What do we mean by "consensus"?

Published January 29th, 2008 by Andrew Maxfield

Consensus means overwhelming agreement. And, it is important that consensus be the product of a good-faith effort to meet the interests of all stakeholders. The key indicator of whether or not a consensus has been reached is that everyone agrees they can live with the final proposal; that is, after every effort has been made to meet any outstanding interests. Thus, consensus requires that someone frame a proposal after listening carefully to everyone's interests.

Most consensus building efforts set out to achieve unanimity. Along the way, however, it often becomes clear that there are holdouts—people who believe that their interests will be better served by remaining outside the emerging agreement. Most dispute resolution professionals believe that groups or assemblies should seek unanimity, but settle for overwhelming agreement that goes as far as possible toward meeting the interests of all stakeholders. It is absolutely crucial that this definition of success be clear at the outset.

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