{"id":461,"date":"2009-10-25T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2009-10-25T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.wpdude.com\/test\/?p=461"},"modified":"2018-01-11T19:37:00","modified_gmt":"2018-01-11T19:37:00","slug":"nvc-in-organisations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.integrationtraining.co.uk\/blog\/2009\/10\/nvc-in-organisations\/","title":{"rendered":"NVC in Organisations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Friend, mentor and senior NonViolent Communication trainer Gina Lawrie (pictured) <\/a>has sent me this article on NVC in organisations. I’d love to see more NVC in the business world and teach elements of in the communication training courses <\/a>I lead for Integration Training.<\/p>\n

………………………..<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

NONVIOLENT COMMUNICATION IN ORGANISATIONS:<\/strong>
\n<\/span>moving from a mechanistic to a systemic view
\nby Gina Lawrie<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Introduction
\n<\/strong><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The purpose of this article is to outline the process of Nonviolent Communication (NVC), and to describe some of the ways I believe it can help individuals and organisations to be more connected and build the sort of communities we would like to inhabit in the new millennium. If, as result of reading it, you are either interested in finding out more about NVC or you take away an insight that could make a small difference in your life, I will be satisfied.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Setting the Scene
\n<\/strong><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

In communication workshops that I run in organisations, I often ask people to describe the characteristics and qualities of communication that they enjoy, find satisfying and motivating. I then ask them to describe the characteristics of communication they do not enjoy which leaves them feeling unsatisfied and lacking motivation. Participants then cluster the ideas under the two headings. This works well on post-Its. Sadly, when I ask,many people say they experience most communication at work as displaying the group of characteristics they don\u2019t enjoy. It can be fascinating to consider why so many of us continue to operate in ways that don\u2019t bring us enjoyment or fulfilment but I am even more interested in how to change this. Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is a simple, yet powerful tool which provides concrete steps to create communication that is both enjoyable and effective and thus of benefit to both individuals and organisations.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Process of Nonviolent Communication
\n<\/strong><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

NVC is a model of communication developed by Marshall Rosenberg (1999) in response to violence he witnessed in the USA in the 1950\u2019s. He searched for a way to help people to communicate with respect, compassion and honesty and thus gain more enjoyment out of life.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Learning this process is like learning a language, the language of compassion, and this involves unlearning the language that many of us have been brought up with which is based on judgement, blame and being right!<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The language of NVC is designed to help us express our feelings and needs clearly in such a way that we and those listening to us can connect more easily with these aspects of ourselves. Training in NVC builds our awareness of how to stay connected to the humanity of ourselves and others. It offers specific tools for staying in this mode even when things get tough, when conflict is in the air, or when the other person does not know the NVC process.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are four steps which together increase the likelihood that communication will be expressed and received with compassion and that those involved will get their needs met:<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

1) OBSERVATION.<\/strong>
\nObservations are expressions of what serves as a stimulus for our reactions. The closer we stay to concrete and specific descriptions of the sort that would be captured by a video camera, the more likely we are to be heard. The challenge in this step is to separate observation from evaluation, judgement or interpretation, e.g. \u201cWhen I see you sitting behind your desk on the \u2018phone moving papers and swearing….\u201d rather than \u201cWhen I see how harassed and disorganised you are\u201d. You can imagine how the latter comment mightlead to a defensive or attacking response and using NVC, we aim to express ourselves in a way most likely to be heard with compassion rather than defensiveness.
\n2) FEELINGS<\/strong>
\nIn our western culture in particular we often express thoughts or judgements rather than\u00a0our emotions because of the language we have learned. So in NVC we express an\u00a0emotion such as \u201cI feel upset \/ worried \/ pleased \u201c rather than, \u201cI feel that …..\u201d or \u201cI feel\u00a0like………..\u201d . Training in NVC extends our feeling vocabulary and helps us connect with\u00a0our emotional selves.
\n3) NEEDS<\/strong>
\nMany of us are even less articulate when it comes to expressing needs. Our culture tends\u00a0to teach us to associate it with being selfish or \u201cneedy\u201d. The most powerful insight I\u00a0obtained learning NVC was the causal link between feelings and needs. To recognise that\u00a0my feelings are not caused by another person\u2019s actions, but by whether or not my needs\u00a0are being met. So, in NVC we would say: \u201cI feel …… because I need\/would like…. and\u00a0then express a core human need, which may be physical, social or spiritual, e.g. food,\u00a0warmth, company, support, peace, beauty. By expressing a general need which all\u00a0humans have we leave out any specific people or circumstances and this creates an\u00a0openness as to how the need may be met. An example is: \u201cI need honesty and mutuality\u00a0in my working relationships\u201d rather than, \u201cI need you to stop covering up what\u2019s really\u00a0going on\u201d. It is at this step of connecting at the level of needs that resolution of conflict\u00a0or prevention of potential conflict becomes possible.
\n4) REQUESTS<\/strong>
\nThe last element is to state what we would like to happen and by whom that would meet\u00a0our need. In this step it is very important to be very specific and also state the request in\u00a0the positive, e.g. \u201cWould you be willing to type this report by Friday at 10 am?\u201d\u00a0There are two directions of the NVC process that both use these four steps: expressing\u00a0and receiving. Our aim is to create a communication dance where one person expresses\u00a0themselves then listens for the four steps in the others response, even when feelings and\u00a0needs are deeply hidden in the language they use. This is the outer process of NVC.\u00a0What often gets in the way is our own inner dialogue. This may be the judgements we\u00a0make about others e.g. \u201cHe should be more considerate and it\u2019s not fair that he always\u00a0gets his own way!\u201d or the judgements we make about ourselves, e.g. \u201cI\u2019ve messed up\u00a0again, what an idiot I am, I\u2019m just not up to this type of work!\u201d. These judgements are a\u00a0sign that we are not connected with our own feelings and needs and hence we will not be\u00a0able to connect with others, either to express our feelings and needs or to hear those of\u00a0the other person. To shift this and get us connected to our feelings and needs we use the\u00a0inner process of NVC, applying the four steps within. Let us take an example: I am running a workshop and one of the participants says, \u201cThis isn\u2019t relevant to the real work situation\u201d. I may judge them as ignorant, arrogant or uncooperative which will probably result in me attacking them, albeit in a subtle way. Alternatively I may judge myself as incompetent, having misjudged my audience and this is likely to result in me becoming defensive. In either case, I could be on a road to further disconnection with that participant. To avoid this road, I can apply the four steps of NVC to connect with my own feelings and needs and notice that when I hear the participant say \u201cThis isn\u2019t relevant to the real work situation\u201d(step 1), I feel anxious and nervous (step 2) because I would really like to contribute to the learning of all participants and because I need acknowledgement for the experience I bring and trust that my workshop design will fulfil the objectives we set (step 3). So what I would really like right now is to find out what would help this participant see the relevance (step 4). Now, I am free to return to the outer process and begin to \u2018dance\u2019, by saying: \u201cSo are you feeling worried because you would like to know that spending this time at this workshop will make a difference to the real issues you face at work, and would you like me to tell you the way in which I see what we are doing as relevant?\u201d If the participant remains frustrated and says some more that I could interpret as critical, I may need to go back to the inner process and hear my own feelings and needs again, then back to the outer process, continuing to hear their feelings and needs. My experience is that when I apply NVC to my inner process, getting in touch with my feelings and needs brings about a shift in my energy away from judgement and blame. This allows me to express myself without any hint of that judgement creeping through so that I am more likely to be heard compassionately by the other person. Or it allows me to hear the other persons feelings and needs with compassion. There are some general guidelines for choosing which side of the dance to start with. In many cases, it works best to start with hearing the other person because that increases the chances of getting heard oneself. Describing the process in this way seems far from truly portraying what is involved. Seeing it in action and trying it out brings it to life in a way that words on a page cannot.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
As I mentioned earlier, learning NVC is not easy and becoming fluent in any new\u00a0language takes practice but I see it as the most powerful approach in my consultants
\ntoolkit to help managers and staff to create the sort of organisation in which they wish to\u00a0work.\u00a0So now I will turn to the application of NVC in my work and give you a variety of\u00a0references at the end and ways to find out more if you are interested.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Observations from my Work
\n<\/strong><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

I have been working as an organisation consultant helping managers bring change to\u00a0private, public and voluntary sector organisations for 15 years. I am well aware of the\u00a0range of fads and fashions in change programmes and have been influenced by some. I\u00a0am also very aware of their lack of success. One of the key reasons in my experience is\u00a0that people may change at an intellectual level, but not at an emotional level. As a result,\u00a0their behaviour is often inconsistent. Managers often do not model the behaviour they\u00a0espouse and staff are unclear what grand statements of values such as \u201c effective\u00a0teamwork\u201d, \u201ccontinuous improvement\u201d, \u201cempowering our staff\u201d mean they will DO\u00a0differently. I have found the model of NVC helps managers and teams to understand\u00a0where judgements they make of themselves and others blocks changes in their behaviour.\u00a0It also provides a concrete framework for making changes.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is rare to find organisations in which feedback is given and received skilfully and yet,\u00a0without it, how can we expect people to change their behaviour? If only \u201cgood news\u201d is\u00a0delivered, it is difficult to trust the conveyor of news and if only \u201cbad news\u201d is delivered,\u00a0people feel demoralised and unmotivated. NVC provides a framework for the giving and\u00a0receiving of honest, balanced and constructive feedback. By telling the other person how\u00a0we feel and what need of ours is met or not met when we observe their behaviour,\u00a0feedback becomes more meaningful and is easier to hear.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In the field of organisational change there is an increasing recognition that the context is\u00a0global transformation. This has a number of aspects such as: globalisation of the\u00a0economy, the explosion of communication and information technology, shifts in value\u00a0systems, increased scientific knowledge about chaos and complexity, ecological crisis\u00a0and a reassertion of human spirituality. The essence of any transformation is a dichotomy\u00a0between the excitement of creativity, opportunity and liberation and the fear of change,\u00a0loss and threat of unpredictability. People managing and working in organisations are\u00a0struggling to understand, to find new ways of perceiving based on new paradigms and to\u00a0learn the skills to survive and thrive. These are the life skills of NVC.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Moving from a mechanistic to a systemic view of organisations
\n<\/strong><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The metaphor of a machine has been used to understand and to structure organisations\u00a0since the 1950\u2019s. The characteristics associated are: routine, efficiency, predictability,\u00a0division of labour and a static nature. These characteristics are fine for organisations\u00a0whose tasks are simple in stable environments. There are not many of these nowadays\u00a0and the price we have paid is dehumanisation of people in the workplace. As a result,\u00a0many have become alienated from nature, from each other and from themselves. As\u00a0organisations become increasingly complex and the rate of change increases and things\u00a0are less predictable there has been frenetic activity, but often the activity is \u201cmore of the\u00a0same\u201d and the result is failure or burnout.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Now we are seeing a transition to the use of a different metaphor, that of the organisationas an organism, a living system. This metaphor has the advantage of recognising the\u00a0organisation as an \u201copen system\u201d in relation to its environment, the influence of life\u00a0cycles, issues of survival, the concept of organisational health. The characteristics of\u00a0organisations seen in this way are creative, responsive and dynamic. With this viewpoint\u00a0caring, feelings and ecological and spiritual awareness can become part of life in an\u00a0organisation and human beings can again be fully themselves at work. Our\u00a0interconnectedness with each other and the environment is acknowledged. NVC is a way\u00a0of encouraging this transition by connecting to our inner selves, to each other and to the\u00a0environment around us through identifying how we are and how others are in terms of\u00a0feelings and needs, and how we can better collaborate with each other to meet more and\u00a0more needs and to increase satisfaction and fulfilment.\u00a0We might think that it would be easy to make this paradigm shift, however, this is not\u00a0proving to be the case because increased interconnectedness and complexity in\u00a0organisations brings increased uncertainty and resulting anxiety. Uri Merry (1995) has\u00a0pointed out that if the quality of relationships does not match the degree of\u00a0interdependence, if we do not behave in a more responsible, cooperative and empathic\u00a0way, uncertainty will increase even further and conflict, crisis and domination will ensue.\u00a0NVC gives us a language which enables us to connect and build relationships at this\u00a0empathic level, providing the foundation for working with diversity and uncertainty.NVC can help leaders of organisations who experience a particular challenge to shift\u00a0within themselves and become less reliant on formulas and programmed change and to\u00a0tune in more to their own judgement and intuition. Leaders need to be free to make\u00a0choices and decisions based on the present not on past expectations or constraints and to\u00a0move from management by fear and blame to management by collaboration and respect.\u00a0This can be developed by NVC training.<\/p>\n

Personal transformation<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

My work with NVC has taken me on a journey of personal transformation and given me\u00a0the tools to fill many gaps I had previously found in my personal development work. The\u00a0application of the four steps to connect with myself has helped me to ease up on the\u00a0judgements I make of myself as well as of others. I have found myself handling\u00a0situations of conflict and aggression in ways that I am proud of and being able to\u00a0facilitate increased understanding between people has increased my confidence in such\u00a0situations.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
As a consultant, my role is to influence and facilitate; ideas of \u201cmanaging\u201d change are not\u00a0compatible with seeing the organisation as a living system. In this role, I can make the\u00a0greatest difference by being fully present, giving my attention in order to connect with\u00a0people and help them to communicate with each other in ways that are satisfying and\u00a0motivating: NVC helps me to do that by putting me in touch with my own and others\u00a0present feelings and needs. I am finding that it is a very powerful tool to help people in\u00a0organisations to achieve the transformation I have been describing in this paper.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Gina Lawrie has a background in psychology, social work and management\u00a0development. She is an experienced organisation development consultant working in
\npublic, private and not for profit sectors. Gina works with the Centre for Nonviolent\u00a0Communication as a certified trainer and seeks to apply the skills of NVC in both her
\nwork and personal life.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

She can be contacted on Tel:01252 728242, gl@ykw.com, www.ginalawrie.co.uk
\nMore information about the Center for Nonviolent Communication can be found at:
\nhttp:\/\/www.cnvc.org\/<\/a><\/div>\n
References:
\nBelgrave, B. Communication That Simply Works. Organisations & People, August 1998
\nVol 5. No 3, pages 27-32
\n6
\nBelgrave, B. Workbook: NVC – Key Ingredients. Organisations & People, February
\n1999 Vol 6. No 1, pages 29-33
\nMerry, U. (1995) Coping With Uncertainty: Insights from the New Sciences of Chaos,
\nSelf-Organization, and Complexity. Praeger, Westport, USA
\nNixon, B. (1998) Making A Difference: Strategies and Real Time Models to Transform
\nYour Organisation. Gilmour Drummond Publishing, Cambridge, England.
\nRosenberg, M. (1999) Nonviolent Communication – A Language of Compassion.
\nPuddledancer Press, Del Mar, Calif:
\nAudiovisual materials available online from www.Life-Resources-shop.com or 0845
\n458 0996 <\/span><\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/span>POINTS FOR TRAINERS<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is a simple yet profound communication process
\nwhich helps to create communication that is both effective and enjoyable. It was
\ndeveloped by Marshalll Rosenberg whose work grew from his experience of
\ninterracial conflicts in Detroit, USA.
\n\u2022 NVC can be of benefit to individuals, teams or groups and organisations and
\nprovides a framework for behavioural and cultural change.
\n\u2022 Learning NVC is like learning a language and also involves \u2018unlearning\u2019 habitual
\nways of communicating which prevent connection between people.
\n\u2022 NVC is particularly effective in helping us to manage conflict and difference,
\nincreasing the likelihood that the needs of both people in an interchange will be met.
\nIt is also effective in developing strong relationships for teamwork.
\n\u2022 Nonviolent Communication training is available from trainers certified by the Center
\nfor Nonviolent Communication. There are approximately 60 trainers providing
\ntraining and mediation in 25 countries worldwide, in organisations of all kinds:
\nbusinesses, schools, prisons, healthcare providers as well as families and couples.
\nPublished in: Training & Management Development methods, Vol 14, 2000, pp4.01-4.08,
\nMCB University Press, 0951-3507<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friend, mentor and senior NonViolent Communication trainer Gina Lawrie (pictured) has sent me this article on NVC in organisations. I’d love to see more NVC in the business world and teach elements of in the communication training courses I lead for Integration Training. ………………………..   NONVIOLENT COMMUNICATION IN ORGANISATIONS: moving from a mechanistic to a systemic view by Gina Lawrie   Introduction   The purpose of this article is to outline the process of Nonviolent Communication (NVC), and to describe some of the ways I believe it can help individuals and organisations to be more connected and build the sort <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[280],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9xvDN-7r","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.integrationtraining.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.integrationtraining.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.integrationtraining.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.integrationtraining.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.integrationtraining.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.integrationtraining.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5988,"href":"https:\/\/www.integrationtraining.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461\/revisions\/5988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.integrationtraining.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.integrationtraining.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.integrationtraining.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}