Ground Rules
Ground rules often allow constructive communication to take place when it had not been possible before.

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Laura Chasin recommends that the first phases of dialogue proceed in a highly structured fashion.

Laura Chasin recommends that dialogue groups adopt concrete ground rules.

Robert Stains talks about how he establishes groundrules for dialogue in very tense situations.

Nancy Ferrell talks about re-establishing channels of communication during family mediation.

Laura Chasin talks about how fostering an environment conducive to constructive conversation is central to the healing process.

Nancy Ferrell says one job of a facilitator is to model good process so the clients eventually can handle things themselves.

Community Relations Service Mediator Silke Hansen describes how it helps to level the playing field by helping community groups prepare for mediation.

Community Relations Service Mediator Silke Hansen describes how she gets parties to sit down together before potentially violent demonstrations to work out the "rules of engagement." That usually prevents trouble before it starts.
This rough transcript provides a text alternative to audio. We apologize for occasional errors and unintelligible sections (which are marked with ???).
Beyond Intractability Version II
Copyright © 2003-2006 The Beyond Intractability Project
Beyond Intractability is a Registered Trademark of the University of Colorado
Project Acknowledgements

The Beyond Intractability Knowledge Base Project
Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess, Co-Directors and Editors
c/o Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado
Campus Box 580, Boulder, CO 80309
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