“One good conversation can shift the direction of change forever.” Linda Lambert

Collaborating across teams, organisations and systems is hugely important and heavily emphasised in the public and third sectors, as a way to progress transformational change. While there are many models and approaches about working together, they all rely on the relationships between people which often comes down to the quality of our conversations when we meet in groups. We have all been involved in conversations which have felt controlling, denigrating or cynical and experienced the difference when conversations have felt open, curious and generative.

In your role, you may convene, host, chair or facilitate conversations. You will be a participant in many conversations every day. So how do you contribute to the conditions for good conversations that can lead to the change you are looking for with your partners?

“A real conversation always contains an invitation. You are inviting another person to reveal herself or himself to you, to tell you who they are or what they want.” David Whyte

Led by the Workforce Scotland team, this three day programme is an opportunity to learn and practice with others, in a creative and supportive space. Participants will spend some time exploring different theories and approaches to create the conditions for good conversations, in complex settings, and trying these out. But this isn’t a “taught” programme. It will be highly participative and designed to be experiential. You will learn about group processes and also about yourself and how your personal style and your contribution can impact on a group and their ability to work well together. In exploring the use of self within conversations, we are likely to go into some personal territory where you will be invited to share something of yourself beyond work; however this will always be to the extent to which you feel comfortable.

You will be hosted and facilitated by a group of skilled and experienced facilitators from Workforce Scotland: Amanda Spark, Gillian Reeves and Keira Oliver as well as some guest facilitators.

Who this is for:

Anyone working in or with others in the public or third sector, particularly those working in partnerships across organisations and communities. You must be open to exploring your own self-awareness through personal reflection and feedback from fellow participants, and supporting others to do the same. Key to this is having a growth mindset, acknowledging our previous successes / styles / ways of working and being open to learning about enhancing these.

Pre-work

When you register, there are a few questions we ask you to consider and respond to. Before the programme we will send you some other questions to reflect on. We also ask you to read “The Art of Powerful Questions” by Eric Vogt et al (available at: https://umanitoba.ca/admin/human_resources/change/media/the-art-of-powerful-questions.pdf)

Cost

Costs will be covered by Workforce Scotland and Fife Council.

Programme

This is a non-residential course. Each day will start at 10am and finish by 4pm. Catering will be provided to keep our energy up!