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? www.federalwayea.org 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