Transcript Consensus Shared Decision Making

Collective Bargaining
101
Consensus and
Shared Decision
Making
2014-2017 FWPS/FWEA Negotiated
Bargaining Agreement
What is consensus/shared decision
making?
 Consensus is a decision-making process used to find the highest level of
agreement without dividing the participants into factions. In the process,
everyone in the group:
◦ Supports (thumbs up)
◦ or can live with a particular decision (thumbs sideways)
Why do we as a District have shared
decision making/consensus as a
standard?
• We believe (FWEA and FWSD Management) that decisions
made collectively are the best-made decisions.
• Finding consensus within a
group of dedicated
professionals isn’t always a
quick and easy
process….the alternative is
possible division, contention
and lack of productivity
among involved participants.
When do we use shared decision
making as a staff?
When the decision impacts the workday.
 Staff meetings (what, when, where)
 Rainy day recess plan (elementary)
 Sub rotation plan
 Site discipline plan
 Establishment of building committees
 Contract waivers
 Advisory (flexibility to create and implement advisory programs at each
site) (high school)
 See complete list (handout)
Let’s look at an example of shared
decision making in action….
 Staff come together at their “nuts and bolts day” to decide on how long
staff meetings will be this year. Someone (doesn’t matter who) puts a
suggestion of 1 hr. to the group.
 The staff discusses/debates this proposal for a while….The person
leading the meeting then notices discussion seems to be dying down.
 Principal or whoever is leading the discussion asks for a show of
consensus (consensus isn’t voting!, it’s a process.)
 The principal and 27 of the 28 staff members present are a thumbs up
or sideways meaning they either support or can live with it. However, 1
staff member has a thumbs down.
What happens next…????
 The staff member that had a thumbs down is given the opportunity to
share why they are opposed to the proposal.
 The person leading the meeting then asks for another show of
consensus.
 As long as the group is still 75%+ (regardless of whether or not that
staff members thumb remained down) then consensus has been
reached and EVERYONE now lives with or supports the decision.
Principals are (not) outnumbered in
the shared decision making
process…
• The building principal/supervisor is not outnumbered in this process.
Should a staff use consensus to come to a solution and the
principal/supervisor is a “thumbs down”, then the conversation needs
to continue until there is a comprise that either moves the
principal/supervisor to “thumbs up or thumbs sideways.”
 If after more discussion/debate the principal is still a thumbs down, then there
is a contractual process in place to help mediate the situation which will be
handled by both Human resources and/or FWEA leadership. Staff will need to
develop a building resolution team using the shared decision making process.
Have questions?
• Please contact your building’s Association Representative, your
site’s FWEA Executive Board Liaison, and/or Human Resources if
you have questions on the content of this presentation.
• You can also browse the FWEA member web site or FWPS web
site for other helpful information!
www.federalwayea.org