The Consensus Building Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Reaching Agreement

This handbook on group decision-making for those wanting to operate in a consensus fashion stresses the advantages of informal, common sense approaches to working together. It describes how any group can put these approaches into practice, and relates numerous examples of situations in which such approaches have been applied.

This handbook on group decision-making for those wanting to operate in a consensus fashion stresses the advantages of informal, common sense approaches to working together. It describes how any group can put these approaches into practice, and relates numerous examples of situations in which such approaches have been applied.

Booknews

Susskind (urban and environmental planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology), along with mediator/facilitator Sarah McKearnan and writer/editor Jennifer Thomas-Larmer, has compiled a reference guide to building agreement in groups. A short guide (intended for use as an alternative to Robert's Rules of Order) summarizes the essential steps and procedures involved in building consensus. Seventeen chapters describe the phases, facets, and forms of consensus building, explaining how to reach agreement. Case studies, with commentaries by nine experts in related fields, illustrate the variety of settings in which consensus building can be successfully employed. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Sarah McKearnan is a nationally recognized multiparty mediator/facilitator. She served as a Consensus Building Institute Senior Associate for five years, and is now an International Programme on the Management of Sustainability faculty member. She is also a trainer of negotiation simulations, consulting reports, and articles on the history and practice of dispute resolution in academic journals and magazines.