Creating Productive Groups through Effective Decision Making

Paula Manley, Nonprofit Consultant & Trainer, Paula Manley Consulting
Tasha Harmon, Nonprofit Consultant & Trainer, LifeWorkChanges.com

Does any of this sound familiar in your organization?

• You try to make decisions inclusively but run into time pressures and complaints about too many meetings
• People are unclear about decisions that have already been made
• Employees say they lack needed information to do their jobs
• Committees and work groups keep getting stuck

As nonprofits, our success depends on our ability to work together—including making sound decisions that lead to committed action. Despite our best efforts to engage and inform others, effective decision-making is often elusive: informality can result in chaos, while too much formality can lead to bottlenecks and stifle creativity.

In this highly participatory workshop you will learn powerful, easy-to-use tools to enhance decision making, communication, and productivity in your team or organization. Together we will:

• Explore common causes of communication and decision-making breakdowns
• Identify a variety of decision-making approaches and roles—and when to use each
• Learn tools to unearth conflicting assumptions that can undermine decisions and their implementation
• Build skills for getting unstuck when your group is at an impasse
• Set next steps for strengthening decision making and communication within your team or organization

Who Should Attend

• Executive Directors, Managers
• Supervisors, Team Leaders
• Board Leaders including Committee Chairs

About the Presenters

Paula Manley is a consultant, facilitator, and educator who helps organizations develop board and staff leaders, embrace diversity, engage in participatory planning, and navigate leadership transitions. She is the principal of Paula Manley Consulting and co-founder of The Learning Commons, a nonprofit that presents intensive leadership institutes for nonprofit leaders throughout the U.S. As an experienced nonprofit executive director, program director and board leader, Paula brings extensive practical knowledge to her work. Learn more at www.paulamanley.com.

Tasha Harmon is a facilitator, consultant, trainer, and coach with over 25 years in the nonprofit sector as a staff member, manager, executive director, board member, volunteer, and consultant. She helped found four nonprofit organizations. Tasha teaches on a wide variety of topics related to decision making, communication, problem solving, facilitation, board and staff development, and change management. Learn more at www.LifeWorkChanges.com.

Continental breakfast and lunch will be provided.