REALITY CHECK: This text is from a recruitment ad for the CEO of an international NGO which appeared recently in The Economist magazine. It could just as well have been written for a disaster manager or coordinator … “To ensure effective decision-making, you will have proven strategic communications skills, including the ability to create consensus through active debate and logical argument in a challenging environment, and effectively resolve conflicts.”
The key word in this advertisement is ‘create’. Building consensus requires that Cluster participants share information, air differences, work together to analyse challenges and find mutually acceptable solutions. After a decision has been reached, all those participating should feel that their viewpoint was heard and understood, and that they heard and understood the viewpoints of others in the group. They will support it because it was arrived at in an open and fair way. Yet reaching such a consensus is difficult in “standing-room only” coordination meetings attended by representatives of 50 or more agencies. In such large unwieldy groups, it is