Encyclopedia of Leadership

10.10

CLOSURE: HELPING GROUPSMAKE

DECISIONS AND PLANS EFFICIENTLY

Inspired by John Cleese, Victor Vroom, Philip Yetton, and John E. Jones.

Have you ever been to a meeting at which the discussion went on and on? Or a decision was

just about to be made, and the topic switched to a new issue? Or much of the meeting was

spent deciding what was decided at the last meeting? Closure skills improve the efficiency of

group meetings. They do this by ensuring that decisions are made, plans are understood, and

people are committed to taking appropriate action.

Using clear terminology helps:

✔ Terms such as consensus and consultation are often misunderstood. Consensusmeans

most agree, and everybody can live with the decision. Consultation, on the other hand,

is a process of gathering input from others, but then making the decision yourself.

Thus, when you’re consulting with someone, it’s important to let the person know

that, while you will be listening carefully to what he or she has to say, youalone will

ultimately be making the decision.

✔ The distinction between consensus and voting can be explained this way: With voting,

50 percent or more of the people in the group need to agree; with consensus, 50 per-

cent or more of each personneeds to agree. Thus, with consensus, the decision reached

may not be your preferred option, but you can live with it and support it.

Use this matrix to ensure that you are clear on terminology.

CLOSURE MATRIX

326 SECTION 10 TOOLS FORLEADINGTEAMS ANDGROUPS

Method

of deciding

Unanimity

Consensus

Voting

Consultation

Directive

Typical question

or statement

“Do we all agree?”

“Can you live with this?”or,

“Can you go along with this?”

“How many agree?”or, “Are

most of us agreed?”

“I need to make this decision

myself, but I want your input.

Can you tell me ...?”

“I’ll make the final decision.”

Pros

High degree of ownership

and commitment.

Everyone has a minimum

level of acceptance.

Fits with our democratic

culture; relatively fast.

Encourages input and

involvement, even though

the leader will ultimately

make the decision.

Fast. Can break deadlocks.

Useful in emergencies.

Cons

Can take a lot of time, and

may prove to be impossible.

Can appear wishy-washy. At

its worst, consensus might

result only in compliance.

May create losers and

winners.

Some people may think that

the leader never really heard

them out or took their

perspective seriously.

People may think that their

views were not considered.

May result in implementa-

tion problems.