Consensus Decision Making
Consensus decision making is based on personal responsibility of all group members, and prevents any split between majority and minority that can undermine the group climate and ruin mutual trust.
With this method the first phase of the process is debate: every proposal is presented and openly discussed by all participants, who can bring changes and modifications, including substantial ones, until the proposal has the support of everyone in the group.
In the decision making phase, one can hold three positions: giving consensus means that one approves of the proposal and is available to participate in the action directly; standing aside means that one agrees with the idea, but will not participate for personal reasons; blocking means that the proposal should not go forward. The block must be explained openly to the whole group. One block is enough to stop the proposal.
Our community has used consensus for several years with good results. For the acceptance of new residents by the community, a block by a community member for personal reasons is valid.
To know more about consensus decision making, you can check the International Institute for Facilitation and Consensus:
http://www.iifac.org/index.php
