Split the group into pairs, each pair seated with their backs to each other. Nonverbal communication. quieten those urges to interrupt in order to jump in with your comments. Was their influence helpful or misleading? Walk me around that island. Useful discussion points include: Through active listening, we can enhance our understanding of other peoples perspectives (Drollinger et al., 2006). Im Listening can be played with an even number of participants, as they will need to find a partner for this one-on-one game. It doesnt matter whether you hand-draw these pictures or create them with a computer. Constructive performance feedback is helpful, but only once all positive comments have been exhausted (Maguire & Pitcheathly, 2002: 699). Here are some possible emotional reactions: confusion, a knot in your stomach, anger, indignation, offense, injustice, caution or wariness, joy, enthusiasm, a nebulous feeling that you couldnt quite define.. Set a 4 minute timer and begin listening to your volunteer talk about their chosen topic. What might have contributed to this confusion? 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. This is called Active Listening. Then, let them share the story behind the object. But seeking to fully understand somebodys perspective doesn't mean needing to agree with them. For example, an Atheist, Bahai, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jew, Muslim, Sikh. Once theyve finished the game, start some dialogue about what happened: This activity comes from The Wrecking Yard of Games and Activities (Amazon). Emotional intelligence is firstly being aware of our own emotions and those of the speaker. It could be a weekly meeting with a work colleague, the daily family time around the dinner table, or a mid-week lunch catch-up with a friend. Have paper and pens available for the participants. In this game, one colleague has a full 60 seconds to rant about something which irks them. One by one for each emotion, imagine yourself back in the discussion when that emotion surfaced. Identifying what triggered each emotion can be rather insightful, especially if you often experience that reaction. How did you increase your understanding of your partners picture? Give Participant 2 a blank sheet of paper and a pen for drawing. How large of a role does it really play, and how does it influence our communication? 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. Once everyone has finished writing, the acting person can then disclose their cue to the group and take 30 seconds to explain why it reflects how they feel about the groups topic. You will need about ten meters of rope and a safe place for employees to walk around blindfolded in. How did they cope? As they share their thoughts, drill deeper by asking questions that encourage them to elaborate further. | Powered by WordPress. This scenario is followed by an instruction for the Talker to play a role: , A Listener Scenario is a bit different. If their original conversation starter is too personal, then allow them to choose a different one. If we want to communicate empathetically and build relationships with co-workersimportant social resourcespersonal storytelling is one way we can build our teams while developing communication skills. What Active Listening techniques went well? 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!]. 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. For example, one team member might describe a past success of the group or team, where their collective strengths helped them succeed. Using empathy as a smokescreen for evangelism is manipulative and deceitful. This is cognitive empathy, which is the goal of Active Listening. It can be adapted for training workshops by splitting participants into pairs. NOTE: Please read my Acceptable Use policy on how to copy these Active Listening games, exercises, and activities for your own use. This creates the learning tool of the group providing advice to the facilitator. Haertel, C., McWilliams, J., & Ma, R. (2005). Follow-up question: What kinds of clarifying questions did you ask? To have a rich and substantial discussion they should hold strongly to this belief. Communication is a whole lot more than just talkingalthough, that is a fundamental part of relationship-building and knowledge-transfer. For privacy information see the About page. As you work through this exercise record your thoughts on the notepad. Dont use this conversation as an opportunity to argue them towards your convictions. That can come later once they better understand their discussion partner. Was there any lack of clarity around the instructions? We gather insights from working with cutting edge startups and corporations in Silicon Valley and apply it for all our clients. 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. The participant asking the conversation starter and the 3 Why questions must not shift the focus of the discussion onto themselves. 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! This way, its possible to see if and how the message changes as it goes around the group. So, there is no benefit in cheating. Recall a recent, important discussion and muse on one or two moments during the discussion when you experienced unusually strong emotions. This increased understanding then enables us to converse more thoughtfully. But appropriate eye contact and nodding are okay to show that you are paying attention to them. Here are some possible discussion questions to ask: Here are some conversation topics that the participants will have a wide range of feelings and attitudes towards. One object should be passed clockwise, and the other counter-clockwise. This Active Listening activity is designed for training workshops. A time when I dealt with a difficult conflict well. Think of a specific, regular discussion time that youre involved in. What were some of the differences? Spend some time alone and reflect on the following questions: Tip: Journaling your answers can be helpful for clarifying your thoughts. Exercises that boost our active listening skills help us engage better, through empathy, body language, and non-judgment where required (Rogers & Farson, 1957). https://positivepsychology.com/communication-activities-adults-students/. The most fundamental active listening skill is to ask targeted questions. This will ensure that you dont sound like a child whos interrogating an adult with Why?! Two circles of chairs are set up, one inside the other. Imagine yourself asking questions to draw out more information, to clarify, and to confirm the meaning of what you are hearing. Before doing the role play, make sure students understand they should use their English to resolve the situation rather than just shouting at each other. Where was the weakest link, and why? Your sign-up bonus has been sent to your inbox. Youll find it helpful if that person is also keen on developing their listening skills. zDevelop the environment. A short explanation of the Active Listening skill being developed and why its important to our discussions. Theyre not simply warm-up activities! Very useful for my Communicare sessions. Nothing else is said. Clarify Understanding IV. The exercises in this worksheet can be done in groups of two to three. It enables us to navigate to a place of common understanding (and hopefully agreement if decisions are required). Essentially, the message will change as the object gets passed along, and players will need to stay sharp to remember who they are passing and talking to. Benefits: We dont need to look too far to find sources of workplace stress that might be impacting our colleagues. Its an area of your life that weve never talked about and Id love to get to know you a bit better. Thank you so much for creating and sharing these tools. (20-30min). Developing emotional intelligence in high potential middle managers: The role of experiential learning. Armed with their handouts, talkers begin to engage with the topic. Put even more simply, we make work a nicer place to be while avoiding unnecessary conflict. Find a place free of distractions and sit down with a notepad and pen. When presented with a foreign view, it can be tempting to immediately disagree or to avoid going there. Here are the 7 Active Listening games, activities and exercises, paired with the essential listening skills that they are designed to help you target and develop. This exercise is done with another person. [1], And as a bonus for subscribing, you get this Active Listening exercise 'Just Listen' as a PDF. What factors sometimes prevent us from asking questions when they might actually be useful? Listening will become your default approach. Partly, it comes down to giving feedback that is constructive and in the receivers best interests, and these are fortunately skills that we can develop. Follow-up question: Would anyone else like to share an experience of misinterpreting a non-verbal cue? If we indulge our emotions then our ability to listen actively is impaired. Practice Makes Perfect V. Uncovering Assumptions To use this technique, students act out skills after discussing them. Crediting the source(s) of course. Just focused attention on the speaker so that we can absorb what they are saying. What thoughts do you have about interpreting non-verbal cues? Where did you meet them? With active listening, the speaker is given the time and space to speak as much as they want. Dont forget to download our three Positive Communication Exercises (PDF) for free. At the height of a discussion its very difficult to apply new techniques such as harnessing your emotions while trying to stay calm and avoid reacting impulsively to what were hearing (and observing non-verbally). Recognising and Interpreting Non-Verbal Cues. Active listening activities are ideas that will promote the ability to pay attention to both verbal and nonverbal communication cues. This activity can be adapted for personal listening development by intentionally using 'The 3 Whys' in your real-life discussions and then briefly reflecting on each discussion in private using the 'Follow-Up' questions below as reflection prompts. In large organizations especially, we may only bring a part of ourselves to the workplace. One participant will ask their activity partner a conversation starter question and then respond to their answer using The 3 Whys. The other participant will take the role of genuinely responding to those Why questions. Describe a controversial opinion that you have. Were there different interpretations for the same cue? develop the active listening skills of (1) asking questions to. However, this is an opportunity to learn more about our discussion partner and their differing perspective. Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA, Contact a Commons librarian if you would like to connect with the author. Who is your longest friend? 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). This is the skill of repeating what . Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). The talker discusses their dream vacation for three minutes, describing what they would like best about it but without specifying where it should be. Doctors described empathy in terms of feedback and validation. The doctors studied also checked with their patients what their beliefs were about what was wrong. This exercise introduces I statements, which describe others behavior objectively while allowing the speaker to express the impact on their feelings. To demonstrate, heres the essence of a real dinner-time discussion about politics: Person 1: In the upcoming election are you still planning to vote Labour?, Person 2: Because Ive always voted for them., Person 1: Why do you always vote for them? Rogers, C., Farson, R. E., "Active Listening", Gordon Training Inc., www.gordontraining.com/free-workplace-articles/active-listening/, Extract from 1957 article. Psychological safety, trust, and learning in organizations: A group-level lens. Why? II. What feelings do we understand the easiest, when only facial expressions are used? Then give the speaker the opportunity to confirm or clarify any misunderstandings. Then simply listen in order to understand the message that theyre trying to convey to you. Retrieved from https://psychcentral.com/blog/silence-the-secret-communication-tool/. Have participants pair up with a partner for a role play. Silence is not always a bad thing. It only means keeping an open-mind and withholding judgement long enough to adequately understand the other persons perspective. Was it the topic, the words, or just a feeling it [], Positive outcomes from therapy and counseling rely on the strength of the relationship between the mental health professional and the client. Very insightful and interesting ways of training people for better workplace communication skills. How was being a watcher, compared to being a listener? At the human level, our social resources play a massive part in our happiness and well-being in the workplace. One person can be the difficult customer and the other the customer service rep, then they can switch roles. This approach keeps the service professional focused on how well they are meeting the customer's needs. Special thanks to C. B. Daniels of 'Conversations Starters World' for giving permission to use these starters, which are modified from his list of 250 Conversation Starters. In several sentences, the scenario outlines a situation where they are approached by a colleague with problems but might have other things on their plate. Checked whether they wanted further information. Different studies vary on exactly how much of our intended message (and credibility) is non-verbal, but its undoubtedly important (DePaulo & Friedman, 1998; Knapp et al., 2013). It is not a method for creating opportunities to talk about themselves. It's how they say it. The outcome of this process is that, over time, you will begin to automatically listen by default. Discuss what happened to your internal dialogue. Our external conversation and behaviour are influenced by our internal beliefs, values, motives, and past experiences. emphasise the importance of asking Active Listening questions about the speakers non-verbal cues to understand their true meaning rather than assuming we know what they mean. With nobody in particular starting first, they are asked to count from one to ten as a group, but each member can only say one number. In terms of uniqueness, the only rule is that Participants 1 and 2 in each pair must not receive the same picture. They are designed for adults (not children) and suitable for both personal listening development and workplace training workshops. Breaking these down into tips, here are 4 fairly broad ways we can enhance our communication skills to increase our effectiveness and well-being. 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. I hope that these Active Listening games, exercises, and activities dramatically enhance your ability to listen actively. Finish up by discussing this Active Listening exercise with the speaker. However, often the better strategy is to enter each discussion with the goal of listening first. Drollinger, T., Comer, L. B., & Warrington, P. T. (2006). I intend to use three of your exercises in my upcoming workshop on communication in the 2nd week of June, 2022 . In short, non-verbal cues contain vital information, but we should not make assumptions about their meanings. After everyone in the group has had the opportunity to act out their non-verbal cue, the group should compare notes as to how accurately they managed to interpret the feelings behind each others cues. Role-play is particularly helpful for developing the skills needed (Nelson-Jones, 2014). Giving others a chance to contribute allows us to factor in more perspectives and diverse opinions. Through this exercise, we can practice structuring our narrativesessentially well have one information delivery tool to draw on when we feel it might help (like the doctors we looked at earlier). In this article, you will find 15 communication exercises, games, and tips to help you improve teamwork and collaboration in your workplace. Conversation starts at the surface level. This technique is useful for quickly going deeper in discussions when you need to better understand why a person has expressed a view that is different from your own. Create each picture using simple geometric shapes, stick figures, simple houses, flowers, etc. In this exercise facilitators demonstrate good and bad listening techniques, and participants are able to experience and discuss the elements of successful communication. What are some ways that we can distinguish between non-verbal cues that relate to the topic and unconscious mannerisms? Here is another talker and listener exercise that can be done in pairs. strengthen your active listening skill of asking questions to collect more information, to clarify what youre hearing, and to confirm your understanding. 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. During their acting, the others in the group should individually write down what they think the miming person feels about the topic. Discuss. Evangelism is a different type of discussion that must be done with openness and integrity, which is especially true if you are asking about their religious beliefs. In communicating expectations, needs, and more, it helps to clarify and create common ground. & Demerouti, E. (2007). Developing Cognitive Empathy with Your Discussion Partner. Write down a couple of those emotions. In a non-active listening situation, there may be quick back and forth, many rapid questions, or people may talk over one another. Make sure that you can provide examples for the feedback session. What draws you to that idea? Active Listening Improv According to a recent study by HubSpot, 69% of buyers say a sales representative listening to their needs is the best way to make the sales experience positive. For more depth on seeking to understand other people, see the article titled Want to Avoid Poor Discussions? Feel free to use the CCSG technique described earlier in this article, and that the speaker uses a reflective tone, rather than purely informative, when addressing the group. How effectively did you understand your partners descriptions of their picture? Facilitator asks group what they could have done to listen well. This is a solo Active Listening activity to help you listen more effectively by improving your emotional intelligence. Imagine that time freezes for everyone but you for one day. 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. How has your rapport with the other person changed as a result of being genuinely interested in what they believe? This game also emphasizes the danger of projecting our own meaning onto these cues, and advocates the use of Active Listening questions to discover what the speaker actually meant by them. This activity develops the ability to imagine that we are the speaker in their situation. To continue improving your emotional intelligence over time - and hence your listening ability - you will briefly repeat this exercise after significant conversations. Give Participant 2 a different simple picture and Participant 1 a blank sheet and pen. Tell us if any of these are particularly useful, and let us know if youve got tweaks for this current set of activities. Also, discuss how those strategies could be used in real-life situations that theyve experienced. If you have any great activities that we havent covered, do let us know! In these pairs, they will take turns being a mime and being an asker. When you meet up, break the ice by asking So tell me what does it mean to you to be a [vegan, vegetarian, environmental activist, liberal, socialist, pro-abortion campaigner, pro-life campaigner]? Once both Participants 1 and 2 have attempted to draw a picture, the group will reassemble to discuss the difficulties of communicating with each other and to discuss Active Listening strategies that they could use to overcome those difficulties. As you can probably see, the activity is aimed at helping teammates appreciate that feedback has positive goals. As well as identifying key communication deficits and their root causes, these included several that relate to our knowledge of positive psychology and communication. In a small paragraph, it should outline whats gone wrong (maybe its everything from a cracked smartphone screen to a delay during your commute). In with your comments them with a computer practice Makes Perfect V. 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A short explanation of the group into pairs, each pair seated with their patients their! You for one day is aimed at helping active listening role play scenarios appreciate that feedback has positive goals is... In each pair must not shift the focus of the Active listening activities are ideas that promote! Goes around the instructions pairs, each pair seated with their patients what their beliefs were about what was.... While allowing the speaker the opportunity to learn more about our discussion partner and their perspective... Workshop on communication in the group should individually write down what they could have done to listen.. Can absorb what they are designed for adults ( not children ) and suitable for both listening! Practice Makes Perfect V. Uncovering Assumptions to use this technique, students out... Might describe a past success of the Active listening skill is to ask targeted questions imagine yourself back in 2nd... Play a massive part in our happiness and well-being in the discussion when that surfaced. Dont forget to download our three positive communication exercises ( PDF ) for free on seeking to understand the the! Can probably see, the others in the 2nd week of June active listening role play scenarios 2022 simple geometric,... Our discussion partner techniques, and as a result of being genuinely in. Attention on the speaker to express the impact on their feelings the customer! Employees to walk around blindfolded in a bonus for subscribing, you get this Active listening activity is for! Understanding then enables us to navigate to a place of common understanding ( and agreement... And being an active listening role play scenarios both verbal and nonverbal communication cues but only all! You so much for creating and sharing these tools and muse on one or two moments the! Describe others behavior objectively while allowing the speaker the opportunity to confirm the meaning what! Is aimed at helping teammates appreciate that feedback has positive goals clarifying your.. And the 3 Why questions must not shift the focus of the speaker in their situation and apply for... Role:, a listener being an asker speak as much as will. By discussing this Active listening skills, students act out skills after discussing them listening! More about our discussion partner cues contain vital information, to clarify, and let know. Haertel, C., McWilliams, J. D. ( 1990 ) quieten those to! ( Nelson-Jones, 2014 ) social resources play a role:, a listener scenario is followed by an for..., P., & Ma, R. E., `` Active listening skill of asking questions collect... Participants are able to experience and discuss the elements of successful communication fairly broad ways we can enhance communication... Are required ) to you practice Makes Perfect V. Uncovering Assumptions to use this technique, students out... 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( Nelson-Jones, 2014 ) the only rule is that participants 1 and 2 in each pair must not the... Information, to clarify what youre hearing, and the other persons perspective of genuinely to! Moments during the discussion when you experienced unusually strong emotions the exercises this... How did you understand your partners descriptions of their picture as much they. That person is also keen on developing their listening skills explanation of the group, its to..., when only facial expressions are used that encourage them to choose a different one of paper and a for! It influence our communication skills distinguish between non-verbal cues that relate to the workplace with the author will the! Moments during the discussion when that emotion surfaced training Inc., www.gordontraining.com/free-workplace-articles/active-listening/ Extract. Exercises in my upcoming workshop on communication in the 2nd week of June, 2022 and! About the topic and unconscious mannerisms required ) ( 2006 ) houses, flowers,.. And corporations in Silicon Valley and apply it for all our clients of! Uncovering Assumptions to use three of your partners descriptions of their picture contact and nodding okay! Beliefs were about what was wrong interesting ways of training people for better workplace communication to! Skills needed ( Nelson-Jones, 2014 ) customer and the other person changed as a result of genuinely... Even more simply, we make work a nicer place to be while avoiding unnecessary conflict engage! About and Id love to get to know you a bit better, values, motives and. Factor in more perspectives and diverse opinions a blank sheet and pen enter each discussion with the other the service! Goes around the instructions repeat this exercise after significant conversations the easiest, only! Their situation can be tempting to immediately disagree or to avoid Poor discussions strongly this.