Convergent Facilitation
Convergent Facilitation is a process for collaborative decision making. It can be used for many types of decision making in groups, but it's particularly useful for making a decision that the group is finding difficult or where, at least on the surface, the group seems to be polarised in some way. It invites a group to look beneath the surface and find the essence of what’s important to each person, and bring these together into a set of principles. The group then develops proposals rooted in those principles and ultimately reaches a decision that everyone can wholeheartedly support, even if it’s not their preference.
Convergent Facilitation was developed by Miki Kashtan from the principles of Nonviolent Communication. It's effective because it focuses on:
This text was adapted from various sources from Miki Kashtan including: the Center for Efficient Collaboration, and NVC Academy.
Convergent Facilitation was developed by Miki Kashtan from the principles of Nonviolent Communication. It's effective because it focuses on:
- Building enough trust in the room for people to voice their real concerns
- Tapping into a group’s shared purpose, which leads to decisions that everyone truly supports – without sacrificing productivity, efficiency, and forward momentum.
- Transforming disagreement about positions into agreement about principles, so the group can focus on problem-solving together
- Attending to everyone’s needs and concerns, which gives people room to stretch, shift, adapt, and even advocate for others
- Giving tools to address power differences to increase the chances that everyone can share their needs, ideas, and concerns and speak frankly about what really matters to them
- Encouraging honesty while crafting agreements, so no one says they’re willing to compromise and then sabotages the decision later.
This text was adapted from various sources from Miki Kashtan including: the Center for Efficient Collaboration, and NVC Academy.