How to develop a dialogue approach
A dialogue approach is characterised by a willingness to favour dialogue in order to achieve mutual understanding and by a culture of dialogue focusing on values, openness and respect and on principles and strategies specific to dialogue.
Implications of dialogue
A dialogue approach is based on a method, principles and guidelines
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A dialogue approach may be used in situations of potential conflict to define a problem jointly, seek mutually satisfactory solutions, reach a mutual understanding, negotiate the formulation or application of a shared norm on an equal footing, and so forth.
NB: When considering the implications of dialogue, it is important not to overestimate the role of culture and turn interpersonal tensions into cultural conflicts. Individuals are custodians of multiple traditions and cultures. They may belong to several cultural spheres in the course of their lifetime. Cultures are not monolithic but fragmented, contestable and contested.
Such situations may occur if there is a culture clash or a conflict of apparently incompatible practices, norms or rights when the protagonists have different value systems and seek to impose their own values on the other person. In these situations, a dialogue approach should be an opportunity to bring to light disagreements and differences in values in order to identify the nature of the conflict and negotiate acceptable solutions or seek creative solutions jointly. These various aspects make dialogue a responsible approach which, when successfully conducted, can be educational and help build bridges between the cultures of those involved.
Principles of dialogue central to negotiation The principles of dialogue central to negotiation may be summed up as follows: being able to listen with respect and openness, considering the situation from the other person’s point of view, allowing the other person to explain how he or she sees things, recognising similarities and differences, looking for common ground, and being open to balanced and reasonable compromises in order to find satisfactory solutions and reach agreement.
Conflict management and negotiation Conflict management and negotiation are part of a negotiating process (see section 7 below: How to negotiate reasonable accommodation) and a negotiating framework consisting of guidelines and principles to direct the search for a solution.
Guidelines defining scope of negotiation Public institutions are increasingly being faced with new and complex requests to adapt their norms and operational practices. In their attempts to respond to users’ diversified needs, frontline staff sometimes find it hard to determine their room for manoeuvre and negotiate acceptable solutions. The problem is that they are often not sufficiently aware of the guidelines and analytical tools on which they can draw to take an informed decision. On what criteria should they base their decisions to negotiate or reject a request for accommodation? This section gives an overview of these guidelines, which must be spelt out in accordance with the individual countries and institutions concerned. NB: This is a general, non-exhaustive, reference framework which does not address the question of whether these guidelines are based on a consensus.
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