How to facilitate a difficult conversation

Post date: 2018-05-16 16:36:05

I'm a director of an all-volunteer organization. Last night, one of my fellow directors talked about a conflict with a couple of senior volunteers. I think we need to fix this.

We'll call my fellow director Alice, and the volunteers she's having a problem with Betty and Carol. Betty did once say something racially tone-deaf to Alice (Alice is black, Betty is white). But more importantly, Alice feels that Betty and Carol will ignore her and talk over her during meetings. I did notice at our last meeting that Alice sat off to the side and pointedly didn't participate. Alice admitted she has considered resigning over the matter, which I wouldn't want. Although I haven't talked with Betty or Carol yet, I suspect they think Alice isn't pulling her weight.

I think we need to clear the air and have everyone raise whatever grievances they have in order to move on. By disposition, I am probably not the ideal person to facilitate this conversation (and maybe I'm wrong about the whole idea), but if there are techniques for making this work better, I'm all ears.

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