This work interprets and generalizes consensus-type algorithms as switching dynamics leading to symmetrization of some vector variables with respect to the actions of a finite group. We show how the symmetrization framework we develop covers applications as diverse as consensus on probability distributions (either classical or quantum), uniform random state generation, and open-loop disturbance rejection by quantum dynamical decoupling. Robust convergence results are explicitly provided in a group-theoretic formulation, both for deterministic and for randomized dynamics. This indicates a way to directly extend the robustness and randomization properties of consensus-type algorithms to more fields of application.