M.S. in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Webinar: The Promise of Dialogue

The way we talk in organizations prevents us from solving the most challenging problems we face. Managers and employees withhold information that would make them look bad, say what those above them want to hear, and modify information to prevent bad news from moving upward. Dialogue provides a way of talking together that offers hope for us to create the organizations, government, and the world we want. In this presentation, Nancy M. Dixon, CEO and Senior Researcher at Common Knowledge Associates, will describe an organization, the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC), that has implemented dialogue practices at every level. Using dialogue VADOC has created a culture where staff and management have open and honest conversations with each other. The promise of dialogue is that if we can jointly make sense of the issues we face, we can find a way forward.