Consultation 101
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 129 No 7, 27 September 2024, page 26.
When something different is about to occur, as is frequently the case in a workplace setting, investing the time and thinking to develop and implement a process that allows for meaningful consultation to occur can produce significant dividends.
Consultation provides a valuable opportunity to avoid adopting (or defaulting to) an approach referred to by American academic Brené Brown as “armoured leadership”, reflective of leading from a position of self-protection.
A concise conceptualisation of a consultative process:
Change happens! While some changes are relatively modest in their scope and impact, others have the potential to have significant and enduring implications for students, staff, and school communities. The existing school culture should be considered in terms of how to articulate and structure the consultative process. In some schools, undertaking a process through which change is managed in a considered and sequential way occurs relatively spontaneously, whereas in other settings this may be more of a novel opportunity requiring a more deliberate and methodical approach.
Effective communication is critical. Developing a communication strategy that involves asking the right questions from the beginning of the change process contributes to a process characterised by clarity and engagement. These four examples represent just some of the many possibilities:
- What outcomes are we aiming to achieve through this process?
- What are the possible options or choices?
- What are the costs and benefits of these identified options?
- What are our non-negotiables?
Consultation presents an opportunity to be inclusive through purposeful engagement and collaboration. Adopting a consultative approach to change encourages the consideration of potential unintended and unforeseen consequences arising from a new or different practice. Examples include associated workload implications, impacts upon existing ways of working, new problems of practice that may arise from the change, and how to “future-proof” something which is put in place today in order to remain relevant long after the implementation of process has concluded.
Consultation can contribute to a sense of informed consent, resulting in a greater sense of understanding through the socialisation of differing perspectives, potentially avoiding the perception that a change is being imposed upon, aka “done to”, the collective.
Consensus is reached. Ideally an outcome reflecting a position of general consensus of those affected by the process will result. At the end of the process, if individuals genuinely believe that their voices have been heard then outcomes are much more likely to reflect the norm, rather than highlighting specific points of difference.
The QTU Consultation Guide (https://www.qtu.asn.au/qtuguide-consultation) offers a wealth of wisdom and practical insights to assist members with incorporating opportunities for consultation into key decision-making processes.
At the end of the day, relying on artificial intelligence to provide us with the answers we are seeking is no match for a process which involves and engages people, where the affected individuals and parties have the opportunity to engage through meaningful consultation. Working from the premise that “none of us is as smart as all of us”, when it comes to getting a process right the first time, nothing beats good, old-fashioned, tried and tested, common sense!