Alternative Decision Making Methods Guidelines |
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Process & Communication
Revised 10/11/06
The most likely situations when we might invoke an alternative decision making method are for topics that are urgent (consensus can take a long time), matters of personal taste (no solution that “best meets the needs of the community”), or that involve a conflict of interest (e.g., community taking legal action against a member).
Super Majority Vote
Although, not the only reason for utilizing a Super Majority Vote, urgency will sometimes preclude the use of consensus. Once a decision has been exempted from consensus by an Alternative Method Vote, the decision needs a Super Majority percentage of votes for passage. The Super Majority percentage is usually 75%, but that needs to be agreed upon during the Alternative Method Vote.
Multi-Voting
(See additional discussion in Facilitation Tools Resource.)
When deciding on an issue of personal taste (e.g., tile color), there is no solution that “best meets the needs of the community” so it’s usually not appropriate to use consensus. To use Multi-Voting, create a list of alternatives and then allow each member a given number of votes (~3 to ~10) to select alternatives. This is often done with sticky dots. Generally some maximum number of votes can be used for each alternative. Then vote on the top alternatives allowing one vote per member (generally a simple majority wins, i.e., >50%).
Revised 10/11/06
The most likely situations when we might invoke an alternative decision making method are for topics that are urgent (consensus can take a long time), matters of personal taste (no solution that “best meets the needs of the community”), or that involve a conflict of interest (e.g., community taking legal action against a member).
Super Majority Vote
Although, not the only reason for utilizing a Super Majority Vote, urgency will sometimes preclude the use of consensus. Once a decision has been exempted from consensus by an Alternative Method Vote, the decision needs a Super Majority percentage of votes for passage. The Super Majority percentage is usually 75%, but that needs to be agreed upon during the Alternative Method Vote.
Multi-Voting
(See additional discussion in Facilitation Tools Resource.)
When deciding on an issue of personal taste (e.g., tile color), there is no solution that “best meets the needs of the community” so it’s usually not appropriate to use consensus. To use Multi-Voting, create a list of alternatives and then allow each member a given number of votes (~3 to ~10) to select alternatives. This is often done with sticky dots. Generally some maximum number of votes can be used for each alternative. Then vote on the top alternatives allowing one vote per member (generally a simple majority wins, i.e., >50%).