Tag: dcop

Written by: Margaret Williamson

As I continue my research into the impact of Dialogue on organisational change, it is clear that when we talk about Dialogue we don’t always mean the same thing.  Apart from the obvious use of dialogue to describe any conversation in a book, a play or a film; we often hear the word used to describe conversations to resolve international conflicts -UN ‘peace dialogues’ for example.

Even in the field of organisational change the word Dialogue means different things to different people, so I thought it might be interesting to share some of the definitions I have come across.

Written by: Margaret Williamson

The Right Conversation: Spotlight on Dialogue,
What conditions enable effective conversations at work? 

Whether they are strategic conversations in the boardroom or conversations between front-line team members, two things matter: a conducive environment and well-developed skills.  The Right Conversation’s Spotlight on Dialogue, research report identified four necessary conditions and three essential skills for dialogue to take place.

Written by: Margaret Williamson

The Right Conversation: Spotlight on Dialogue,
Promoting the right conversations at work

Over the past year I’ve been researching the impact of using Dialogue for organisational change, both in the published literature and in conversation with people working with dialogue in the public sector.

There are few, if any, systematic research studies of the overall impact of dialogue on organisational or personal change but there are many individual examples of where dialogue has been employed successfully to:

• create alignment around a shared vision or strategy;
• improve employee engagement;
• increase the effectiveness of cross functional teams and multi-organisation partnerships by building relationships and trust;
• resolving or transforming conflict
  Read More ““Dialogue facilitates multi-agency working in the criminal justice system””

Written by: Margaret Williamson

In 2011 The Right Conversation published a research report on the importance of the quality of conversations in organisations.   The organisations they interviewed all reported a positive correlation between the quality of conversation and organisational effectiveness.  The argued that the quality of conversation impacts directly on:

• Employee engagement
• Relationships with key stakeholders
• “The richness and inclusiveness of strategy development”

Given that there is general agreement that conversation matters – what are leaders doing to develop the skills of dialogue in their organisations?