Building Consensus: Conflict and Unity

Building Consensus: Conflict and Unity is a thorough and practical guide for managers, teams, and other groups interested in making decisions through a learning process rather than a win-lose game. It recognizes the importance of engaging different viewpoints and of dealing with conflict. Early chapters identify attitudes and practices that can transform decision-making, even when voting or executive authority will determine the final course of action.

For teams and groups interested in deciding by consensus, this volume offers an alternative to other forms of consensus decision-making that are based on unanimity. It also gives steps for facilitating the decision process and for developing a sustainable agreement. Drawing on the consensus-building approaches used by Quakers for over 300 years, these materials were developed in training over 2,500 participants from businesses, non-profit organizations, community leadership groups, and public agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

(description is from the back cover)