Due: 22nd August
He maurea kai whiria!
Ignore small matters and direct effort toward important projects.
Module 10 is brought to you by Serena Cooper and Aaron Ironside. This half-hour interview on Consensus Building has some really great tips for inclusive participation that engages and empowers a group.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itEftUh3uZQ&t=15s
Provocation:
Consider a time when consensus was gained over an important decision. What did the leader do to gather and process divergent points of view? Please share your thoughts in 150 words or less.
11 Responses
Consider a time when consensus was gained over an important decision. What did the leader do to gather and process divergent points of view?
This was a really interesting video to listen to. It instantly made me think about an issue we had in our school around playground safety. We had a staff car park that was located smack in the middle of the courtyards, where the children played. Staff came and went at different times of the day. It was unsafe. After careful consultation with staff and students (active listening and a focus on needs and interests) we collaborated at staff hui and came up with a few acceptable ideas that SLT then went away and made a final decision over. We now have shifted the car park and created a really large, safe play area for our tamariki. A decision that each staff member had active participation and acknowledgement over.
A time when consensus was gained over an important decision involved revising our pastoral system to promote positive engagement and teach expected behaviours. The process began with senior management collaboratively breaking down and refining ideas. The SLT facilitated open discussions, encouraging all voices to share their experiences and insights. This approach ensured that divergent views were considered and integrated. The leader then guided the team toward a shared understanding of “Our Why.” At a staff meeting, this collective understanding was presented, allowing everyone to contribute, discuss, and reach consensus on the new approach. This inclusive process nurtured collaboration and commitment to the initiative.
I found the consensus-building video incredibly helpful and took down several notes to add to my kete.
This resonated with me, as I’ve heard the sentiment: “There’s no point in collaborating because the leader will do what they want anyway.” There’s a culture where the leader already has the answer and will stick to their way.
Here are some ideas I want to keep in mind for when they’re needed:
Ensure everyone has the opportunity to contribute meaningfully.
Focus on listening more than speaking.
Take the time to explore and understand others’ perspectives.
Lastly, this isn’t just one conversation; we’re in this together, finding our way. I am open to the process.
Consider a time when consensus was gained over an important decision. What did the leader do to gather and process divergent points of view?
Always in the back of my mind is ‘what is in the best interests of akonga and/or the kura when making decisions when there has been discussion that demonstrates varying ideas and opinions. When we consider consensus are we wanting everyone to agree 100% on the outcome or agree to move on and live with the difference? I struggle to come up with a situation simply because we are not explicit about consensus in the conversation and a lot of our decisions begin with discussion and what works best for the kura. Most of the time this is fairly obvious.
Aaron mentioned the ‘moral of the room’ and this is important and something that I feel in certain aspects of our kura naturally occurs. Recently there was a decision that needed to be made over a contractor for example carrying out work at school. Myself and others felt this contractor was not necessarily a good choice based on previous circumstances but they offered the best value and quality. We were all given an opportunity to share our concerns and with the guidance of our presiding member in this case, we all were able to move forward with the contract.
Consider a time when consensus was gained over an important decision. What did the leader do to gather and process divergent points of view?
An example of this that I was recently involved in was also around the ERO SIF. We have ERO next term and we want to spend time as SMT to self review and decide where we thought we were at. We split up into three groups and worked through the document. We then shared, discussed and debated our decisions. For me this was a great example of how to come together and have everyone’s voices heard, and aligned with the concept of a needs based approach – who needs to be at the meeting and has the skills to answer the questions. It would have been unnecessary for the whole staff to be there so doing it as SMT was great.
I think the key to this is knowing when you need to consensus build, and knowing when you as a leader just needs to make a call. As Nikkole said their are times that a decision just needs to be made, and that is ok too, the key is know the difference, and who you are likely to come up against and have a plan for it.
I also have an angry thinking face so can very much relate to that!
Our principal is considering a new student management system, Hero, and has sought feedback from newer teachers with experience using it. She shared this with the Extended Leadership team and asked team leaders to prepare their thoughts for an upcoming meeting. Everyone, including administration and senior leadership, has been given time to attend webinars, speak to others, and form their own opinions. The final decision will be made by the Extended Leadership team, ensuring that all voices are heard and that the decision reflects a team effort, not just senior management. The principal has been very careful not to offer her thoughts on the decision but allowed the group to come to its own conclusions.
Ensuring that this is a team decision and that everyone is encouraged to contribute ensures that everyone has been heard. Therefore, the final decision will be one of the majority and in that sense there are no ‘winners or losers’.
Kia ora koutou, sorry this is late – we have been walking alongside ERO this past week and have been apart of the pilot. Although there have been many changes, our ERO partner and kura worked together to gain consensus using the School Improvement Framework (SIF).
Consensus building is such a skill with co construction at the forefront. I often talk about the need to build the culture of your team in a positive mana enhancing way. The middle leadership team in our kura are crucial. If they are on board this leads to greater clarity. Senior leadership have strategically made our middle leaders a smaller team and have established ground rules to ensure it as a safe place to share and hear different points of view. I like how Aaron talks about listening as an active process and to take time to understand what is being said. We take time to check, clarify and always loop back. I intentionally write “Draft” on first shared documents as this allows us a window to make changes to ensure we have clarity, consistency and a shared understanding.
Beginning to understand the philosophies and strategies for consensus building was interesting. I do not have a specific example, but wanted to reflect on the things that resonated with me from this video.
I was taken with the idea that consensus is not always necessary, that there are times when an executive decision needs to be made, but also times when consensus is important to building team morale.
I can see the importance of acknowledging and valuing the feelings of our team members, to build the morale and rapport of the team. I also see the importance of allowing time for everyone to have the opportunity to contribute meaningfully, to feel that their contributions are important and valued, and not to rush the decision-making process.
I like the ideas of setting clear expectations and guidelines at the outset of the discussion to ensure that all team members have the same opportunity to contribute and share their feelings if they wish to do so.
I also liked the strategy of on-boarding team members who can be unwilling. To give them a feeling of being part of the inner group by pre-sharing with them the possible discussions and decisions. This will give them time to think of the positive outcomes of the process rather than focus on their initial objections.
Consider a time when consensus was gained over an important decision. What did the leader do to gather and process divergent points of view?
As HOD, throughout the last year we have had to come to a consensus on what Level 1 standards we wanted to teach and how we were going to teach them, as a team we had to come to the consensus on this task. As the leader, I got my team together and we sat down with all the standards and looked at them individually and then talking them over. Aaron Ironside talks about “Buy in” and how it is important for people to be invested, which means they need to feel heard and listened to. It is important to get everyone’s opinion and then create the common outcome together. This allows for the team to have equal input on how we are going to teach the standards, therefore resulting in consistency and creates a culture of a solid team.
I really found this video interesting – there was a mix of “big ideas” as well as the practical stuff that we can use tomorrow if we need to. I know what you mean, Nikkole, about “I can’t help but wonder….”
The point that really resonated with me was the contrast between thoughts and feelings. You can’t argue with feelings – if you speak through your heart, rather than your head, you are going to get more buy-in from others, as they are more likely to help a feeling rather than a thought (facts). This is going to be a goal of mine moving forward in the future.
I also liked the part towards the end when he noted that a weaker idea with more buy-in is more likely to succeed than a stronger plan with less buy-in. I am reminded of when we were organising our first school triathlon, and it took some time to reach a consensus about how it would work. This was about 20 years ago, and the plan has changed many times since then. I’m not sure that we had the best plan in the beginning, but luckily I think we have one now.
Consider a time when consensus was gained over an important decision. What did the leader do to gather and process divergent points of view?
Wow, I found this really intriguing. The lack of buy in is interesting as there is this when there is a decision made and it doesn’t have consensus. I think that the majority of time should be consensus with your team but when quick, important decisions need to made, consensus actually doesn’t matter (in terms of health and safety, tier 3 behaviour and management decisions with property, budget, staffing etc -also just Principal stuff)
In terms of what Aaron said about reading the moral of the room – i think that is huge! this is not often the case but you need your team on board with you. You need to create a culture where there isn’t an approach of “my decision will over rule at the end of the day”
trying to see the world in the other side of the other person is important. Arron’s video was great and made me ponder some things! hearing your team and being listened to is good.
I can’t help but wonder… a god quote to add to the kete!