What are the best techniques to help your team reach a consensus?

1 Define the problem and the goal

Before you start the consensus-building process, you need to make sure that your team understands the problem or the issue that needs to be resolved, and the goal or the desired outcome that you are aiming for. You can use a SMART framework to define the problem and the goal, which means they should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. You can also ask your team to brainstorm and list the criteria or the standards that they will use to evaluate the possible solutions or options.

4 Evaluate and narrow down options

Once your team has generated and shared various options or solutions for the problem or the issue, you need to help them evaluate and narrow down the options to reach a consensus. You can use a multi-criteria analysis or a decision matrix to compare and rank the options based on the criteria or the standards that your team agreed on. You can also use pros and cons lists, SWOT analysis, or cost-benefit analysis to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each option. You can then eliminate the options that do not meet the minimum requirements or have significant drawbacks.

5 Test and confirm consensus

After you have narrowed down the options to one or a few that seem to have the most support and the least resistance from your team, you need to test and confirm that your team has reached a consensus. You can use a scale or a spectrum technique to ask your team members to rate their level of agreement or support for the option or the solution. You can also use a fist-to-five or a thumbs-up, thumbs-down, thumbs-sideways technique to ask your team members to indicate their willingness or readiness to accept the option or the solution. If there are any objections or concerns, you need to address them and seek for ways to accommodate them.

6 Document and communicate the outcome

The final step of helping your team reach a consensus is to document and communicate the outcome clearly and transparently. You need to summarize the problem or the issue, the goal or the desired outcome, the criteria or the standards, the options or the solutions, and the consensus or the agreement that your team reached. You also need to specify the roles, responsibilities, and actions that your team members need to take to implement the outcome. You need to communicate the outcome to your team, your stakeholders, and anyone else who is affected by the decision or the plan.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?