Shared Decision-Making November 29, 2007 LEARNERS=LEADERS

Table Talk! What burning question(s) do you have about effective shared decision-making? How might effective shared decisions benefit students? How might effective shared decisions benefit YOU in your role? Share a personal experience or one you have heard about that exemplified effective shared decision-making.

The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple. Peter Stark & Jane Flaherty

PURPOSE To provide experiences, tools, strategies, and resources that will enhance participants’ effectiveness as facilitators of adult learning

FEEDBACK FROM SESSION 4 21 Responses VALUE Average: 4.8 Range: 4X4, 1x4.5, 16X5 FOUND USEFUL Working in teams as we learned about teams Variety of activities, protocols, & handouts Opportunities for reflection IMPROVEMENTS More time for more depth Help us with where to begin APPLICATIONS Use protocols & activities with my team Practice using Group Member Capabilities myself Increase planning time for team meetings Use ideas & strategies with a new team that is just forming

Desired Outcomes Understanding of “maximum appropriate involvement” in shared decision-making Insights into consensus, as a decision- making option Strategies and tools for facilitating shared decisions Confidence!

Today’s Agenda Today’s Agenda Table Talk! Decision-Making Framework  Boosters & Barriers to Shared Decisions  Maximum Appropriate Involvement  Consensus Structures for Success Reflections & Feedback

NORMS FOR OUR LEARNING Share experiences to enrich others. Ask questions. Pay attention to your “Feathers”. Learn by doing – apply to your own work. Postpone distractions.

Staff Participation in Decision Making We are committed to making effective decisions through extensive involvement of staff affected by the decision.

Force Field Analysis Brainstorm boosters in place at your school/department that help make this core value live. Brainstorm barriers to effective decisions through extensive involvement of staff. With your table group... What common themes and/or areas of improvement do you see?

Each Teach … Individually read the Steps for Making Successful Decisions. Partner A “teaches” back Planning section. Partner B “teaches” back Deciding section. Collaboratively review Implementing section.

Steps for Making Successful Decisions Planning Deciding Implementing

Who decides? What decision- making process will be used? Who are we in the decision-making process? Informing, Recommending, Deciding How will the decision be communicated? Concretely and Symbolically How will the Decision-making Process be Communicated? Before, during, and after the decision. And, to whom? DECISION MAKING The Adaptive School: Developing and Facilitating Collaborative Groups, By Robert Garmston and Bruce Wellman

Maximum Appropriate Involvement Level of Ownership Level of Involvement Consensus Gather Input from Team & Decide Gather Input from Individuals & Decide Decide & Announce Fallback Facilitative Leadership: Tapping the Power of Participation. Interaction Associates

Risks & Benefits Increasing involvement requires sharing more information, authority, and responsibility. There are benefits and risks to increasing involvement in decision-making. What are the benefits and risks of involving an entire staff in decisions?

Factors to Consider Stakeholder Buy-In Time Available Importance of the Decision Information Needed Capability Building Teamwork

Maximum Appropriate Involvement Level of Ownership Level of Involvement Consensus Gather Input from Team & Decide Gather Input from Individuals & Decide Decide & Announce Fallback Facilitative Leadership: Tapping the Power of Participation. Interaction Associates

Reflection What would I recommend as decisions to be made in each category? Record at least two examples of each type on post-its, and post them on the appropriate chart.

There is no one way to make a decision. A conscious choice must be made about how much to involve others after weighing all the factors.

How do you define consensus when your team considers a proposal?

Continuum of Reaching Agreement 1. All of us can embrace the proposal. 2. All of us can endorse the proposal. 3. All of us can live with the proposal. 4. All of us can agree not to sabotage the proposal. 5. We have a majority – at least 51% - in support of the proposal.

Consensus in a PLC A group has arrived at consensus when:  All points of view have been heard.  The will of the group is evident even to those who most oppose it.

Let’s Try It! All schools and departments will shift to 4 10-hour workdays per week, in place of 5 8-hour days, effective July 1, PRO’sCON’s

Consensus in a PLC A group has arrived at consensus when:  All points of view have been heard.  The will of the group is evident even to those who most oppose it.

Successful groups know how to fight gracefully – they embrace the positive aspects of conflict and actively minimize the negative aspects... Conflict is an important resource for forging better practices. Garmston & Wellman, 1999

STRUCTURES FOR SUCCESS

When it comes to risky, controversial, and emotional conversations, skilled people find a way to get all relevant information (from themselves and others) out into the open... through dialogue. Dialogue – the free flow of meaning between two or more people

Ways of Talking DIALOGUE Diverging Free & creative EXPLORATION Requires suspension of one’s views Spirit of collegiality Leads to UNDERSTANDING DISCUSSION Converging Careful ANALYSIS & DISSECTION Requires a macro centric view Spirit of debate Leads to a DECISION

Problem Solving/Decision- Making Process Collecting information/data Generating ideas Organizing ideas Narrowing ideas Evaluating ideas Making decisions

TASK TASK: 1. Select one strategy per triad member for reading and highlighting. 2. Teach each strategy: Highlight BIG idea(s) in the text. Share an example application. 3. Review the “Strategies Worksheet” together.

What am I thinking now that I wasn’t thinking when I arrived? How might I apply my learning? Talk it over. With a colleague...

. A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus … rather a molder of consensus. M. L. King