Dialogue for Win/Win Outcomes Part 2

THREE OBJECTIVES OF DIALOGUE

1. Establish a foundation of mutuality – an atmosphere of unity, respect, and goodwill.
2. Build a pool of shared understanding – a complete and full understanding of the situation from each person's point of view.
3. Solve the problem and make agreements so that everyone wins.

Note that objective #3 cannot be achieved without first achieving objectives #1 and #2.  Objective #2 cannot be achieved without first achieving objective #1.

Dialogue is not always intended to meet all 3 of these objectives.  Sometimes, the purpose of dialogue is simply to establish mutuality.  For example, resentment has built up between 2 individuals which keeps them from working together effectively, so they need to establish unity, respect, and goodwill. 

On other occasions, the purpose of dialogue is to build a pool of shared understanding.  For example, representatives of the U.S. and Vietnam met on a number of occasions after the war to understand each other's decision process during the war, in order to learn the lessons necessary to prevent such tragedies in the future.

On still other occasions, the purpose of dialogue may be to solve a problem.  For example, a management team may need to decide how to allocate limited financial resources among all departments.

Until next time...

 




Sheryl Tuchman, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
http://tools2succeed.com/

Dialogue For Win/Win Outcomes Part 1

WHAT IS DIALOGUE?

Dialogue is creating a pool of shared understanding in an atmosphere of respect and goodwill in order to arrive at a mutually-beneficial outcome.

Dialogue is an alternative to the communication styles of dominating, accommodating, and avoiding.  It is communication that seeks to maximize both the dimensions of advocacy and empathy.

THE DIALOGUE MODEL

Let's look at a model of dialogue.  Dialogue consists of 4 skills:

1. We establish an atmosphere of unity, mutual respect, and goodwill through mutuality.
2. We then encourage others to disclose their point of view and/or inner experience through inquiry.
3. We disclose our own point of view or inner experience through advocacy.
4. We arrive at win/win outcomes through synergy.

The heart of dialogue is inquiry and advocacy which consists of sharing our point of view and listening to the point of view of others until we have created a pool of shared understanding.  Only when all the data is in the pool of shared understanding do we go to the step of synergy in which we make a decision or solve the problem.

Until next time...

 




Sheryl Tuchman, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
http://tools2succeed.com/