Shared Decision-MakingNovember 29, 2007

LEARNERSLEARNERS

==

LEADERSLEADERS

Table Talk!Table Talk!

What burning question(s) do you have about effective shared decision-making?

How might effective shared decisions benefit students?

How might effective shared decisions benefit YOU in your role?

Share a personal experience or one you have heard about that exemplified effective shared decision-making.

The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple.

Peter Stark & Jane Flaherty

PURPOSEPURPOSE

To provide experiences, tools, strategies, and resources that will enhance participants’ effectiveness as facilitators of adult learning

FEEDBACK FROM FEEDBACK FROM SESSION 4SESSION 4

21 Responses

VALUE Average: 4.8 Range: 4X4, 1x4.5, 16X5

FOUND USEFUL Working in teams as we learned about teams

Variety of activities, protocols, & handouts

Opportunities for reflection

IMPROVEMENTS More time for more depth Help us with where to begin

APPLICATIONS Use protocols & activities with my team Practice using Group Member Capabilities myself Increase planning time for team meetings Use ideas & strategies with a new team that is just forming

Desired OutcomesDesired Outcomes

Understanding of “maximum appropriate involvement” in shared decision-making

Insights into consensus, as a decision-making option

Strategies and tools for facilitating shared decisions

Confidence!

Today’s AgendaToday’s Agenda

Table Talk! Decision-Making Framework

Boosters & Barriers to Shared Decisions

Maximum Appropriate InvolvementConsensus

Structures for Success Reflections & Feedback

NORMS FOR OUR LEARNING

• Share experiences to enrich others.

• Ask questions.• Pay attention to your

“Feathers”.• Learn by doing – apply to your

own work.• Postpone distractions.

Staff Participation Staff Participation in Decision Makingin Decision Making

We are committed to making effective decisions

through extensive involvement of staff

affected by the decision.

Force Field Force Field AnalysisAnalysis

Brainstorm boosters in place at your school/department that help make this core value live.Brainstorm barriers to effective decisions through extensive involvement of staff.With your table group . . . What common themes and/or areas of improvement do you see?

Each TeachEach Teach……Individually read the Steps for Making Successful Decisions.Partner A “teaches” back Planning section.Partner B “teaches” back Deciding section.Collaboratively review Implementing section.

Steps for Making Steps for Making Successful DecisionsSuccessful Decisions

Planning

Deciding

Implementing

Who decides?

What decision-making process will

be used?

Who are we in the decision-making process?

Informing, Recommending, Deciding

How will the decision be communicated?

Concretely and

Symbolically

How will the Decision-making Process be Communicated?

• Before,

• during,

• and after

the decision.

• And, to whom?

DECISION MAKING

The Adaptive School: Developing and Facilitating Collaborative Groups,

By Robert Garmston and Bruce Wellman

Maximum Appropriate Involvement

Level of Ownersh

ip

Level of Involvemen

t

Consensus

Gather Input from Team & Decide

Gather Input from Individuals & Decide

Decide & Announce

Fallback

Facilitative Leadership: Tapping the Power of Participation. Interaction Associates

Risks & Risks & BenefitsBenefits

Increasing involvement requires sharing more information, authority,

and responsibility. There are benefits and risks to increasing

involvement in decision-making.

What are the benefits and risks of involving an entire staff in decisions?

Factors to ConsiderFactors to Consider

Stakeholder Buy-In Time Available Importance of the Decision Information Needed Capability Building Teamwork

Maximum Appropriate Involvement

Level of Ownersh

ip

Level of Involvemen

t

Consensus

Gather Input from Team & Decide

Gather Input from Individuals & Decide

Decide & Announce

Fallback

Facilitative Leadership: Tapping the Power of Participation. Interaction Associates

Reflection

• What would I recommend as decisions to be made in each category?

• Record at least two examples of each type on post-its, and post them on the appropriate chart.

There is no one way to make a decision. A conscious choice must be made about how much to involve others after weighing all the factors.

How do you define consensus when your team considers a proposal?

Continuum of Reaching Continuum of Reaching AgreementAgreement

1. All of us can embrace the proposal.

2. All of us can endorse the proposal.3. All of us can live with the proposal.4. All of us can agree not to

sabotage the proposal.5. We have a majority – at least 51%

- in support of the proposal.

Consensus in a PLCConsensus in a PLC

A group has arrived at consensus when:

All points of view have been heard.

The will of the group is evident even to those who most oppose it.

Let’s Try It!Let’s Try It!All schools and departments will shift to 4

10-hour workdays per week, in place of 5 8-hour days, effective July 1, 2007.

PRO’s CON’s

Consensus in a PLCConsensus in a PLC

A group has arrived at consensus when:

All points of view have been heard.

The will of the group is evident even to those who most oppose it.

Successful groups know how to fight gracefully – they embrace the positive aspects of conflict

and actively minimize the negative aspects . . . Conflict is

an important resource for forging better practices.Garmston & Wellman, 1999

STRUCTURES

FOR

SUCCESS

When it comes to risky, controversial, and emotional conversations, skilled people find a way to get all relevant information (from themselves and others) out into the open . . . through dialogue.

Dialogue – the free flow of meaning between two or more people

Ways of TalkingDIALOGUE

• Diverging• Free & creative

EXPLORATION• Requires

suspension of one’s views

• Spirit of collegiality

• Leads to UNDERSTANDING

DISCUSSION• Converging• Careful

ANALYSIS & DISSECTION

• Requires a macro centric

view

• Spirit of debate

• Leads to a DECISION

Problem Problem Solving/Decision-Solving/Decision-Making ProcessMaking Process

Collecting information/dataGenerating ideasOrganizing ideasNarrowing ideasEvaluating ideasMaking decisions

TASKTASK: 1. Select one strategy per triad member

for reading and highlighting.

2. Teach each strategy:• Highlight BIG idea(s) in the

text.• Share an example application.

3. Review the “Strategies Worksheet” together.

• What am I thinking now that I wasn’t thinking when I arrived?

• How might I apply my learning?

Talk it over.Talk it over.

With a colleague . . .With a colleague . . .

.

A genuine leader is not a searcher for

consensus …

rather a molder of consensus.

M. L. King