Elevator Pitch
Consensus building is the backbone of Quaker organizations. Decisions are reached when the meeting, as a whole, feels that the “way forward” has been discerned. We examine how the Society of Friends has been using this process since the 1700s and how we can apply it to our own meetings.
Description
Friends’ way of conducting business is of central importance to the very existence of the Meeting. It is the Quaker way of living and working together; it is the way that can create and preserve a sense of fellowship in the Meeting community. The right conduct of Business Meetings, even in matters of routine, is a vital part of the [Quaker] experience. The process of individuals submitting themselves to the corporate revelation of […] truth forms the basis of Friends’ approach to unity.
In this talk we’ll go over the basics of the Quaker approach to consensus building. We’ll discuss and practice active listening, the role of the facilitator, how Friends’ deal with dissenting opinions, and how they move past it. If we have time we’ll also discuss how various Friends groups scale this process up to hundreds of participants.
Key Takeaways:
- Basic understanding of consensus based decision making
- Understanding of the general Quaker Model for consensus building
- Practice in Active Listening, Facilitating, taking Minutes / Notes
- Coping with dissent and understanding the role of “blocking” and “standing aside”.