democratically is through consultation as this allows all participants to express their opinions or views openly, and for all the various views and opinions to be considered respectfully. Please remember to treat your mentees as you would like to be treated yourself.
Different opinions are valuable to consultation and decision making. Everyone ‟ s contributions must be respected, and all participants must be willing to listen and try to understand opposing opinions and ideas. Please share the Consultative Decision Making Principles as they appear in the box below, with your mentees and ensure that everyone is in agreement with them. However, do give participants the chance to revise these principles as the aim is to identify a Consultative Decision Making Protocol to be followed throughout the social start up process.
Consultative Decision Making Principles – please share these with the participants:
1. Be respectful – having a respectful and open attitude towards your colleagues will improve your ability to listen attentively, and to understand viewpoints that differ from your own. Being able to do that, means that you will be able to contribute constructively to the discussions.
2. Pay attention – make sure that you listen with respect and attention to your colleagues as they offer their views / opinions. You may not agree with what they say, but they may well raise valid and valuable points!
3. Ask questions – if you are unclear on a topic, or need further clarification, ask questions. If you don ‟ t understand something, it ‟ s quite likely that someone else in the group doesn ‟ t either!
4. Negotiate – through negotiating you will identify colleagues who share your ideas, and others with whom you will disagree. The key is to listen respectfully and attentively to opposing views and ideas, and ask constructive questions that will help the team make a decision.
5. Vote – the very final stage of the consultation process is to vote. This allows each participant to express their view on the decision being discussed, by voting for or against it. It is best to conduct a secret ballot. The votes are then counted by the mentor, and the point that secures the most votes, wins! If a vote produces a tie, then the mentor will have the final casting( deciding) vote.
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