In a previous post, The Most Important Knowledge KM is Ignoring, I suggested that implementing dialogue throughout an organization could change the culture to one where staff and management have more open and honest conversations with each other. In this post, I describe an organization, the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC), that has accomplished that goal.
VADOC has responsibility for 32,000 inmates and another 30,000 individuals that are in the parole and probation system. A staff of 12,000 work for VADOC in 46 facilities across Virginia.
Starting in 2012, a new Director of VADOC, Harold Clarke, was appointed. Over the next eight years, he implemented dialogue practices across all the facilities and at every level.
Being a dialogic organization has resulted in VADOC achieving the lowest recidivism rate in the United States at 23.4%. Recidivism is calculated as the percent of inmates that are reincarcerated within three years of their release. The average recidivism rate in the US is 42% and the highest over 60%.
In describing their work, VADOC staff often contrast how they work now, with before dialogue was implemented:
I’m one of old heads, I’ve been around a long time. Life in the department has completely changed since Director Clark came on. It’s hard to say this, but I feel safer going to work each day. I really appreciate dialogue. James Sayer, Corrections Sergeant
Not only has dialogue changed the way I work with my co-workers and with the folks I supervise, but also just learning dialogue skills has changed the way I associate with my family. I’m also a small business owner and through that, it is helping to change my community. I’m proud to be a part of this organization. Venus Laney, probation officer
I’ve been around corrections for 25 years, and I have embraced all the initiatives that Director Clarke has brought to the Department of Corrections. I have grown professionally by buying into those initiatives. And it has made me a better clinician and a better colleague working with others. I feel that it is helping the returning citizens (inmates) that I work with. Jennie Amison, Offender Workforce Development Specialist at the Community Corrections Alternative Program
Harold Clarke served as Director of the Corrections in Massachusetts, Washington, and Nebraska before being appointed as Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Corrections. In each state, he had experimented with implementing dialogue. By the time he came to Virginia, he had some very clear ideas about how to make dialogue work within an organization.
First, he recognized that dialogue had to start at the top, so he began by training the 28 members of his executive team in dialogue skills and then consistently using dialogue in his team’s monthly meetings. Over the next few years, he cascaded dialogue down through the layers of the organization, to unit heads, wardens, shift commanders, etc. until all staff at every level had been trained and, like the executive team, had processes in place to continue learning and practicing dialogue.
The major dialogue skills and actions that VADOC has implemented are the four dialogic practices that Bill Isaac’s identifies in his book Dialogue:
- Voice – The practice of being authentic
- Listening – The practice of giving attention to others and what they mean
- Respect – The practice of taking another person and their views seriously
- Suspension – The practice of enquiring into the assumptions and implications of your views
And the four Kantor conversation actions:
- Move – a move takes the form of a proposal of some kind, such as, “I would like to talk about next week.” Without Moves, there is no direction, and the conversation goes nowhere.
- Follow – means the speaker would like to go along with the proposal, for example, “I wrote down the ideas we discussed for next week, so let’s take a look at my list.” Without Follows, there is no completion and decisions are not made.
- Oppose – Oppose disagrees with the Move proposed, such as, “I would rather think about what we still have to get done this week.” Without Oppose, there is no correction, and things feel untested.
- Bystand - is an observation about the way the conversation is proceeding, or getting stuck, for example, “Bill, you seem to be living in the future, while Jim seems pre-occupied with the here-and-now.” Without Bystands, there is no perspective, and the sequences of actions get stuck.
I have described these skills and actions simplistically here, but the dialogue training involves a much richer discussion of them as well as extended practice using them. VADOC has appointed 265 Dialogue Practitioners, who, in addition to their regular duties, take on this role. As a Dialogue Practitioner, their task is to continue the on-going learning of current staff as well as training new staff. Carrie West, who was recently appointed to a new role as VADOC Statewide Dialogue Coordinator, explains the benefits of dialogue from her perspective.
Having dialogue in the department has changed how people communicate with one another and how they handle situations. Once offenders understand that you’re listening to them, you give them the opportunity to voice or be a participant in our dialogue. It was eye-opening, especially to see dialogue come to fruition in the female facilities - listening to them participate and giving us their concerns. I’ve been in the department for a long period of time. Before we implemented dialogue, you were kind of, like the old saying goes, “Children are to be seen but not heard." I've seen that change. I’m appreciative of dialogue being incorporated into the department, and I’m glad to be a part of it.
Beyond the actions and practices listed above, several other concepts are taught, as are numerous processes that use dialogue. Harold Clarke explains “I see dialogue as a vessel into which we can place all of our challenges and thoughts, make sense of them and be able to communicate them to others effectively." Harold recognized that any new habits require practice to become ingrained, and any new process that isn’t reinforced will be lost. Two of the many dialogue processes put into place are Learning Teams and Working Dialogues, both regularly reinforce the skills and practices.
Learning teams – Every member of VADOC is assigned to a learning team, a small group of 10-15 employees from different units, that meet for an hour monthly to use real-life situations to practice dialogue. Staff concerns and any new policies from administration are discussed in these meetings. Concerns and suggested changes developed in Learning Teams flow back up the chain of command through the Dialogue Practitioners, who play in a role in facilitating learning teams, and supporting Working Dialogues.
Working Dialogues – Every unit holds two Working Dialogues a month to address issues and problems specific to that unit. There are three phases of a Working Dialogue:
Phase 1 - Dialogue to build a joint understanding of the Current Situation
- All participants share their thoughts about the issue, speaking to the center. The facilitator notes all ideas on a flipchart.
- The end of phase one has a “Gate” that requires participants to respond to three questions:
- Has anyone who is impacted by these issues been left out of this meeting?
- Have we heard everyone’s perspective?
- Do we have an agreed understanding?
Each participant answers each of the three questions on a scale of 1-10. If the combined score is below 8, the group examines the issue further or invites in missing voices.
Phase 2 – Dialogue to jointly create Desired Outcomes.
- Phase two is a visioning session to think through what the facility or unit would look like if the problem was resolved. It is not a time to offer solutions rather to articulate what is desired.
- Again there is a Gate to ask the questions listed above and vote before re-thinking or moving to Phase 3.
Phase 3 – Identify the changes required to get from the current situation to the desired outcome.
- Phases three is the opportunity to suggest what actions could be taken to reach the desired outcome.
- Again there is a Gate to ask the questions listed above and vote, this time before agreeing to actions.
There are many other dialogue processes in place at VADOC, such as the Offenders Resettlement Journey, Threshold Meetings, Future Search, Check-ins, Dialogue Coaching for supervisors to ensure accountability, Leading Energies, in fact, too many to describe in this post. But all bring staff and sometimes offenders together in dialogue.
In his book, Dialogue, Isaacs suggests that dialogue should promote the True, the Good and the Beautiful. In introducing dialogue, Harold Clarke has held those ideals, if not the specific terms, in mind. A set of deeply held beliefs guide his use of dialogue:
- the purpose of a prison is not to punish, but to keep the public safe from those incarcerated, while they learn how to function as good citizens
- prisons should be a place of healing - a healing environment for the prisoners and also for the staff who come to work each day, often with baggage of their own
- everyone deserves a second chance
- everyone should be held accountable for their actions
- people, whatever they have done, should be treated with dignity and respect
- all voices deserve to be heard
Given his beliefs and long history of work in prison systems, Harold concluded that the staff, practicing dialogue regularly, could create a healing environment that would also provide staff and inmates with a way to hold each other accountable. That is, a way that staff could interact without having to hide mistakes or withhold information - where they could freely ask each other for help when they needed it, and where they could use all the knowledge of a team or unit to solve the many difficult problems that arise in a prison setting.
The words of Sergio Escobar, who is both a Records Manager and a Dialogic Practitioner, provide a strong validation that Harold is succeeding.
It’s funny how being a Dialogue Practitioner has opened so many doors within the institution. It is amazing that we have become not just Dialogue Practitioners but ambassadors of a safe container. People have come to me with things they don’t want everybody to know. In a safe container you are able to gather the information and pass it to where it needs to be passed on. It’s made VADOC a better place to work.