The Art of Focused Conversation 100 Ways to Access Group Wisdom in the Workplace

The best 'how-to' for encouraging consensus in firms and organizations.

The Art of Focused Conversation 100 Ways to Access Group Wisdom in the Workplace

"At its essence, every organization is a product of how its members think and interact." Senge, Kleiner, Roberts, Ross and Smith, The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook

Besieged by information overload and seduced by knowledge from books, tapes, and the Internet, many people—especially in their work lives—suffer the tyranny of data, feeling the loss in the form of the fragmentation and alienation of their relations with one another. More and more, people appear to have forgotten the value of wisdom gained by ordinary conversations.

But, at different times in history, conversation has been regarded as an art form—a crucial component of human relations. Conversation has the power to solve a problem, heal a wound, generate commitment, bond a team, generate new options, or build a vision. Conversations can shift working patterns, build friendships, create focus and energy, cement resolve.

The Art of Focused Conversation: 100 Ways to Access Group Wisdom in the Workplace convincingly restores this most human of attributes to prime place within businesses and organizations. It describes the conversation method, and then provides 100 sample conversations designed for use in many different situations, such as reviewing, evaluating, planning, coaching, mentoring, data interpretation, decision-making, managing and supervising, reflection and celebration. It is an invaluable resource for all those working to improve organizational communications.

"This book has served me so well in my new job. I can't tell you the many times I have pulled the book off the shelf to get some direction in creating my own questions. It has been a great asset in helping me have meaningful and directed conversations at a critical time in my new job. And has saved me precious time. Great Book!"
Marlene Lockwood, Group Leader, St. Helen's Hospital, Deer Park, California, USA

"This book is absolutely fabulous. I started it last night, used a whole bunch of stuff I found in it in my workshop today. I love this book. It is a must-have for every facilitator in the world. If I won the lottery, I would mail one to every member of the International Facilitators Association (IAF) as a benefit. This book is without a doubt, the book of the year."
Margaret Runchey, Editor, IAF Facilitation News, Palm Springs Gardens, Florida, USA

This book has served me so well in my new job. I can't tell you how many times I have pulled the book off the shelf to get some direction in creating my own questions. It has been a great asset in helping me have meaningful and directed conversations at a critical time in my new job. And it has saved me precious time. - Great book!?Marlene Lockwood, Group Leader, St. Helen's Hospital, Deer Park, California Communication within many organizations has been reduced to email, electronic file transfer, and hasty sound bytes at hurried meetings. More and more, people appear to have forgotten the value of wisdom gained by ordinary conversations. But, at different times in history, conversation has been regarded as an art form - a crucial component of human relations. Conversation has the power to solve a problem, heal a wound, generate commitment, bond a team, generate new options, or build a vision. Conversations can shift working patterns, build friendships, create focus and energy, cement resolve. The Art of Focused Conversation convincingly restores this most human of attributes to prime place within businesses and organizations, and demonstrates what can be accomplished through the medium of focused conversation. The first Part describes the theory and background of the conversation method, which has been effectively used for group consensus making in: 1) problem solving; 2) troubleshooting; 3) coaching; 4) research and 5) interpretation of data. It also discusses how to prepare a conversation, how to lead a conversation, and what the common mistakes are. Part two then provides 100 sample conversations designed for use in many different situations, including: 1) reviewing and evaluating; 2) preparation and planning; 3) coaching, and mentoring; 4) data and media interpretation; 5) decision making; 6) managing and supervising; and 7) personal reflection and group celebrations. Developed, tested, and extensively used by professionals in the field of organizational development, The Art of Focused Conversation is an invaluable resource for all those working to improve communications in firms and organizations. "This book is absolutely fabulous. I started it last night, used a whole bunch of stuff