When have you experienced being
part of an inspired team?

In your family? At work? In a volunteer or religious setting? What elements were present? Chances are you were working on something that you valued – a meaningful purpose. You probably enjoyed and respected the people you were working with and felt accepted by the group. There was room for your ideas and abilities. Each of these are elements of an inspired team.

Teams don’t automatically begin with these elements. They are developed through…

• Including people in the conversation,
• Getting to know and understand each other,
• Talking about what is important and
• Facing conflict and disagreement directly.

Dialogue is a key way to do this.

With a solid base of trust, it is easy to organize and get the work done. Risking to speak honestly and hold each other – and oneself – accountable, becomes an on–going task for groups.

Dialogue
Through dialogue — or you can just call it candid conversation, you build shared understanding, and find common ground. You build engagement through dialogue.

The heart of dialogue is listening and trusting that the other person has a reason for seeing things the way he or she does, seeking to understand what has shaped this point of view. In dialogue you suspend judgment to explore someone else’s perspective, share your own views and what shapes them, surface assumptions and practice inquiry to learn more. Through dialogue, people genuinely connect and gain a fuller picture from which to make sound decisions and innovate.

Dialogue is used for…

• Building leadership teams
• Needs assessment
• Problem solving
• Innovation
• Community collaboration
• And more

Teamwork and Dialogue resources include:
Marshall Rosenberg’s Effective Communication and Feedback Model;
Drexler and Sibbett Team Performance Model;
Dialogue Skills Training