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LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR
Martha Pool, poolfam@verizon.net,
740-569-7691
The Art of Convening
One
of the most important abilities leaders are going to need in the future is that
of convening diverse, often disparate, potentially fractious voices to engage in
open, honest dialogue about complex and varied topics. The ability to convene
as an activity of leadership could intentionally cultivate in individuals,
groups and organizations the following skills:
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Establishing the
purpose of the meeting:
Considerable thought should be given to why people need to be
convened. Hoped for outcomes also need to be clearly articulated and
consciously considered throughout the dialogue. Communication of the “real”
agenda and helping people see if and how they fit into the bigger picture
are necessary components. |
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Setting Clear and
Reasonable Goals:
This is critical to successful convening and entails having a vision from
which immediate, intermediate, and long-term goals can be derived.
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Creating and
Maintaining “Safe Space”:
This ensures that those engaged in the conversation will be invited into
space that is intellectually open and substantive; spiritually, physically
and psychologically safe; that not only words of inclusivity and respect are
spoken but actually practiced. The establishment of a
group covenant is one significant way to
monitor the accomplishment of this. The use of
Mutual Invitation is one way of ensuring that everyone gets an
opportunity to speak. |
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Developing Frameworks
of Engagement:
This offers specific approaches and ways to constructively engage people so
that games of dominance and free-for-all’s are minimal or nonexistent.
Formulating questions and activities that allow all participants to think,
reflect, listen, and share will invite deeper engagement, meaningful
conversation and a sense of ownership. These frameworks need to be flexible
so that the unexpected and new can emerge. Roberts
Rules of Order and Consensus Decision-Making
are two entirely different ways to order a meeting. Both have their place
and both have to be understood by all parties to work effectively. |
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Determining the Next
Steps: This
provides the opportunity for the community to determine its fate and future
response to the issues discussed. Helping groups assess what has been
accomplished, what is remains to be done, and whether they want to recommit
to the effort that lies ahead is vitally important. Each stage in the
process is an opportunity to renegotiate individual involvement and group
commitment. |
Convening is not a simple matter. The ease with which some successfully
accomplish it masks a high level of complexity and competence. A great deal of
thought, planning, and “on-your-feet” reading and responsiveness is involved.
Convening is a leadership skill we need to remove from the endangered list.
Questions to ponder:
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What style of convening do you use? |
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Think of someone who did a poor job of convening. What crucial convening
skills did she not employ to best advantage? |
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Have you been a part of a group that wrote a covenant? How was this
beneficial to the group? |
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Have you used mutual invitation in a group? What are some advantages to
using this style of discussion? In what circumstances would this not work? |
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How familiar are you with Roberts Rules of Order? With Consensus
Decision-Making? What are their advantages and disadvantages?
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Let
me hear from you concerning any aspect of convening.
Joyfully, Martha
Group Covenants
A
covenant is a written agreement within a self-selected group of people regarding
their shared values and behavior toward each other.
Because each small group is unique in its values and expectations, each small
group’s covenant will be unique. Based on Bill Donahue’s book, Leading
Life-Changing Small Groups, here are guidelines for developing a covenant.
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The covenant’s values need to be generated by the group, not imposed by the
leader. Get everyone’s opinions and then give them time (maybe even as much
as a month) to think about them before agreeing to them. |
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Be sure that expectations are clear, not ambiguous or open to
interpretation. A covenant should be in writing. Group covenants should
always be in the form of “we” statements. |
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Each person must affirm the covenant. Ask that everyone sign their names on
the covenant to show their commitment. |
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Covenants should be reaffirmed or reinterpreted on a periodic basis so that
members are reminded and/or clarified about group expectations…and can
reaffirm their commitment to one another. |
Covenants should be created around logistics and values that support group goals
and purposes. Logistics include how often the group will meet and where,
attendance expectations and who will handle different needs. Values include
confidentiality, authenticity, transparency, acceptance, and invitation.
Here
is a sample covenant:
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We will be present in mind, body and spirit to conversations about religious
and spiritual matters. |
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We will create a safe space that respects the privacy of the group members,
although we may share our perspectives and insights about topics outside the
group. |
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We will maintain confidentiality with respect to other’s personal lives. |
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One person speaks at a time, or feels free to pass, while others listen
respectively. |
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We will commit to some form of service as part of our group work. |
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We will keep an empty chair and will birth a new group when our group
exceeds the maximum limit. |
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We will commit to attending the group through May, making attendance a
priority on our calendar. |
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We will begin/end meetings on time. |
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We will let the facilitator know if we cannot attend. |
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If for any reason we need to withdraw from the group, we will attend a last
meeting of the group to communicate this directly. |
Mutual Invitation
Developed by Eric Law (1993) mutual invitation is a technique designed to
promote egalitarian group talk. The facilitator begins a discussion by sharing
her views on the topic at hand. She then invites another member of the group to
respond to what she has said, or to contribute whatever is on her mind regarding
the topic. After that person has spoken she then chooses the next person to
speak, and so on until all have had the chance to be involved. If someone does
not want to offer a comment she can pass, but she then has the responsibility to
choose who will speak next. No one is allowed to interrupt the chosen speaker.
Once everyone has been called on, open discussion ensues and the ground rule
doesn’t apply.
This
process is a way of structuring the opportunity for all to speak, and also of
giving the participants the power to choose the direction of participation.
If
the process is used a second and third time, the facilitator does not start off
by sharing her view. However, she does start out choosing who will be the first
to speak.
E.H.F.
Law The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb: A Spirituality for Leadership in a
Multicultural Community. St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 1993 (pp. 79-88).
Roberts Rules of Order
Two
websites worth viewing for information on Roberts Rules of Order are:
www.robertsrules.org and
www.robertsrules.com
Consensus Decision-Making
Consensus is a decision-making process that
fully utilizes the resources of a group. It is more difficult and time consuming
to reach than a democratic vote or an autocratic decision. Most issues will
involve trade-offs and the various decision alternatives will not satisfy
everyone. Complete unanimity is not the goal - that is rarely possible. However,
it is possible for each individual to have had the opportunity to express their
opinion, be listened to, and accept a group decision based on its logic and
feasibility considering all relevant factors. This requires the mutual trust and
respect of each team member.
A consensus decision represents a reasonable decision that all members of the
group can accept. It is not necessarily the optimal decision for each member.
When all the group members feel this way, you have reached consensus as we have
defined it. This means that a single person can block consensus if he or she
feels that it is necessary.
Here are some guidelines for reaching consensus:
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Make sure everyone is
heard from and feels listened to. Avoid arguing for your own position.
Present your position as clearly as possible. Listen to other team members
reactions and comments to assess their understanding of your position.
Consider their reactions and comments carefully before you press your own
point of view further.
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Do not assume that
someone must win and someone must lose when a discussion reaches a
stalemate. Instead, look for the next most acceptable alternatives for all
parties. Try to think creatively. Explore what possibilities exist if
certain constraints were removed.
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Do not change your
mind simply to avoid conflict, to reach agreement, or maintain harmony. When
agreement seems to come too quickly or easily, be suspicious. Explore the
reasons and be sure that everyone accepts the solution for basically similar
or complementary reasons. Yield only to positions that have objective or
logically sound foundations or merits.
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Avoid
conflict-reducing techniques such as majority vote, averaging, coin toss or
bargaining. When dissenting members finally agree, do not feel that they
have to be rewarded or accommodated by having their own way on some later
point.
Differences of opinion are natural and expected. Seek them out, value them, and
try to involve everyone in the decision process. Disagreements can improve the
group's decision. With a wider range of information and opinions, there is a
greater chance of that the group will hit upon a more feasible or satisfactory
solution.
See
a related article in the March/April 2004 issue of Horizons Magazine for further
information. Another online resource is
http://www.pcusa.org/nnpcw/resources/consensus-model.htm
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