Four types of conversation
This simple four-stage model can become more sophisticated. In
this developed model, you hold four conversations, for:
• relationship;
• possibility;
• opportunity;
• action.
These four conversations may form part of a single, larger
conversation; they may also take place separately, at different
stages of a process or project.
A conversation for relationship (‘welcome’)
You hold a conversation for relationship to create or develop
the relationship you need to achieve your objective. It is an
exploration.
( c) 2011 Kogan Page L imited, All Rights Reserved.
42 Improve your Communication Skills
Conversations for relationship are tentative and sometimes
awkward. They are often rushed because they can be
embarrassing. Think of those tricky conversations you have had
with strangers at parties: they are good examples of
conversations for relationship. A managerial conversation for
relationship should move beyond the ‘What do you do? Where do
you live?’ questions. You are defining your relationship to each
other, and to the matter in hand.
A conversation for possibility (‘acquire’)
A conversation for possibility continues the exploration: it
develops first-stage thinking. It asks what you
might
be looking
at.
A conversation for possibility is
not
about whether to do
something, or what to do. It seeks to find new ways of looking at
the problem.
There are a number of ways of doing this.
• Look at it from a new angle.
• Ask for different interpretations of what’s happening.
A conversation for relationship: key
questions
Who are we?
How do we relate to the matter in hand?
What links us?
How do we see things?
What do you see that I can’t see?
What do I see that you don’t see?
In what ways do we see things similarly, or differently?
How can we understand each other?
Where do we stand?
Can we stand together?
( c) 2011 Kogan Page L imited, All Rights Reserved.
|
