By: Cole Wells, Masters of Public Administration
During this pandemic, we have come to realize something fundamental to what makes us human, communication. Now more than ever we value reaching out to the ones we love on a regular basis, but it doesn’t have to stop there. Interpersonal communication defines what it means to be human, and they drive social change and informed decision making. Once social distancing restrictions are lifted, it is important that we don’t lose sight of this as facilitators. Hard times bring people together and we should use this moment in time to bring people back to the table.
In our country today, things feel divided and so many issues can be polarizing, which leaves many people feeling either very frustrated or completely disaffected. Facilitators can help us realize that our differences and our ability to freely voice those differences
is what makes our country so great. The issue at hand is that people feel so passionate about an issue that they are blinded by their emotion, which leads to people arguing rather than having a constructive conversation. It is our job to aid people with differences of opinions to hear one another. Then hopefully they will realize that they are not as far apart as they initially thought, in turn establishing the possibility for common ground and to understand where someone else is coming from. While the pandemic has been a challenging experience for individuals and organizations alike, as facilitators we should use this common experience to highlight the importance of dialogue and communication as a society.
Contact ICAD at ICAD@jmu.edu for more information.