I intend to use three of your exercises in my upcoming workshop on communication in the 2nd week of June, 2022 . Effective information delivery helps us define goals, transfer knowledge, and successfully accomplish shared tasks. Debrief with a chat about the communication that went on. Together, the pairs can come up with more productive, empathetic, and appropriate responses, with the acting experience fresh in mind. With a broad and beautiful rainbow of ways to communicate, then, how do we know whats considered a skill? But they must not say how they feel. 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. Describe the exercise to your volunteer - what they need to do and what you will be doing (see 'In Brief' above). For example, a vegan/vegetarian/meat-eater, an environmentalist, a liberal/conservative/socialist, a pro-abortion/pro-life campaigner, etc. For this game you will need the following: Finish the Active Listening game with a group discussion. Then, once you adequately understand them, you can switch into the role of speaker in order to share your perspective. Benefits: In an objective sense, we need to extract information so we can channel our efforts accordingly. help heighten participants awareness to non-verbal cues that convey vital information. 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). The need to belong: desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Its a cognitive limitation of the way our brains are wired. Tell them their shared aim is to collaborate: first to find the rope, then to lay it out into a perfect square together on the floor. [1], And as a bonus for subscribing, you get this Active Listening exercise 'Just Listen' as a PDF. What could we do to better understand non-verbal cues that we observe? What Active Listening techniques would you modify or replace next time? Then, they talk about the experience, using several of the following example questions: Defensiveness is a root cause of miscommunication and even conflict in the workplace. Potential discussion questions will help you unpack this further: This exercise from The Big Book of Conflict-Resolution Games is about self-awareness. Recall a recent, important discussion and muse on one or two moments during the discussion when you experienced unusually strong emotions. This approach means engaging in a three-part role-play exercise: 1. At the end of 4 minutes you may speak. Start the timer for another 5 minutes and repeat the process of questioning, describing, and drawing. Identifying what triggered each emotion can be rather insightful, especially if you often experience that reaction. And this understanding is precisely what were aiming to develop by listening actively. Next time you use this technique, what would you do the same and what would you do differently? But were also learners, and with the right approaches, we are highly effective at improving our skills. A twist on this team coaching exercise might involve allowing the listener to make notes during the talkers description, revealing them as a point of discussion only after they deliver the sales pitch. How did you feel during the game? The relative effectiveness of active listening in initial interactions. The world will be a better place once weve mastered them. For example, one team member might describe a past success of the group or team, where their collective strengths helped them succeed. Give each person at least 4 minutes to speak and to listen. Discuss any other thoughts about this Active Listening exercise. Discuss what happened to your internal dialogue. Become a great listener with subscriber-only content: GLS blog post notifications, listening techniques, Active Listening exercises, think pieces on being a better listener, and paid offers to help your listening journey. Benefits: Our messages need to make sense if we want to convey information in a meaningful way. To use the structure as an exercise, participants simply relate a narrative using CCSG. What other thoughts and insights do you have about this technique? With 2+ co-workers, pick one person (a speaker) to whom youll explain the instructions. So, enjoy! Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). And clarity plays a role on a larger scale when it comes to our roles more broadly, in fact, its a psychological resource under the Job Demands-Resources model (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007). Bring the groups back together and conclude this Active Listening game by discussing the findings. Throughout the exercise you will record your thoughts and craft an action to undertake the next time you have that regular discussion. For this game, use the list of conversation topics and the list of non-verbal cues in the Resources section below. Edmondson, A. C., Kramer, R. M., & Cook, K. S. (2004). What is the most difficult part of being a [, What does that look like? or What might that look like in practice?, "How did you come to that opinion/conclusion?". 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). It only takes three iterations to uncover some very personal beliefs. They might be up to their ears in work, or their colleagues complaints might seem trivial. They will need to communicate those creative ideas to one another, but also engage in joint decision-making for the activity to be a success. It is used a lot during inclusive strategy sessions, where diverse opinions are valuable but team size can hamper rather than facilitate good communication. The group then lists the listening stoppers they noticed. 1. It reduces the possibility of us misunderstanding them. Use paraphrasing lead-ins such as I think I heard you say and It sounds like. 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. Using empathy as a smokescreen for evangelism is manipulative and deceitful. Its best if this isnt inappropriate for the workplace, but at the same time, it doesnt have to be work-related. At the human level, our social resources play a massive part in our happiness and well-being in the workplace. Say something like, Hey, Im keen on developing good listening skills. Exercises that boost our active listening skills help us engage better, through empathy, body language, and non-judgment where required (Rogers & Farson, 1957). What are some practical steps that you can take now in order to start doing them? Allow 10 minutes for participants to do the following within their groups. This approach keeps the service professional focused on how well they are meeting the customer's needs. Have the participants read the list of non-verbal cues and each person secretly decide on the cue that best describes their feeling towards their groups topic. Sources credited/included. They can be one-on-one or team exercises, but the goal is the same: they help us develop our interpersonal skills and improve our capacity to relate. The talker discusses their dream vacation for three minutes, describing what they would like best about it but without specifying where it should be. If you hate pop-up ads, for instance, youve already got great material for your rant. As you can probably see, the activity is aimed at helping teammates appreciate that feedback has positive goals. Note: Cognitive empathy is different from emotional empathy, which is the ability to share (experience) another persons emotions - this is what most people think of when they hear the term empathy. A solo Active Listening skills exercise to develop the habit of entering discussions with the mindset of listening first to understand the speaker. Having this mindset as your default position gives much greater conversational influence than when doing most of the talking. In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, & G. Lindzey (Eds.). 5 Active Listening Games and Exercises. Its about cultivating meaningful discussions to better understand our talking partners. After the 3-minute vacation, the listener summarizes the key points of their conversation partners dream vacationas a holiday sales pitch. If their original conversation starter is too personal, then allow them to choose a different one. Retrieved from https://psychcentral.com/blog/silence-the-secret-communication-tool/. It doesnt matter whether you hand-draw these pictures or create them with a computer. Discuss. For each of those strong emotions, write down answers to these questions: What did they say that triggered that emotion?, Was it triggered by any of their non-verbal gestures or expressions?. Toward a learning organization: The strategic building blocks. By the time it reaches Hassan, who is Person 5, for instance, it might be A grey elephant with tattered ears.. Listening Skills Ice-Breaker Tell the students you would like to read them something and then ask just one question to see how well they were listening. Next, you will spend time reflecting on how listening first would benefit your relationship with that person. In this study, giving a diagnosis and treatment options was only one part of the job. Armed with their handouts, talkers begin to engage with the topic. [1]. Conversation starts at the surface level. They will need to make notes. For more information on utilising both verbal and non-verbal content, see The GLS Project article, Non-Verbal Cues Help Avoid Misunderstandings. This exercise is done with another person. Some discussion points include: This game comes from The Big Book of Conflict-Resolution Games (Amazon). Work engagement: An emerging concept in occupational health psychology. Be patient, and don't cut them off. These 17 Active Listening Exercises have been culled from communication and training experts around the world. Can you help? Describe some contexts where facial expressions play a particularly important role in communication? Compared to profits, losses, and even risk, it is intangible. Ellen then needs to ask A What?, prompting you to repeat the items name. This exercise is about listening, clarity and developing potential strategies when we communicate. We gather insights from working with cutting edge startups and corporations in Silicon Valley and apply it for all our clients. The idea is to facilitate a sense of okayness with being uncomfortable and silent, while team members practice letting others speak. Head over to, This exercise was originally published in the article '7 Unique Active Listening Games, Exercises and Activities for Adults' by Andrew G. Ward, at. And as more than one collective intelligence researcher has pointed out, teams are more than the sum of their parts (Woolley et al., 2010). Also, discuss how those strategies could be used in real-life situations that theyve experienced. Shannon, C. E. (1998). A conversation of this kind can be quite absorbing. Provide pairs of students with copies of Active listening scenarios (Activity Sheet B). Lost cat. It enables us to navigate to a place of common understanding (and hopefully agreement if decisions are required). Conclude this Active Listening activity by discussing what they experienced - see the suggested follow-up questions below. Was there any lack of clarity around the instructions? After theyve pitched the ideal vacation spot in the space of a few minutes, the pair discuss how accurately the listener understood the talker. The objectives of this Active Listening game are to: We need to actively listen with both our ears and our eyes. How did communication look with a longer or shorter chain? Make sure that you can provide examples for the feedback session. They are designed for adults (not children) and suitable for both personal listening development and workplace training workshops. Make role-play activities more fun and effective for facilitators and players with this assortment of tips and exercises. Nothing else is said. Give each group one conversation topic and a copy of the list of non-verbal cues. Nonetheless, were often inclined to view it as awkwarda gap to be filled or avoidedrather than a chance to listen. What factors sometimes prevent us from asking questions when they might actually be useful? STUDENT. You can further enhance the impact of role-play in . Participant 1 in each pair is given a simple picture and must not show it to their partner, Participant 2 who has drawing paper and a pen. Listen With Empathy,. Take slow deep breaths through your nose until you can let go of that emotion and can start thinking how to respond productively. But because the way we get along is so fundamental to organizational success and human flourishing, many more companies are focusing on the latter. Role Play Activities and Tips for Trainers WorkSMART: Tips for a happier, more engaged workplace Call Us: 800-299-3770Fax: 508-651-2674 Home Recent Posts Shop About Get in Touch We want Learning and Work to be Innovative, Make it extra-hard if you like, by instructing them not to look at one anothers creative progress as they draw, either. 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. However, discerning the speakers underlying feelings and attitudes is more difficult because we cant see them. This is a fun game in communication skills that will also give team members some creative freedom. Nikolova, N., Clegg, S., Fox, S., Bjrkeng, K., & Pitsis, T. (2013). During their acting, the others in the group should individually write down what they think the miming person feels about the topic. Very useful, insightful, and helpful. Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Positive Communication Exercises (PDF) for free. Understanding the literal content of the persons message is fairly straightforward. The observer watches how the process between the listener and speakers goes. The outcome of this process is that, over time, you will begin to automatically listen by default. Subscribe to the newsletter for new resources every month. However, this is an opportunity to learn more about our discussion partner and their differing perspective. Imagine attending a communication workshop, in purely lecture format. In order to tailor a specific sales approach to a prospective client, active listening not just hearing is key. These science-based tools will help you and those you work with build better social skills and better connect with others. 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 Thank you so much for creating and sharing these tools. Name things that you noticed they did well. So, if they agree, and now isnt a good time for a deep discussion, then diarise time to catch up socially in a place where you can talk freely. Stay focused on getting to know this person better. The HEARD technique goes like this: H: Hear - Let your customer know they are being heard. What happened? 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. Topics to speak on could include: Discuss how the speaker felt by having the freedom to speak without interruption. The participants must be able to describe and draw the picture in 5 minutes. We can look at Learys Rose for more insights on how and why, but this time, the tip is to understand when to communicate or step back (Leary, 2004). Brief discussion on what was different and the aims of active listening. Finally, everybody removes their blindfolds, and its time for feedback. This is a small group Active Listening game for adults. Poor listening results in misunderstandings. Printable step-by-step instructions (including resources). It will take no more than 25 minutes.. [3]. What Active Listening techniques went well? Encourage people to reflect back what they are hearing and to focus on listening skills. 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. Youll need more than 9 participants for this activity, as well as paper, drawing, and coloring materials for each colleague. Development and validation of the active empathetic listening scale. Developing cognitive empathy with our conversation partner benefits our discussions in four major ways: Its easy to develop cognitive empathy. How could these be applied in real-life interactions? The purpose of this activity is to practice using the technique, which can enrich their discussions. Benefits: As discussed, information delivery is crucial, but our focus here is opening up discussions. Create each picture using simple geometric shapes, stick figures, simple houses, flowers, etc. When we do this, listening can become a bit of an afterthought. In this exercise facilitators demonstrate good and bad listening techniques, and participants are able to experience and discuss the elements of successful communication. Use the discussion points below. Organizational cultures, commitment, satisfaction, and cohesion. This is a small group Active Listening game for adults. Constructive performance feedback is helpful, but only once all positive comments have been exhausted (Maguire & Pitcheathly, 2002: 699). How might you create some listening and feedback approaches based on this? Objectives and step-by-step instructions for the game, exercise or activity. Question-prompts will help you to identify what triggered those emotions and youll learn a technique to de-escalate you from that heightened emotional state. Active listening involves engaging with our co-workers and bringing empathy to the table to enhance the quality of our dialogue. Used with permission. And you may ask follow-up questions if desired. They determined their perspectives before decision-making; in other settings, this is inviting participation and engagement. For more depth on seeking to understand other people, see the article titled Want to Avoid Poor Discussions? What were some of the differences? Warning: digging deeper can result in lively discussions! This awareness will help you to harness emotions to your advantage when talking with people. That is, the ability to understand, explore and clarify what others are talking about, and to solicit more details if and when the situation requires it. How much does language affect our thinking? Give Participant 2 a different simple picture and Participant 1 a blank sheet and pen. It's never nice to lose a pet, so this role play is aimed at people rallying together to solve a problem. This way, its possible to see if and how the message changes as it goes around the group. Active listening is a system of opening and maintaining communications through the use of empathy, listening and body language. promote collaboration. Describe a controversial opinion that you have. Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). This large group exercise works best when you already have a topic for discussion. Reflect back what they experienced - see the suggested follow-up questions below listening in interactions. 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The way our brains are wired has positive goals, R. M., & Leary M.! Team, where their collective strengths helped them succeed hate pop-up active listening role play scenarios, for instance, doesnt...