items
on the agenda, the Time Keeper makes sure that discussions on a single agenda
item don't drag on too long and the Note Taker, well, takes notes on the meeting
and then emails them to the Kill Radio list so that everyone can see what
transpired. The Vibes Watcher keeps an eye on the group itself, calling attention to
any tensions, frustrations, boredoms, etc. that the group might be feeling.
During the meeting, the Facilitator(s) will call on people to speak, beginning with
the person responsible for a particular agenda item. That person will speak, and
then anyone else can raise their hand to add to, comment on, or ask questions.
The Facilitator will call on these people to speak, in the order that they raised their
hands. The queue of people waiting to speak is called "the stack." Each agenda
item is assigned a time limit when it is first suggested. If the discussion is over
before that time limit is reached, the Facilitator will move onto the next item. If the
time limit is reached and there are still people who wish to speak, the group can
choose to extend the time limit. This process continues through the last item on the
agenda.
Facilitation
Planning a good agenda:
1st: Try to understand what the agenda items are attempting to accomplish in the
meeting.
2nd: Be conscious of moving the process forward and keeping conversation
focused on the topic at hand.
3rd: Be conscious of time and make the group agree to give more time to each
topic as necessary.
Set goals for the meeting:
Facilitators should always be conscious of the difference between discussion and
proposals. Discussions can lead to proposals on the spot, but this is often poorly
done. For more complicated agenda items, it is much better to have discussion in
one meeting and a proposal presented to the group at the following meeting. If a
clear proposal has not been put forth to the group, then it can be very difficult to
articulate proposals on the spot. If people make the effort to clearly work out
proposals in advance, then goals for the meeting are much more clear and can
lead to more productive meetings.
Review the Agenda:
Reviewing the agenda serves two purposes. First, it gives everyone in the room a
chance to know what the agenda is and second, it allows people to make changes
to the agenda, and whether or not to prioritize some things over others or to
include things that were left out. This also contributes to a more inclusive process
that helps make it easier for people to participate.
Setting Times for each Topic/Time Keeper:
It is important to set times for discussion that are realistic. Each time we bargain for
time it only increases the pressure. It is possible to not discuss everything on the
agenda because some things are more important than others. The time keeper is
useful for helping people stick to the time limits. The time keeper should announce
when they are halfway through an item.s time and when they have two minutes
left.
Co-Facilitation:
It is useful to have more than one facilitator run a meeting. If the facilitator gets
stuck during the meeting and is having trouble moving forward, it is often helpful to
have someone takeover for a part of the agenda. It is also helpful when a co-
facilitator can take care of the stack as people raise their hands to speak. Co-
facilitation is also a way for those who are learning the facilitation process to
become more comfortable running a meeting on their own.
Challenges to building consensus
Rushing the process:
It is important to allow for adequate time for a discussion that will help develop a
consensus. It takes time to create consensus and discussion is critical to achieve
it. A facilitator may feel pressured to rush the process in ways that can be counter-
productive to the group.
Familiarity with Consensus:
The consensus process is not always about agreeing to everything. People should
be conscious of when they can let go of their concerns and allow the process to
move forward, or when they feel it necessary to stand aside or block for principled
reasons (e.g. a proposal is in direct conflict with the mission statement set forth by
the group). The process should not be used as a means of getting everything that
we want as individuals, but to produce a decision that is acceptable to everyone
and will allow the group to move forward.
Formal/Informal Consensus:
There are times when everyone is in agreement and the formal consensus process
is not necessary. Other times, the group is not united and it is necessary to go
through the formal consensus process. The choice of when to use the formal
process is a judgment call of the facilitator(s). If no one has any questions or
concerns, then it is probably not necessary to use the formal process.
Working Groups
What is a working group?
A working group is a small group of 5 to 20 people who work together on kill radio
projects or administrative tasks. Working groups challenge top-down decision-
making and organizing, and empower those involved to take creative action and
make decisions on behalf of a larger organization such as Kill Radio.
Working Groups in Kill Radio
Working groups in Kill Radio are organized to make decision-making more efficient
and participatory. These groups are designed to distribute lots of decisions that
would normally be made by the entire group into smaller, more closely affiliated
groups of people. In this way, the entire collective doesn.t have to painstakingly
cover every single detail of a decision that is often easier to make with a small
group of people focused on a specific area of operations. However, it is critical that
decisions made by working groups are reported back to the larger collective to
ensure that they are not in gross violation of the guidelines or the spirit of the
mission statement.
We encourage every DJ at Kill Radio to join an working group and get involved in
making decisions on behalf of the larger Kill Radio collective. The following working
groups exist for Kill Radio:
1. Finance . Responsible for finances and record keeping, maintaining a work
relationship with SEE, our fiscal sponsor, etc.
2. News . Responsible for coordinating news coverage for the station, finding
sources of pre-produced material on the web, as well as producing original content
for public affairs programming.
3. Promotions . Responsible for promoting the station via events like Sunset
Junction, doing outreach on the web via the mailing lists, making stickers, flyers,
etc.
4. Scheduling . Responsible for the organization of the schedule and helping new
DJ.s get a slot on the station, keeping the schedule up to date and making sure
that slots are being filled.
5. Library . Responsible for coordinating material (music, books, etc) in the station
and organizing the station to make it more user friendly.
6. Tech . Responsible for maintaining the station in usable state, making sure the
website and computer related tasks are current.
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