hat their top strengths and the top strengths of their colleagues are being maximized (2013, Mayerson, personal communication).”
Please form a large circle with the group. Check-in and recall the rules of engagement. The team will unite for a common task. You will aim to have a feeling of oneness. You can speak one language and appreciate each other’s strengths for the growth of your group and community.
The first pair of interview partners start the process. The first pair pulls their chairs outside of the circle and face each other. The rest of the group forms a semi-circle and gets ready to observe and listen with full attention. Each person tells the other one’s story about trust while the group just listens.
Reflective feedback - This part occurs after the trust storytelling is over and the first interview pair has shared their stories. Now, the group offers appreciative reflections using the Walking the Journey Together rules of engagement. The pair stays outside of a closed circle and are free to just listen to the team reflect on the stories. They do not respond. They are free to purely listen. Each team member takes a turn and offers brief reflections. Usually speaking for about 2 minutes each, but this is flexible.
After the reflections are complete, the pair express gratitude for the reflections and then rejoin the group and another pair takes their place. Repeat with the next pair (see Step 1.)
When everyone has had a turn, the group discusses the process all together.
Rules of Engagement for Dialogical Practice
For your group to be successful, the members must trust and come from their strengths:
- Suspend assumptions and keep an open mind. A dialogue is a shared quest for meaning.
- Lift every voice. Our intention is to lift everyone’s voice higher. Make sure every voice is heard.
- Honor our differences. We can honor our differences without trying to reconcile them; Wonder, “Where is our common ground?” How do we walk the journey together?
- We create meaning together (a “memorandum of understanding”). Without others meaning breaks down, value is lost, and the team loses its vitality.
- Create a safe place. There must be a “safe container” created for the conversation, a place without hostility or fear.
- Observe and listen to one another. Also listen to your own inner voice.
- Be appreciative, attentive and respectful, allow space for the other without interrupting and offer positive rather than judging comments or questions…