151 Quick Ideas for Delegating and Decision Making

14Is Consensus Decision Making Right for Your Situation?

Of course, deciding when consensus decision making is appropriate is the key to using this mechanism best.

Consensus decision making is best used when there is a clearly identifiable group or team to make the decision. The boundaries of the group need to be clear, such as a normal work team with a clearly established membership and common goals and objectives, or a management team that routinely meets to collaborate—not an ad hoc group of people just brought together, which just ends up being consultation.

The situation needs to be right as well. Never use consensus for personal actions. That’s a manager’s job, pure and simple. Never use consensus for determining equipment purchases, product ...