TOOL T-28 | Process Guide | Module 8: Facilitated Dialogue & Negotiation

Facilitated Dialogue Guide

WHEN TO USE When a grievance involves competing interests requiring structured multi-stakeholder engagement; when direct one-on-one engagement is insufficient.

How to Use It

1. Confirm that all relevant parties are willing to participate in a facilitated dialogue.

2. Select a facilitator trusted by all parties and with no stake in the outcome.

3. Design the agenda: opening (ground rules), problem statement, interests exploration, option generation, agreement, documentation.

4. Brief each party separately before the session: explain the process, confirm willingness, identify procedural concerns.

5. Open the session with ground rules: respectful language, one speaker at a time, focus on interests not positions, confidentiality of process.

6. Use open questions to draw out interests: 'What is most important to you about this situation?'.

7. Document agreements in writing before the session closes, all parties confirm the record before departing.

8. Establish a follow-up mechanism: who will verify implementation, and by when?

Purpose

A structured guide for designing and facilitating multi-party dialogue sessions, including agenda design, ground rules, documentation, and follow-up. Facilitated dialogue fills the space between informal conversation (no accountability structure) and formal legal process (adversarial)..

Field Rationale

In several sites, concerns that could have been addressed through structured dialogue were escalated into disputes because no structured dialogue mechanism existed.