Chairman

The chairman (or facilitator) plays a key role in consultative decision making. In some cases, the chairman is selected democratically, either by secret or open voting. In other cases, the formal leader of a company or organization will serve as the chairman. Some groups choose to have a rotating chairman, to give everyone the experience of serving in this role. This practice serves to sensitize all of the participants to the difficulty of being the chairman, and the need for the group to support the chairman.

The chairman guides the group through the stages of reaching a consensus and action plan. He or she keeps the meeting moving, following the process for each subject on the agenda, and monitoring time usage and assisting the group to cover all the agreed agenda in the allotted time. He or she will focus discussion to the point-at hand and make sure everyone has the opportunity to participate. The chairman often, but not always, formulates the consensus decision and tests to see if it has been reached.

The skill and fairness of the chairman plays a large role in consultative decision making. It is a difficult role to balance process and efficiency. Not everyone has the ability to see a potential consensus decision when there are conflicting opinions that appear logically incompatible. An experienced chairman with a supportive group will know various methodologies that can be used if finding agreement is difficult (e.g., a weighing exercise of the options; a discussion of the pros and cons, the gathering of more facts; return to the subject at a later time; etc).

Another important role given to the chairman in some groups is to finish each meeting with an evaluation the meeting—how well did the group function together, and what could be done to make the functioning better.

Specific tasks of the chairman:

1.    Coordinates the development of the agenda;
2.    Sets up the room and physical environment for the meeting;
3.    At the start of the meeting, reviews the agenda and obtains approval of the group;
4.    After the agenda is approved, proposes time planning for the agenda items, and obtains approval of the group;
5.    Reviews ground rules and confirms the note taker;
6.    Keeps the group and speakers focused on the agenda item and task at hand;
7.    Protects the process by enforcing ground rules and time allotments;
8.    Encourages the expression of various viewpoints;
9.    Doesn't let discussion continue between two people, but ask for comments from others in the group;
10.    Holds people to speaking for themselves rather than making vague references to others;
11.    Helps the group make a decision. Looks for points of agreement and states them;
12.    Makes the group deal with going beyond the allotted time limit for an agenda item.  Where will the additional time come from?  What agenda item should have less time?
13.    Focuses on closure by insisting that discussions be resolved with the identification of appropriate next steps, and that agreements and decisions are suitably identified and recorded;
14.    Uses humor and other means to alleviate tension, or when solutions are hard to reach;
15.    Remains neutral.  If drawn into the discussion in support of a particular position, steps aside as chairman until the next agenda item;
16.    Organizes regular breaks - energy injections – including short games, songs, a common stretch, etc.