Consensus


Liane Davey is the Co-founder and Principal at 3Coze Inc.   The vision of 3Coze Inc. is “to change the way people communicate, connect, and contribute so they can achieve amazing things together.”  Ms. Davey’s web site can be found here.

I read Ms. Davey’s blog post this morning called “How smart is your team?”

I was so excited to learn that according to early research, the #1 predictor of how smart a team is is “equality of participation” in meetings (and that no one person dominates the conversation in meetings).   

I strongly relate to the phrase “equality of participation”, because I personally experienced this kind of interaction in a work context. 

When I was at Combined Insurance, I chaired meetings (approximately 135 of them) for the Joint Health and Safety Committee, United Way Committee, FISH! (Social) Committee and the Recognition and Awards Committee. 

Working on committees with terrific colleagues was the best experience I had at Combined Insurance!

I loved the sense of collaboration we shared; everyone felt comfortable in voicing their opinion.  One of the rules that we lived by in our meetings was that all of our decisions would be based on consensus.  When everyone felt that they had a stake in shaping the final decision, there was an impetus for everyone to speak up and make themselves heard.

As committee chair (or co-chair), my role was to encourage an environment where everyone felt comfortable to participate. 

Here are some of the things that I brought to the role: 

  • Listened (didn’t interrupt)
  • Open and transparent with information -- One of the tenets of our meetings was that whatever we discussed at meetings was to be treated as confidential.  If you’re familiar with the phrase “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” applied to our meetings
  • Servant’s mentality -- Nobody (least of all me) knew about this concept at the time, but I’d do extra things just to help the committee move things along  
  • Humility – I was a hands-on chair, and so, like my committee colleagues, I pitched in and completed tasks outside of committee meeting times.  Also, I was of the mindset that I could learn from everyone’s perspective and therefore I listened. 
Working on committees with my colleagues at Combined Insurance was a joyful experience!

Who knew after all these years that we were a smart team, to boot?


Originally Published on LinkedIn:  July 13, 2016
Image Credit:  Pixabay

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