Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making:

Second Edition

The benefits of group decision-making have been widely publicized: better thinking, better "buy-in", better decisions all around. Yet the promise often fails to materialize. Many decisions made in groups are neither thoughtful nor inclusive; they are unimaginative, watered-down mediocrities. Yet, when it's done well, group decision-making remains the best hope for solving difficult problems. There is no substitute for the wisdom that results from a successful integration of divergent points of view. Successful group decision-making requires a group to take advantage of the full range of experience and skills that reside in its membership. This means encouraging people to speak up.It means INVITING difference, not fearing it. It means struggling to understand one another, especially in the face of the pressures and contradictions that typically drive group members to shut down. In short, it means operating from PARTICIPATORY values. Part I of this book addresses Grounding Principles; Part II addresses Facilitator Fundamentals; Part III addresses Building Sustainable Agreements; Part IV addresses Reaching Closure.