dialogue and deliberation

DIALOGUE AND DELIBERATION.

TITLE.

Good evening everyone and welcome to the second of my 3 presentations. For those who couldn’t come to the first one, I would like to remember that we covered the general topic of how can we manage the whole system of a company. Today, it’s time to learn more about how can we make easier to work in this company, with the word dialogue as the key for the success. And finally, in the last presentation, we will talk about the motivation of the personnel, an important topic in the Human Resources department, the business field in which I want to focus my career in the future.

Before continuing, I would like to say that if you have any questions throughout the presentation, please stop me at any time and I will be happy to answer them. Additionally, if any of you wanted to have the slides of the presentation, here is my email address.

Imagine we are that company created in the first of my presentations, Argos, Inc. (Incorporated). Christmas holidays are coming and we have to decide whether to go to the beach or to the countryside, because we want to go together anyway. In this way, we are going to create two groups, one for those who want to go to the beach and the another one for those who want to go to the countryside. Both groups have to be separated, because we’ll work on them throughout the presentation. By the moment, keep in mind who are your mates and try to find advantages of going to your desired place.

INDEX.

I’ve divided my presentation in 7 parts. They are:

Firstly, a brief introduction with the concepts of dialogue and deliberation.

Secondly, we’ll talk about what is the dialogue and deliberation program.

Thirdly, we’ll cover the steps of this process.

Then, we’ll learn when can we use this program.

Next part will cover the guiding principles of the dialogue and deliberation technique.

And then we come to the conditions for the success of the process.

Finally, we’ll share the conclusions of this interesting presentation.

INTRODUCTION.

Álvaro Santamaría Peñalva Leadership and change management1

What I want to do this evening is to talk about the dialogue and deliberation within the company. The best way to start with this topic is by giving a definition of both concepts.

Dialogue allows people, usually in small groups, to share their perspectives and experiences about difficult issues. It is not about judging, weighing, or making decissions, but about understanding and learning. Dialogue dispels stereotypes, builds trust and enables people to open to perspectives that are very different from their own.

Deliberation is a related process with a different emphasis; it promotes the use of critical reasoning and logical argument in group decision making. Instead of decision making by power or hierarchy, deliberative decision making emphasizes the importance of examining all sides of an issue fairly, collecting and considering the relevant facts, and carefully weighing the pros and cons of various options.

WHAT IS THE DIALOGUE AND DELIBERATION PROGRAM?

Let’s go on to the definition of the full dialogue and deliberation program. Dialogue and deliberation are dynamic processes that can build and strengthen relationships, bridge gaps, resolve conflicts, generate innovative solutions to problems, inspire collaborative action, and more.

Apart from that, they provide a plethora of opportunities for people to become more fully engaged in the decission making that takes place in their lives, which is the key for a successful deal.

For this reason, both techniques are increasingly used in schools, corporations, government agencies... to tackle issues and conflicts in new ways that enable people to share power with one another and with community and organizational leaders, instead of ways that leave people feeling overpowered and frustrated.

HOW DO WE USE THE D&D PROGRAM?

Let’s now move on to the main part of the presentation, where we’ll learn how do we use the dialogue and deliberation program.

The steps in a dialogic or deliberative program vary greatly depending on the purpose of the program, the process used, and the resources available. Typical steps using both dialogue and deliberation include:

1- Prep work: Get to know the issue, the affected stakeholders, and the participants. Prepare participants by providing background materials, issue guides presenting diverse viewpoints, and details on the process.

2- Introductions: During the event, facilitators introduce themselves and the process. Participants feel welcomed and appreciated, having been prepared for what’s ahead.


3- Establish/present ground rules: Also known as “agreements”, ground rules are the backbone of most dialogue and deliberation processes. Ground rules such as “listen carefully and with respect” or “one person speaks at a time” create a safe space for people with different views and experiences. Adhering to ground rules that foster civility, honesty, and respect is what makes dialogue different from adversarial debate and back-and-forth discussion.

4- Share personal stories and perspectives: Heraing from everyone at the table is a key principle in both dialogue and deliberation. Dialogue begins by hearing each participant’s personal stories and perspectives on the issue. Stories open people to each other’s humanity, engendering trust, establishing a sense of equality, and enabling them to consider the issue from perspectives other than their own.

5- Explore a range of views: Exploring a balanced range of viewpoints is vital in dialogue and deliberation.

6- Analysis and reasoned argument: Deliberation is characterized by critical listening, reasoned argumentation, and thoughtful decision making. David Mathews, president of the Kettering Foundation, says that “deliberations aren’t just discussions to promote better understanding. They are the way we make the decisions that allow us to act together”.

7- Decide on action steps or recommendations: If a dialogue and deliberation process doesn’t transition to action of some kind, participants may feel unsatisfied and frustrated. Participants want to understand how their work makes an impact –or how they can make an impact themselves. The process and purpose shape the form that actions take.

Let’s have a look at 2 graphics which shows the whole process of the dialogue and deliberation program.

WHEN ARE THE D&D USED?

Are you with me so far? (if no, answer the question; if yes, continue). Ok,, so now we come to the part in which we’ll learn when this method is useful. Basically, there are four main “dialogue and deliberation streams” –or ways of using these processes- fulfill four distinct purposes. Thus, as you can see in this table, the dialogue and deliberation can be used for exploration cases, conflict transformation ones, decision making and collaborative action. Each one has different purposes, so their processes are different as well.

Let’s have a look at this another table, where we can perceive the frequently used dialogue and deliberation methodologies in each of the streams.

THE GAME.

I can see many of you are waiting for a game or something similar throughout this presentation, so let’s try to do one.

As I told you when I started my presentation, imagine we are Argos, Inc. (Incorporated). We are divided in two groups. One of them wants to go to the


beach, while the another one wants to go to the countryside. In 2-3 minutes, you have to talk to the members of your group about the advantages of going to one or another place (you’ve had enough time to think about it throughout the presentation). Later, we’ll have a dialogue between both groups and we’ll try to make a decision.

The game consists in 2 groups of people. One of them wants to go to the beach next Christmas (or next summer), while the another one wants to go to the countryside. Both groups have to think about the advantages of going to one or another place and finally everybody has an “open” dialogue in which they will be supposed to make a final decision. What they don’t know is that the “dialogue” will be wrong. One of the groups will be suppose to act as if they were dialoguing, while the another one will try to win the debate. In this way, the person who is leading the presentation will tell everybody from one group to talk without stop in the “dialogue”, while the another one will have an agent.

Well, as you’ve been able to see in this game, one of the groups has been acting as if their only goal was the victory, while the another group has tried to dialogue through a leader/agent. The purpose of this game is to realize that even though there are some alternatives to the dialogue and deliberation (such as the debate, the advocacy or the mediation and negotiation), all of them can’t give us the union and safety atmosphere which give us the dialogue.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF THE DIALOGUE AND DELIBERATION PROGRAM.

This game brings me to the next part of the presentation, where we will learn some guiding principles which are important to be considered when organizing any dialogue or deliberation program. Thus, the most important ones are:

1- Incorporating into a larger engagement effort: Dialogue and deliberation are powerful forms of engagement that motivate participants to stay more informed on issues of concern and increase a sense of connection, even to those with views and experiences different from their own.

2- Inclusivity: Effectiveness increases when those with different backgrounds, positions, abilities, education levels... are involved.

3- Openness to an unknown outcome: Setting an intention focuses the work, but defining specific outcomes hinders creative possibilities and sets the process up for failure. Trust that the process enables the participants to reach the best outcome for their organization or community.

4- Collaboration: People are more invested when they participate.5- Transparency: To trust what’s happening, people need to see how it works.

For this reason, open and accessible flow of information about how decisions are made, who is involved, how the process works, and what happens with the results is vital.

CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS.


No we come to the conditions for success. Since dialogue and deliberation processes help people in different ways, the keys to success differ based on purpose. However, there are several conditions for beginning any dialogue or deliberation process. The most important are:

1- Adequate time to do the process justice: Although some processes require just a single 2-hour session, most complex issues require multiple meetings over several days- especially if resolving long-standing conflicts or taking action is involved.

2- The link to action and change is clear from the start: Regardless of the program’s intent, people should be prepared for how their participation may change things, or change them. Different processes produce different outcomes, and participants should be told ahead of time what kind of outcome to expect.

3- Adequate resources are available: Organizations may have lofty goals and enormous passion and energy, but if the resources are not available, their project is at risk. For this reason, it’s important to consider the resources needed before investing in a project.

4- The issue is timely: A timely issue helps get people in the door, enlivens the conversation, and increases the likelihood of personal or collective action.

5- The process is organized by a neutral party: Ensuring that everybody trust the dialogue or deliberation process is an important but difficult task. Establishing a diverse planning group that shares power helps.

6- Participants’ needs and concerns are the forefront: Finally, keep one question in the forefront: “what’s in it for the participants?” No matter how important the issue, how impressive the process and how many human and financial resources are available, people simply will not show up if their hopes and concerns are not addressed.

CONCLUSIONS.

Finally, I would like to share with you my conclusions of this project. I’ve learnt from this method that if we want to use the dialogue and deliberation process, everybody within the organization and even outside of it has to be involved in the decision making. Apart from that, it’s important to realize that everybody from the top to the bottom of the company has to feel free to express his/her ideas, because all of them are important. Then, if we get all of this, we’ll get everybody engaged in the firm and thus we’ll get the success in the company.

ENDING.

So, that brings me to the end of my presentation. Let me just run over the key points again. We’ve been talking about the introduction of the presentation. Secondly, we’ve covered the meaning of the dialogue and deliberation process. Thirdly, we’ve learnt more about how can we use this method. That brought us to the part of the presentation in which we talked about when can we use the program. Then, we’ve seen both the guiding principles and the conditions for success. And finally, I’ve shared with you my conclusions of the presentation.


Let me finish by showing you a video which represent the success of the dialogue in the sports. This video covers the goal that gave the Spanish national soccer team its first World Cup in 2010. All of the players come from different clubs. Some of them are some of the best players in the world. However, this team got the success with a key word: dialogue. Being honest and doing their best for the good of the team they won what every single Spanish dremt for years.

Thank you very much for your attention and if you had any questions or comments, I’ll do my best to answer them.


dialogue and deliberation

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