Description
Together We Decide:
An Essential Guide for Making Good Group Decisions
by Craig Freshley
All groups—teams, boards, nonprofits, businesses, governments, —must make decisions to make forward progress. In organizations large and small, simple and complex, public and private, people need to decide things together.
And intentional communities are no exception! We create highly collaborative spaces where we share resources, create policy, and celebrate together – all of which require good group decision making. Although this book is not specific to intentional communities, it speaks to the type of collaborative work we do together.
With tips, principles, examples, and stories, Craig Freshley shares the essentials that groups need to make decisions that provide lasting benefits. Practical and authoritative, this friendly guide from a veteran group facilitator is a must-have for those seeking proven techniques for collaborative decision-making.
Freshley’s message is especially pertinent to today’s world: It’s through collaboration, not competition, that groups of the future will create, innovate, and thrive. It is collaboration, not competition that will save us from extinction.
Collaborative decision making is a skill that can be successfully learned and practiced. Freshley shows groups how.
Topics include:
- Efficient and productive meetings
- Attitudes that help and hinder group productivity
- Group decision making steps: from idea to decision to action
- The supremacy of group culture
- How to listen well and speak with purpose
- Conflict prevention, management, and resolution
- When to apply which type of decision-making method
- Meeting facilitation theory and techniques
About the author of Together We Decide:
Craig Freshley is a professional meeting facilitator, speaker, and author with an inspiring attitude and a well-earned reputation for helping groups be efficient and productive. He has been living in a Cohousing community for 25 years.
He has professionally facilitated over 3,000 meetings and has helped countless groups make indispensable good decisions. Craig owns a small company called Good Group Decisions and works with a wide range of clients including nonprofits, governments, and businesses of all sizes and in all sectors.
Craig received the American Civic Collaboration Award in 2019 for creating and facilitating Make Shift Coffee Houses: places where Republicans, Democrats, and all kinds of people meet in-person to talk, hear live music, share food, and understand each other’s political views.
Craig has a master’s degree in Public Policy and Management from the Muskie School for Public Service, and two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Maine. He has worked for the Maine State Planning Office, the Maine Development Foundation, and he helped start the Maine Downtown Center, Sustainable Maine, GrowSmart Maine, and other initiatives.
