Consultative decision-making: meaning

Consultative decision-making is a decision mode in which the person in charge listens to the group's perspectives and then decides on their own. The rule must be declared at the start: 'I want to hear your perspective on this — then I decide.' It is suited to urgent decisions or to decisions where the person in charge has information that cannot be shared. The main risk is that participants feel consulted but not considered, if the outcome is not communicated together with how it relates to the input gathered.

Distinctive: the person in charge listens to the group's perspectives and then decides on their own
Distinctive: consulted but not considered
Essential: declared at the start
Essential: then I decide
Constant: suited to urgent decisions

Glossary

Consultative decision-making

A decision mode in which the person in charge listens to the group's perspectives and then decides on their own — to be declared explicitly at the start so that participants do not feel consulted but not considered.