Who: Cardiff and Vale Drug and Alcohol Service (CAVDAS)
CAVDAS is an Alliance bringing together the skills, experience and expertise of three Welsh substance use organisations – Barod, Kaleidoscope and Recovery Cymru – and the Cardiff and Vale Area Planning Board.
The brief: As part of a broader suite of co-production training and development provided by the Co-production Lab Wales, I delivered a training and learning session on “Dialogue for collaboration, co-production and culture change“.
What I did: I had 2 hours with the team, so I built the following elements into the session:
- using abstract illustrated cards to explore perceptions and understanding of conflict
- discussions and reflections on dialogue and on conflict
- the Thomas Kilmann conflict management model, mapped out onto the floor space
- Marshall Rosenberg’s non-violent communication model, applied to unpacking a tangible situation
What they said: The attendees reported that they appreciated the interactive nature of the session, and the mix of activities and reflection; it was meaningful and gave them food for thought. But we could have had more time, and it is true that in 2 hours I could only cover some basics and offer some pointers. A longer session (or a follow-up session) would enable us to delve deeper into real world applications like having difficult conversations, and how to integrate talking about feelings in professionals settings – and also to practice more.
One of the Alliance partners subsequently booked a session on having difficult conversations for their team’s away day.
Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash