The art of focused conversation

This paper from the Yukon Public Service Commission provides an overview of the process of having focused conversations to support positive workplace exchanges.

"The focused conversation is a relatively simple process in four levels--led by a facilitator who asks a series of questions to elicit responses that take a group from the surface of a topic to its depth implications for their life and work.

  1. The objective level – questions about facts and external reality
  2. The reflective level – questions to call forth immediate personal reaction to the data, an internal response, sometimes emotions or feelings, hidden images and associations with the facts. Whenever we encounter an external reality, we experience an internal response
  3. The interpretive level – questions to draw out meaning, values, significance, and implications.
  4. The decisional level – questions to elicit resolution, bring the conversation to a close, and enable the group to make a resolve about the future." (Yukon Public Service Commission 2012)

Sources

Yukon Public Service Commission, (2012). The art of focused conversation. Retrieved from website: http://www.psc.gov.yk.ca/pdf/art_of_focused_conversations.pdf

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