We have noticed for some time that even the groups and teams of trainers for NVC (classical Nonviolent Communication), like other teams, do not work together as smoothly as we intuitively expected. It was not that we had exaggerated hopes in the human or professional competence of our colleagues. After a lot of experience of how well conflicts can be solved with classic NVC, we simply wanted to see our cooperation blossom without any problems. In doing so, we were blind in one eye. We did not realize that the four steps of NVC are hardly suitable for organizing systems of togetherness without violence. The philosophy of Nonviolent Communication, on the other hand, does speak of the big picture and claims to be able to support social change, including in the systems of partnership, family, business and community. We were in the position of a blacksmith who stands in front of his red-hot forge without a hammer. In December 2017, we, two coaches, a trainer and I as a communication developer, came together to find the "four missing steps of NVC". Surprisingly, we actually found them. In addition to the experimental meetings of this experimental team, the elaborate background work for the communication developer began in order to form a usable model from the results of the experimental meetings. Soon it was clear that we needed even more than the model to be able to put the steering of the complex interaction into the hands of a team in such a way that it could still steer itself without a captain even in rough seas. So we needed a few additional tools to make the process practical. Some already existed and only needed to be slightly adapted. Others we developed from scratch. So now there is not only the model, but also a small toolbox for each step. The working material is currently available in German and English. Conferences, practice groups, a mail forum, an app, etc. form a small NVC-plus support cosmos that has been created for you and your projects.

Our team, Monika Flörchinger, Klaus-Peter Kilmer- Kirsch, Stephan Seibert and I, Gabriel Fritsch, had success in surprisingly few meetings. As early as April 2018, a first major event with other colleagues demonstrated that the basic features of the model were solid and working. This was followed by refinement and elaboration over the rest of the year, at a few more meetings. We were tempted to apply the premises of NVC-plus to our collaboration as well. Tensions arose again and again, for which we found answers surprisingly quickly and whose management we evaluated methodically. The maximum of collaboration is, of course, always within the bounds of what is possible and not necessarily within the bounds of what is expected. But behind the limits of possibility, additional resources still shine through in unexpected ways as soon as a synergy is established in the team. Towards the end of the year, more and more practical work with couples and teams was added. The model has already been presented in Vienna, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Münster, Mannheim, Darmstadt, etc. and is currently spreading. The entire research and development was carried out privately by us.

Communication development is the art of interstices. It is in them that interpersonal relationships take place. Today, in the psychological arts, too much attention is often paid to the individual, so that the interstices go unnoticed. Let us think of the interstices between the atomic nuclei and the electrons, without which our world would not exist. Modern soccer is also the art of mastering space. The playing field determines the game. As a communication developer, it's not just about untangling tangled communication. There are also developments in the form of new methods, models and processes. With NVC-plus, we had the very rare good fortune to come across an approach that, like a gold mine, was worth paying closer attention to. It's not just about a new model, it's about being able to change the culture of how we work together. We agreed internally from the beginning to make all the knowledge around NVC-plus as freely available as possible so that it could be effective. This knowledge has found us and is therefore not a gift from us, it is a gift in itself for all of us. A lot of work on design and creation we add to it, because it is most important to us that your initiatives, companies and ventures inspired by the spirit of the new age have a chance to succeed already now - with the interactive intelligence and synergy of your team. From many such projects, our culture of togetherness can gradually change completely.