Dialogic management

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The concept of dialogic management was founded in the German-speaking area by the business education professor Jendrik Petersen . It is based on the assumption that modern management is generally only successful and can only be legitimized if it can withstand a dialogue between management and other people and institutions. That is why companies and their management have a responsibility in our time that extends far beyond their own company and its shareholders.

The idea that modern management is only possible in dialogue with the stakeholders originates from William Isaacs and was developed in 1992–1994 in the Dialogue Project of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology .

Basic idea

According to Petersen, the socio-political responsibility of management can ultimately only be made possible by the ability and willingness to engage in dialogue, which leads to an understanding of other people and their expectations, reservations and hopes and to take them into account when making business decisions.

In his approach to Dialogical Management, Jendrik Petersen pursues the view that mutual respect, respect and joint action in the company increase business success in the long term. Dialogic management should therefore promote a reflexive discussion of the management with itself, the conditions on site, the global social conditions and their respective fundamental development possibilities, realized through dialogue.

Dialogic management relates to both operational and corporate strategy efficiency and the ethical justification of decisions. It is therefore dependent on the establishment of interpersonal understanding and only questions purposeful orientation principles in decision-making and management processes. The questioning of leadership and management processes promoted by the dialogue is an important prerequisite for a comprehensive transformation capability of organizations and their members, taking into account those potentially affected by decision-making and action.

Dialogic management is characterized by the conviction that entrepreneurial success is only possible through people who act with conviction and who want to benefit customers and their own company. Managers and employees are (at least in principle) equal sources of truth.

Dialogue Decalogue

The dialog decalogue presented by Jendrik Petersen serves as the normative basis for the implementation of dialogic management in the company .

The Dialog Decalogue is to be seen as a development field in management, management and the company and represents more than a "mere method of communication":

  1. In general: Dialogue is a learnable discipline and is not viewed as a mere “talking to one another” or any discussion or exchange of views. The intention of the dialogue is to achieve a common understanding with the partner (s) and to reflect on the fundamentals of thinking. The dialogue is not an end in itself, but aims to increase the ability to solve problems and secure the future of people, organizations and their environment, which is provided with stubborn behavior. The dialogue generally represents a conversation that is rewarding for those involved with mutually beneficial new insights and experiences.
  2. In particular: Through a sanction-free, open dialogue, the previous cooperation in the company and the company's dealings with the outside world must be questioned and improved in order to enable and shape reasonable (more) decision-making and action.
  3. The dialogue between partners (who tend to have equal rights) is characterized by the complexity, fragmentation, and disagreement felt by both sides on the one hand and the efforts to achieve trust and reliability on the other.
  4. The dialogue can lead to the fact that the (possible) truth is gradually met through the free flow of thoughts and feelings in interactive cooperation.
  5. Truth (finding) is not to be seen as the ultimate goal of the dialogue, but rather it is important to recognize that the dialogue has a consciously temporary and process-like character.
  6. Dialogues marked by profound processes of change can only be triggered by active listening and mutual recognition, whereby only joint action and reflection enables a truthfulness that is felt by both sides.
  7. Dialogue does not mean lamenting about the problems in the world “out there”, but rather recognizing that the world is a constant part of the dialogue.
  8. Participating in the dialogue means recognizing that truthfulness and trust can only arise in joint action, reflection and efforts for the common good.
  9. Dialogue also means learning to accept your own imperfections and those of your partner and seeing them as a constant learning task. Constantly holding up the "mistakes of yore" should bring the willingness to dialogue to a standstill.
  10. Participation in the dialogue requires authenticity and self-acceptance or self-love and “critical modesty” from each partner. Only in this way can the partner be met.

Practical implementation

An application example from the non-profit sector shows a short-term increase in employee satisfaction, but refers to time and material restrictions and the pressure to achieve quick results with the method. The implementation also depends on the psychological preference of the respective manager. A long-term evaluation is pending.

It can be critically questioned whether z. B. Consequences can be drawn from the insight that a manager himself can be part of a problem to be solved if the employees have to fear that objections to the ideas of the managers will be ignored or sanctioned due to persistent “power asymmetries”.

See also

literature

  • Jendrik Petersen: Dialogic Management . Publishing house Peter Lang. Frankfurt am Main. 2003. ISBN 978-3631502679
  • Jendrik Petersen: Dialogic management through mentoring . In: Bernd Dewe, Martin Schwarz (ed.): Profession - Company - Organization. Perspectives in business education and professional development . Klinkhardt. Bad Heilbrunn. 2011. ISBN 978-3-7815-1818-6
  • William Isaacs: Dialogue as the Art of Thinking Together. The new communication culture in organizations . From the American. by Irmgard Hölscher. EHP. Cologne. 2002. ISBN 3-89797-011-2

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Petersen 2003, 2011.
  2. ↑ See Petersen 2003.
  3. ↑ See Petersen 2003, 2011.
  4. ↑ Susanne Kleinhenz: Dialogic management as an approach to increasing employee satisfaction. A personality preference-oriented approach in the relationship between manager and employee. Examined at the Samaritan institutions in Fürstenwalde / Spree. Diss. University of Koblenz-Landau 2014, p. 292 ff. Short version in Springer essentials 2016, e-book, ISBN 9783658118433 .
  5. ^ A. Lehnhoff: From Management Development to Management Education. Frankfurt am Main / Berlin 1997.