Building Consensus for Better Team Work

You have a terrific team of people, each has their own ideas about what should be done and how to do it.

Studies show that 95% of our population cannot separate their ideas from their self worth.

In other words, if you don't like their idea, you must not like them.

If you think their idea is bad, you must think that they are bad.

Robert Hartman discovered that people hold back a significant portion of their cooperation and productivity until they have been valued as human beings. Dr. Hartman measured this reserve to be, on average, 40% of a person's total capacity.

If someone on your team feels rejected, how much cooperation and productivity can you expect? In today's workplace, motivation by intimidation is counterproductive. The leader who dictates direction will reap less cooperation from his or her team than the leader who creates buy-in through a process where everyone feels heard and becomes a co-creator of the solution.

The Consensus Process

The Consensus Process is designed to help leaders achieve greater cooperation and productivity within a team environment. Here's how it works:

 

Step 1: Generate and Collect Ideas: Brainstorm with the entire team. Define the problem and ask for ideas that will lead to a solution. There are no rights or wrongs, no cheers or jeers. Post the ideas where everyone can see them. Limit the time you'll spend brainstorming. To save meeting time, define the problem in advance and ask each team member to bring at least one solution or idea to the session.

 

Step 2: Look for the Good: Go through each idea collected and then ask each team member to complete this statement: "What I like best about that idea is..." Post responses. Continue until each team member comments on each idea. Don't allow your team to criticize ideas just yet. It is more challenging to come up with a positive statement about someone else's idea than your own. So, challenge your team members to look at each concept with a creative and constructive eye. This process also ensures that each person is heard, each opinion considered.

 

Step 3: Discover the Best: From the opinions expressed, choose the elements generally agreed to be most important in creating the solution (e.g. this idea builds on strengths, this one uses available materials, is cost-efficient, etc.). Now that each person's ideas have been validated and their ideas have been heard, you can direct a more critical eye to each option or combination of options. Are there elements inherent in one idea that can be built upon with another? What combination would be most effective in creating the solution? From this point, you can use a decision- making process that best fits your situation.

 

Step 4: Set the Direction: Now that each person has been heard and validated, they have become part of the process and more open to other perspectives. The leader then sets the direction while each team member can claim ownership of the concept development. When people feel part of the solution, they are likely to commit greater effort to getting the job done.

The Result

While the Consensus Process requires more up-front time than directive activity, team members may contribute about 40% more because of it. Isn't that worth the effort?

Coaching can provide the focus and momentum you need to master the art of building consensus and intrinsically validating your team members.

Here is what one 6 Advisors Coaching Client says about the coaching process and the results he has seen with his team:

How many times have you walked into a business and could instantly pick out the owner of the business? I would challenge anyone to do that at our company. Here, everyone knows their responsibilities and performs their task at the highest levels. Everyone in our company treats their job as if they were the owner. Would this kind of thinking help your business?  
Bottom line is this. By investing in this assessment and personal coaching, I have been able to clearly communicate to each member of my staff that I truly care about them and their well-being. As a business, they are my greatest assets. My return on investment for learning these principles and applying them in my life and supporting my employees to do the same has created a corporate environment where everyone truly cares about our success. What more could a CEO ask from the members of his team?
- Scott Irwin, CEO, Apex Pipe, Houston, TX

If you would like to see these kinds of results, contact us for more information!

Still not sure about the value of coaching? Check out our testimonials.

Upcoming Speaking Engagements

Would you like to hear more about our assessment, coaching, processes and benefits?  If you are in the Houston area, I will be speaking at the Houston area PMI (Project Management Institute) pre-meetings in July and October. Here's a synopsis of the 1 hour presentation:

As Project Managers, you understand a multitude of processes... Change Management processes, Risk Management processes, Portfolio Management processes, technical processes.  The list can go on and on. But how much do you know about thought processes? You and every member of your team process thoughts - somewhere between 12,000 and 50,000 thoughts per day. In our hour together, we're going to discuss how the science of human values (axiology) and the 3 levels of value relate to PMBOK 1.5.5, and how you can utilize this information to more effectively manage your project(s).

Below is the information on the dates, times and locations. Please feel free to stop by (even if you aren't a project manager).

North Chapter Pre-Meeting: Understanding Thought Processing for Effective Project Management
Date:    7/10/2007 | 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Place:   Strack Farms Restaurant
            5707 Louetta,
            Spring, Texas 77379
            (Between Kuykendahl & Stuebner-Airline Rd.)
            (281) 376-0901
            http://www.stracks.com/

Southwest Chapter Pre-Meeting: Understanding Thought Processing for Effective Project Management
Date:    7/18/2007 | 5:15 PM - 6:15 PM
Place:   Schlumberger Sugar Land Campus
            Forum Cafe
            210 Schlumberger Drive
            Phone: 713-513-2457
            Click to View Map

Galleria Chapter Pre-Meeting: Understanding Thought Processing for Effective Project Management
Date:   10/10/2007 | 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Place:   HESS Club
            5430 Westheimer Road
            Houston, TX 77056
            1-877-661-4377 or (713) 627-2283
            http://www.hessclub.com/

Additional Resources