Managing conversations: the medium for achieving “breakthrough” results

This paper examines an approach to the management of conversations in an organisational context. It explores a methodology used and refined in client organisations to create and coach high performance teams during a period of major transformation. It argues that mainstream approaches to management development do not address the core process which exists in organisations: speaking and listening between team members and colleagues. Moreover, it is the development of conversational disciplines, the management of listening and the use of distinctions about “past, present and future” which are at the heart of facilitation and coaching conversations designed to achieve breakthrough results. The paper draws a distinction between traditional management development, such as the use of competencies or outdoor team development, and the management of conversations, which in this methodology has its roots in a branch of philosophy called ontology. The aim of this methodology is to create learning and development that is part of the process of creating “breakthroughs” in team performance.