Purposeful Dialogue: Be Sure You Understand the Situation before You Respond

A Story

[Note: The full document Strengthening Purposeful Dialogue: A Handbook Of Guiding Principles, Protocols, and Strategies is available for download.]

PLACING BLAME

As a member of the faculty, I often complained about how little information was shared by the administration. I felt disconnected and felt I knew very little about what was really happening at the college. After being appointed division chair, I realized, that in fact, the dean of academic programs (DAP) modeled excellent communications. The DAP ensured we met once monthly for a nice breakfast meeting where a great deal of information was shared and matters important to divisions were discussed, debated, and actions often taken. The DAP likewise took important information from the chairs to the vice president for attention and action. I learned a great deal from the DAP about the college operations and also learned a great deal from my fellow division chairs during those monthly meetings.

The reason I previously felt disconnected and knew so little about my organization was because my division chair did not pass along information obtained from the DAP. We did not have monthly, or even division meetings during the semester. In two years, I recall one division meeting. The administration had not been to blame, but instead the members of my division, including myself, who did not take efforts to meet and dialogue. We kept ourselves ignorant of organizational affairs and lost opportunities to learn from one another because we were “too busy” to meet. We operated under the assumption we were wasting each other’s time by calling for meetings, and thought it was more respectful of colleagues to not impose monthly meetings. Though, we had expected to be informed and involved in college decisions, we did not reflect on how that was supposed to have occurred (through regular dialogue). Did we assume the administration would come to inform and involve us individually? It was simpler to blame and be irritated than it was to be proactively engaged.

Protocol

Know your own communication responsibilities and then model the communication behavior you would like to see in others. That dynamic should hold true whether you are sending a message or receiving one. Both senders and receivers have responsibilities.

Strategies

On any given day, the amount of information going back and forth at the college is staggering. Just that which flows in the IT system can average 113 GB per day (Segal). Depending on the mix of data types, this total would convert to just under seven million pages of information per day, and that represents just the electronic stuff! (LexBe). Just creating a communication and dropping it into the system does not guarantee that it will reach those intended or achieve the goal you have in mind. The important stuff can easily get lost in all that noise. You might end up just contributing to the noise or else competing with it. There are a number of strategies that you can employ to make sure you are fully engaged in purposeful dialogue. Here are a few common ones:

If you are a manager or supervisor or department head, make sure that information that comes to you gets passed along to those under your leadership. Take care to do so in ways that match the needs of your staff. Don't rely on the phrase "It's in the minutes" as a substitute for active engagement with your colleagues.
- Consider the best time to pass on information-not so early that it gets forgotten or so late that there is no time to absorb the content. Maintain a calendar of critical timelines and plan your communications accordingly.
- Determine whether communication should be written, oral, visual, or a blend of all three. Plan according to the situation and the audience.
- Prioritize your communications; matters involving deadlines, resource allocation or changes in policy and procedure should get special attention.
- Design follow-through actions (informal discussions, meeting agendas, etc.) to be sure that communications were received and understood.
If you are a faculty or staff member, realize that there is a constant flow of information occurring at the college, and sometimes you may need to go and find it rather than just assume it will come to you. Work with your department chairs or supervisors to come up with the best modes of communicating information within your unit.
No matter your level at the college, print out the formal definition of Purposeful Dialogue that appears on page 4 and try to incorporate those characteristics in your own communications.

Institutions such as colleges work within their own history, one in which people develop comfort and even self-interest in the way things are. Particularly when communicating changes, it is vital to understand such history in order to choose the most effective mode and content to make such communications reflect purposeful dialogue.

As you work through your need to communicate at the college, you could use the following checklist to make sure you address all the very human concerns and history that may exist in your situation. Doing so should make your communication more effective and help to reduce misunderstandings.

A Checklist for Building Communication Relationships

Answer "yes" or "no" to the following questions about your role in maintaining healthy communications.

Have you allowed everyone involved in a matter to complete what they wish to say_____?
Have you provided incentives for people to maintain a positive, problem-solving focus_____?
Have you handled smoothly differences of opinion, deadline pressures and agitation of those with whom you must communicate_____?
Have you used your voice or body language to hamper or disrupt communication_____?
Have you done or said anything that will make future communication more difficult_____?

If you answered "no" to any of the five questions, consider taking the three steps below as a way improve your communication relationships.

Distinguish between individuals and their opinions or negotiating positions.
Restate the other person's views to make sure you understand them; then present your own views.
If you must disagree, do so constructively.
- Be specific in your comments, but avoid casting blame on others.
- Double-check your facts before making an argument.
- Use your voice and physical bearing to reduce the stress in a disagreement.
- If you prevail in a disagreement, work to make sure that others do not feel that they have lost.
- When you are the one who has harmed communication, accept that responsibility graciously and in good humor.

Adapted from Driskill, Ferrill and Steffey, 1992. Business & Managerial Communication: New Perspectives. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Orlando.