FREE online courses on Effective Meeting Facilitation - Orchestrating The
Meeting - Decision making by vote
Traditionally, groups made decisions by voting, and allowed
the "majority to rule." Voting makes sense when:
- Many
people are involved
- The
population is diverse
- Moving
forward is more important than settlement
- Before
votes are cast there is ample time for dialogue
- The
dialogue includes looking at and evaluating a number of options
The disadvantage of voting is that it leads to an all or
nothing, win/lose outcome. What happens to those who voted "nay" and were
outnumbered? How committed are they to supporting the outcome? And, what happens
to the concerns driving the no-vote. Were those concerns addressed, or will they
come back to haunt the yea-sayers? Ample discussion with analysis of alternative
courses of action can counteract the disadvantages of voting. Even then, voting
might be reserved as a last resort. Clearly, in a small group convened for the
purpose of planning, consensus is possible and more desirable.
