Mission-Based Dialogue

Now that you're armed with the knowledge and skills to effectively engage with guests, let's take it a step further and discuss mission based dialog. 

Maritime Aquarium Mission: Inspire people of all ages to appreciate and protect the Long Island Sound ecosystem and global environment through living exhibits, marine science, and environmental education. 

There are four principles that make up the foundation of mission-based dialogue. 
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  • Trust: Respecting different opinions and having compassion for others' feelings
  • Openness: Being open and truthful about what you represent and being open to understand and respect the viewpoints of others
  • Honesty: Transparency about the organization's mission, vision, values, and standpoints. 
  • Equality: Everyone has something to say and everyone's opinion matters during the dialogue. Everyone joins in the conversation equally and there is no biases. 
The approach to conducting Mission Based Dialogue

Goal/Purpose
  • The dialogue should be mission based and therefore the goal should be to support your organization's viewpoint. However, this doesn't mean trying to force anyone to leave with the same beliefs. For example, if your organization's mission is focused on animal care and welfare, the goal of your dialogue may be to help guests realize your organization is committed to providing a high quality of life for the animals living there. 
Trust
  • Should be established as you initiate interactions with guests.
  • Use clarifying questions and responses to ensure you understand people's perspectives.
Open
  • Try to understand the other person's frame of reference and point of view.
  • Respond to the other person's implicit thoughts and feelings, not your assumptions to them.
  • Use proving questions to further explore people's points of view. 
Honest
  • Be truthful about the organization's mission, vision, and values related to the conversations topic.
  • Present balanced information.
  • Present on-topic/relevant information.
  • Be authentic. 
Equal 
  • Everyone has something to say and their statements should be treated with compassion and respect. 
  • Everyone is invited to join the conversation equally and is given equal time to contribute thoughts and ideas. 
  • There are no biases, no one's comments or viewpoints are favored over others. 
  • Everyone's opinion matters and is valued. 
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True or False: Knowing and understanding the organization's mission, vision, and values is important for mission based dialogue

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A key fundamental of mission-based dialogue is: