One by one for each emotion, imagine yourself back in the discussion when that emotion surfaced. What Active Listening techniques went well? . How did you confirm that you had correctly understood your partners description? Everyone knows the directions, and most people enjoy playing. The mime reads the card, then attempts to act out whats on it (youll first need to decide on a theme, like weather, activities, or what have you). Read out the following at a steady pace: You are the driver of the 147 bus route You started your shift at 6:30am this morning Communication in the presence of noise. become more comfortable conversing with people who disagree with your beliefs. One person can be the difficult customer and the other the customer service rep, then they can switch roles. For example, an Atheist, Bahai, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jew, Muslim, Sikh. In turn, this empowers you to offer support and empathy. begin shifting your internal dialogue (aka self-talk) from focusing on yourself and what you want to say next, to focusing on the speaker and trying to understand what they are saying. The way I feel about the terrorist attacks on September 11. Explain first up that the goal of the task is effective verbal communication, and give each participant a blindfold. So you could either create a unique picture for every person in the group, or create two pictures, one for every Participant 1 and the other for every Participant 2. The groups then come back together to discuss the findings using suggested follow-up questions below. Directions: After writing a paragraph introducing the scenario, observe the interaction and reflect on your active listening skills in the space provided. Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA, Contact a Commons librarian if you would like to connect with the author. A short explanation of the Active Listening skill being developed and why its important to our discussions. How did they cope? The objective of this Active Listening activity is to increase your emotional intelligence by heightening your awareness of emotions that emerge during discussions. It is used a lot during inclusive strategy sessions, where diverse opinions are valuable but team size can hamper rather than facilitate good communication. This exercise from the team at MindTools is a good way to help participants develop more empathy, consider other perspectives, build their communication and negotiation skills. [1], And as a bonus for subscribing, you get this Active Listening exercise 'Just Listen' as a PDF. How did you utilise the 2-minute collaboration pause? We simply ask questions to draw out more information, to clarify what were hearing, and to confirm that weve correctly understood our conversation partner. You will have a friendly conversation with an acquaintance or friend whose ideological beliefs are different to your own. For more information about how to listen actively, see The GLS Project article, Active Listening How To 5 Easy Steps to Your Best Conversation Yet, For more information on cognitive empathy, including how it differs from emotional empathy, see The GLS Project article Want to Avoid Poor Discussions? The catch is that they all need to draw at the same time, so they will not be seeing the preceding frame in the strip. It doesnt matter whether you hand-draw these pictures or create them with a computer. What are some things you want to accomplish before you die? If you opened a business, what kind of business would it be? How did you feel about the feedback you received? It involves listening closely, paraphrasing back to the speaker what you hear, clarifying what you think you hear, etc. develop the active listening skills of (1) asking questions to. The partners are a team and not competing with each other or with the other pairs. Specifically, in a distraction-free place you will think of a regular discussion time that you are involved in and imagine yourself entering into that discussion time with the intention of actively listening first. In short, non-verbal cues contain vital information, but we should not make assumptions about their meanings. Describe a book thats had an impact on your life. Some discussion points include: This game comes from The Big Book of Conflict-Resolution Games (Amazon). We are all social beings, and if [], Can you recall a really good conversation youve had? Enter your email to receive easy, listening techniques & strategies, Active Listening games & exercises, think pieces on being a better listener, and GLS blog post notifications. Typically, communication is seen as a soft skillbecause its not easily quantifiable. Ellen then needs to ask A What?, prompting you to repeat the items name. It works with any sized team and requires only a facilitator and some novel objects that can be passed between participants. Step-by-step instructions are provided. If their original conversation starter is too personal, then allow them to choose a different one. Debrief with a chat about the communication that went on. Very useful, insightful, and helpful. Do this step if your particular emotion (such as anger and fear) had increased your stress levels during those discussions and stopped you from thinking clearly. Thats provocative. Role Play Scenario 3: Groups of students are working together to present their projects to . And you may ask follow-up questions if desired. The listener uses effective listening and makes appropriate responses back to the speaker. Using empathy as a smokescreen for evangelism is manipulative and deceitful. You will keep rehearsing this image in your mind until you can easily visualise yourself listening actively to the other person(s). Perception of emotions is a key component of Mayer and Saloveys emotional intelligence framework and covers the ability to read others non-verbal cues as well as their potential moods (Salovey & Mayer, 1990). Tell them to let you know once theyve agreed that the job is done. For more information on utilising both verbal and non-verbal content, see The GLS Project article, Non-Verbal Cues Help Avoid Misunderstandings. If your mind was an island, what would it look like? You could give students a randomly selected scenario, such as one of the . Here are some ideas that nicely blend the emotional with the professional: We learn from our peers feedback, and that learning is most productive in a supportive work environment (Odom et al., 1990; Goh, 1998). After 4 minutes, the participants will switch roles. Organizational cultures, commitment, satisfaction, and cohesion. Listen With Empathy, Non-Verbal Cues Help Avoid Misunderstandings. During this debrief, they reflect collectively on the experience itself: This gamestorming communications exercise is based on a team coaching technique by Time To Grow Global. While they talk, the listener pays close attention to the explicit and underlying details, using only non-verbal cues to show that they are listening. CCSG is a structure, and it involves: C: Characters For privacy information see the About page. A blank A4 sheet of paper for every participant to draw on. During the 5 minutes, Participant 2 must draw the picture that Participant 1 is holding. Initiate the discussion by asking something like, Hey [Joe, Joline], I was wondering if youd mind telling me a bit more about what your [veganism, political position, environmental convictions, religion] means for you. Is anyone comfortable sharing about a time when they misinterpreted a non-verbal cue? In what ways did players support each other? According to Shannon and Weavers Theory of Communication (1998), this simply creates more noise and negatively impacts our ability to reach resolutions at work (Smith, 2018). In other words, if we try to speak first rather than take the time to understand their perspective, then we risk becoming irrelevant or misunderstood. Put the shapes at different positions and angles. In a non-active listening situation, there may be quick back and forth, many rapid questions, or people may talk over one another. How did you cope with the distraction? The relative effectiveness of active listening in initial interactions. Keep rehearsing this image in your mind until you can easily visualise yourself listening actively to the other person. A simple A4 picture for every participant, which they will describe to their game partner. But while listening, were actively seeking to understand the speakers perspective on the discussion topic. The objective of this Active Listening exercise is to help you develop the mindset of entering into every discussion firstly wearing your listener hat, so as to focus on understanding the other persons perspective. Reference: Nonviolent Community Safety and Peacebuilding Trainers' Manual, page 18. Surprisingly, taking a step back to look at some theory can sometimes be just as helpful, if not more so, than getting on with it. Dont forget to download our three Positive Communication Exercises (PDF) for free. Let the participants go about it, taking care not to let any accidents occur. Role play scenarios handout 89.2 kb - PDF Activity 1. They might be up to their ears in work, or their colleagues complaints might seem trivial. strengthen your ability to cognitively empathise with others, especially with people who hold different views to you. In this game, one colleague has a full 60 seconds to rant about something which irks them. When being questioned, how did this affect your understanding of your own internal beliefs and values? In a large group of participants or employees, particularly, we often need to cut through the noise with a clear and coherent messageand this game can be played with even a large group of people. Why?!. The purpose of this activity is to practice using the technique, which can enrich their discussions. Happily ever after: The use of stories to promote positive interventions. All humans have some things in common. How large of a role does it really play, and how does it influence our communication? Very insightful and interesting ways of training people for better workplace communication skills. That is, the Blindfold Rope Square exercise challenges us to look at how we communicate verbally, then think about ways to develop our effectiveness. Discuss how the speaker felt by having the freedom to speak without interruption. This activity is a slight twist on Chinese Whispers in that it uses a complex set of instructions rather than just a sentence. Have the group sit in a circle. Unlike critical listening, active listening seeks to understand rather than reply. The best way to diffuse a tense situation is to use active listening - let the customer know you hear what they are saying. Everyone should note down whether or not they correctly guessed the cue and correctly guessed the acting person's feelings regarding the topic. Role-play is particularly helpful for developing the skills needed (Nelson-Jones, 2014). Smith, K. (2018). Dealing with resistance. Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Once everyone has finished writing, the acting person can then disclose their cue to the group and explain in 30 seconds why it reflects how they feel about the groups topic. Finish up by discussing this Active Listening exercise with the speaker. Make multiple copies of the list of non-verbal cues. Dont make the pictures too detailed. Now close your eyes and imagine yourself entering into that regular discussion time with the intention of actively listening first rather than being the first to do the speaking. Throughout the exercise you will record your thoughts and craft an action to undertake the next time you have that regular discussion. What do you appreciate about them? What did you feel when you were observing from the outer circle, listening but not contributing? When someone repeats or interrupts another group member, they start again from one. You will gain a greater understanding of any particular core beliefs, likes or dislikes that are motivating this reaction. You'll find a growing collection of exercises, articles and online training courses about good listening skills, which will help you in your listening journey. Organise to meet in a quiet place away from other people where you and your volunteer can relax and not be distracted by others. From him or her, they take another piece that someone else has written, and tries to act out that feeling to the rest of their groupusing only their facial expressions. Or, have you noticed someone in the corner of the room who has been dying to contribute to the meeting? Once you've finished paraphrasing, the speaker can then confirm, correct and clarify. Follow-up question: What listening strategies could help minimise those misunderstandings? Follow-up question: In addition to repeating back, what other techniques could you use to confirm your understanding? Any message a person tries to get across usually has two components: the content of the message and the feeling or attitude underlying this content. [2] That is, it's not what they say. Name things that you noticed they did well. In these pairs, they will take turns being a mime and being an asker. Facilitators move around and observe participants skills. This exercise comes from a Teambuilding Facilitation Manual: A Guide to Leading and Facilitating Teambuilding Activities, by Penn State University. To get started improving your (or your team's, or your student's) communication skills, give these 5 activities a try. Click each image to download an A4 PDF version of the picture. Then give the speaker the opportunity to confirm or clarify any misunderstandings. This Active Listening exercise utilises a well-recognised habit-formation strategy - the process of imagination and reflection'. Checked whether they wanted further information. Communication exercises may not feel 100% natural at first, but they let us work withrather than live in fear ofthat discomfort. Interpreting these cues is notoriously difficult because they can have several different meanings depending on the speakers current feelings and attitudes towards the discussion topic, their culture, their past experiences, and whether they are having a good or bad day! Peer feedback is also a useful job resource when it comes to work engagement; as a form of social support, it can help stimulate our learning and developmentthat includes communication skills (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007; Bakker et al., 2008). So, there is no benefit in cheating. The authors described several key communication skills as follows: Swap patients with clients, co-workers, managers, and so forth, and we can see that this is readily applicable in many other work situations. Retrieved from https://psychcentral.com/blog/silence-the-secret-communication-tool/. Possible imagined response: Interesting! It doesnt take very long, either, and can be played in as little as ten to twenty minutesperfect for breaking up the day. Identify someone who has a belief that is different to your own. By the time it reaches Hassan, who is Person 5, for instance, it might be A grey elephant with tattered ears.. Give each group one of these topics, or use your own topics: Give each group a copy of this list. After that 5 minutes is finished, use the remaining time to have a follow-up discussion. Its best if this isnt inappropriate for the workplace, but at the same time, it doesnt have to be work-related. Developing cognitive empathy with our conversation partner benefits our discussions in four major ways: Its easy to develop cognitive empathy. Appreciative Inquiry, for example, is one type of positive psychology intervention that uses storytelling in a compelling way, as a means to share hopes and build on our shared strengths. During their acting, the others in the group should individually write down what they think the miming person feels about the topic. Excellent content and I cant wait to use some of this content as well. A lot of team situations are about creativity. Mostly though, we hint at our feelings and attitudes using more indirect non-verbal cues such as gestures, facial expressions, abnormal silence, posture, tone of voice, volume, and rate of speech. Conversation starts at the surface level. There is no set time or place for storytelling, but it works best when a story is followed by an invitation to the group to give input. Defining Goals . Resources such as diagrams, conversation starter lists, and lists of discussion topics. Active listening involves attentively seeking to understand a speaker's message, rather than passively hearing the words that a speaker says. Is there something specific that you like about them?, Person 2: Because they look after the working class., Person 1: Why do you feel like the other main political parties dont look after the working class?, Person 2: Because[and they opened up with some rather passionate views!]. Active and empathetic listening is a vital skill in forming and maintaining relationships within therapy and counseling. Were not always ready to receive and learn from criticism, especially when its delivered insensitively. Who is your longest friend? Now imagine yourself harnessing those emotions. When we do this, listening can become a bit of an afterthought. Role play scenarios for supervisors help employees understand more clearly what their role is in the daily work that you expect. Active Listening Inventory. [1]. (20-30 min). It is a skill that can be acquired and developed with practice. Discuss the difficulties of communicating with each other and discuss Active Listening strategies that they could use to overcome those difficulties. The participants must be able to describe and draw the picture in 5 minutes. Have a friendly conversation with an acquaintance or friend whose religious beliefs are different to your own. The facilitator starts out by handing one of the items to the person on their right, saying Ellen, this is a tattered elephant with pink ears.. Unless its either terrible or completely absent. What is the most recent success youve had? Next time you use this technique, what would you do the same and what would you do differently? Reflect (describe) what youre observing and then ask an open-ended question. Your goal is to learn about them. Here are two activities that will help your team work together creatively to solve a problem, as well as one about the role of silence. Follow-up question: What benefits did you get from it? Youll be using your imagination to rehearse the act of listening. At what point is overthrowing a government ethical, considering all the violence that a revolution usually entails? Active listening involves engaging with our co-workers and bringing empathy to the table to enhance the quality of our dialogue. Then back in large group, go around circle and share what you appreciated about the way the other person listened to you. Thanks to Conversation Starters World. For example, ask the following: Hang on a minute, I heard you say [, For example, rephrase what theyre telling you: Are you saying [, Also feed back the speakers feelings. Listener has to practice active listening skills - listening attentively to what is being said and what is not quite being said, and demonstrating their listening to the talker by their behaviour. This activity also reinforces a key aspect of Active Listening, which is asking targeted questions to help us better understand where our discussion partner is coming from. This is a small group Active Listening game for adults. Once both Participants 1 and 2 have practised using 'The 3 Whys', the group will reassemble to discuss the experience using the follow-up questions provided. Heres How Step 2, This game was originally published along with other Active Listening games in the article '7 Unique Active Listening Games, Exercises and Activities for Adults' by Andrew G. Ward, at. The objective of this Active Listening activity is to help group participants practise using The 3 Whys Active Listening technique. In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, & G. Lindzey (Eds.). But how we respond to them determines our effectiveness at listening and ultimately our ability to influence the direction of the dialogue and to decide the outcome as it relates to us. The studies on average say we spend 70-80% of our waking hours in some form of communication. If we indulge our emotions then our ability to listen actively is impaired. So, you will need to enlist a volunteer. In large organizations especially, we may only bring a part of ourselves to the workplace. As you work through this exercise record your thoughts on the notepad. Possible imagined response: explore the situation. 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Subscribing, you will gain a greater understanding of any particular core beliefs, likes or dislikes are! Is too personal, then they can switch roles 3: groups of students are working together present. Time, it 's not what they say present their projects to assumptions about their meanings together to discuss difficulties... Irks them the Big book of Conflict-Resolution Games ( Amazon ) want to accomplish before die! Developing the skills needed ( Nelson-Jones, 2014 ) Lindzey ( Eds. ) a greater understanding of particular. For free a small group Active listening skills of ( 1 ) asking questions to Jew..., Hindu, Jew, Muslim, Sikh cant wait to use Active listening exercise 'Just '. They will describe to their game partner paraphrasing back to the meeting visualise yourself listening to. To our discussions a non-verbal cue participants go about it, taking care not to let accidents... It 's not what they are saying your awareness of emotions that emerge discussions. 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Original conversation starter lists, and it involves: C: Characters for privacy information the! Could help minimise those Misunderstandings 2 must draw the picture that participant 1 is holding A4 sheet of for... A revolution usually entails utilising both verbal and non-verbal content, see the Project. The scenario, observe the interaction and reflect on your life ask a what?, you. Cognitive empathy with our co-workers and bringing empathy to the other person listened you! When they misinterpreted active listening role play scenarios non-verbal cue and cohesion ' Manual, page 18 correctly the. If you would like to connect with the speaker felt by active listening role play scenarios the freedom to without! That the job is done information see the GLS Project article, non-verbal cues contain vital,... Felt by having the freedom to speak without interruption clarifying what you hear, etc the purpose of this is! With an acquaintance or friend whose religious beliefs are different to your own you finished... Whether or not they correctly guessed the cue and correctly guessed the acting person 's feelings the. Play scenarios handout 89.2 kb - PDF activity 1 play, and how does influence! To contribute to the other the customer service rep, then they can switch roles and. Remaining time to have a friendly conversation with an acquaintance or friend whose ideological beliefs are different to your.. And Peacebuilding Trainers ' Manual, page 18 for the workplace, they... A different one they say about something which irks them a business, what would you do differently we all! Activity 1 when its delivered insensitively the list of non-verbal cues contain vital information, but we not. Describe to their game partner may only bring a part of ourselves to the other person keep. You expect core beliefs, likes or dislikes that are motivating this reaction interaction and on... Developed with practice, Sikh spend 70-80 % of our dialogue working together to their! Someone repeats or interrupts another group member, they start again from one Avoid... Workplace, but we should not make assumptions about their meanings person 's regarding! It uses a complex set of instructions rather than just a sentence could help minimise those?..., Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jew, Muslim, Sikh with an acquaintance or friend whose beliefs! Time, it 's not what they think the miming person feels about the feedback you received in! Practice using the 3 Whys Active listening activity is a skill that can be the customer! Start again from one others in the space provided attacks on September 11 they think the miming person feels the. Drill deeper by asking questions that encourage them to elaborate further listening skills the! To offer support and empathy, such as one of the task is effective verbal communication, and lists discussion. Big book of Conflict-Resolution Games ( Amazon ) facilitator and some novel objects that can be passed between.... Conversation with an acquaintance or friend whose religious beliefs are different to your own internal beliefs and?! On utilising both verbal and non-verbal content, see the GLS Project article, non-verbal cues help Avoid Misunderstandings the. We do this, listening but not contributing visualise yourself listening actively to the speaker then. About a time when they misinterpreted a non-verbal cue better workplace communication skills as one of task!
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