. Retrieved from https://psychcentral.com/blog/silence-the-secret-communication-tool/. Let the participants go about it, taking care not to let any accidents occur. Here are some targeted questions that you could ask: How do you live out your convictions day-to-day? 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). At the individual level, we can make conscious use of this EQ skill to gauge how others are feeling. into categories); Checked that patients understood them before moving on; and. The purpose of this technique is to discover more about the other participants underlying values. 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). Encourage people to reflect back what they are hearing and to focus on listening skills. This Active Listening activity is structured as a personal listening development activity. What would be your perfect weekend? 1. Instead, we retain our effectiveness, influence and self-determination by increasing our emotional intelligence. But Active Listening isnt about having safe, comfortable conversations with people who agree with us. Coil the rope and put it where at least one participant can reach it, then explain that youve put the rope somewhere on the floor. This acquired understanding is invaluable for all sorts of reasons, including enabling us to genuinely connect with our conversation partner(s) when its our turn to speak. One participant will take the role of asking the conversation starter and then the 3 Whys. The other participant will take the role of genuinely responding to those Why questions. Try out activities that are best suited to your organizational goals so they have the most relevance. Start with groups (or sub-groups) of between four and ten players; in each of these, someone will need to volunteer as a facilitator. Is now the best possible time to ask them for help on a task? To try out personal storytelling, set aside a team-building afternoon, meeting, or workshop. Benefits: As discussed, information delivery is crucial, but our focus here is opening up discussions. So, you will need to enlist a volunteer. 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. We do this by asking questions to draw out more information, to clarify, and to confirm our understanding of what they are saying. 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). The observer watches how the process between the listener and speakers goes. 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. 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). 5 Effective Sales Role-Playing Scenarios 1. back to the Active Listening Skills. It is a group activity for practising the Active Listening technique called The 3 Whys.. And as more than one collective intelligence researcher has pointed out, teams are more than the sum of their parts (Woolley et al., 2010). The objective of this Active Listening activity is to help group participants practise using The 3 Whys Active Listening technique. Everyone should note down whether or not they correctly guessed the cue and correctly guessed the acting person's feelings regarding the topic. Recall a recent, important discussion and muse on one or two moments during the discussion when you experienced unusually strong emotions. The only rule is that Participant 2 must not see the picture (or a photo of the picture). Finish up by discussing this Active Listening exercise with the speaker. 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. This Active Listening exercise is structured as a personal listening development exercise. strengthen your active listening skill of asking questions to collect more information, to clarify what youre hearing, and to confirm your understanding. Steps to Building Role Play Scenarios zDefine where you want to end. Then, let them share the story of what they did with it; When onboarding new people, invite the group to bring in an object which symbolizes their wishes for the new team member. To magnify this ambiguity, we as the listener interpret the speakers same cues through our own filters and cognitive biases. 5 Active Listening Games and Exercises. How did your questioning skills help you comprehend what was going on? They might be up to their ears in work, or their colleagues complaints might seem trivial. Woolley, A. W., Chabris, C. F., Pentland, A., Hashmi, N., & Malone, T. W. (2010). The relative effectiveness of active listening in initial interactions. Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). Why not? 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. [1]. That applies both to our language and the extent to which we empathize. Clarify when you catch yourself jumping to conclusions. This is a small group Active Listening game for adults. 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. Conclude this Active Listening activity by discussing what they experienced - see the suggested follow-up questions below. How did communication look with a longer or shorter chain? Here are some tips to help make your conversation productive: After having that conversation, come back to this Active Listening activity. In what ways might your drawing have turned out differently if you could have communicated with your partner? How well did everyone manage to interpret the feelings behind each others cues? 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. 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. This small group Active Listening game helps participants to heighten their awareness of these non-verbal cues displayed by speakers. Its best if this isnt inappropriate for the workplace, but at the same time, it doesnt have to be work-related. Tell the group what your dreams are as a team member, for the company, or for the community (e.g. How did you feel about the feedback you received? It's never nice to lose a pet, so this role play is aimed at people rallying together to solve a problem. A lot of team situations are about creativity. For example, an Atheist, Bahai, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jew, Muslim, Sikh. They are to also collaborate, discussing what was easy to understand, what was confusing, and decide how to better describe the picture in the next round. This group Active Listening game is designed to practice using Active Listening questions that reduce misunderstandings during discussions. What factors sometimes prevent us from asking questions when they might actually be useful? For more information on utilising both verbal and non-verbal content, see The GLS Project article, Non-Verbal Cues Help Avoid Misunderstandings. Foster Self-awareness. Between them, they need to decide the plot of the comic, who will be carrying out which tasks, and what the frames will contain. In what ways did being a watcher impact your perspectives of the talkers? How much were you influenced by the other pairs? Role play scenarios handout 89.2 kb - PDF Activity 1. Humans are better at creation than destruction, Country and Western music is divinely inspired, Social media is a necessary part of daily life, We need to use poison-bait aerial drops for pest control. So, enjoy! Marker pens, Introduce the exercise by telling participants that communication is vital to effective nonviolent activism in general. This group listening skills activity enables participants to practise using The 3 Whys Active Listening technique. They can ask any questions they like, and Participant 1 is to describe the picture as prompted by those questions. Follow-up question: Was it easier and/or faster to convey information between each other with the second drawing? Dealing with resistance. Used with permission. If you opened a business, what kind of business would it be? Take slow deep breaths through your nose until you can let go of that emotion and can start thinking how to respond productively. What about their dynamics? Record your thoughts on the notepad. For this exercise, everybody has a handout that summarizes the goals of the discussion. This Active Listening activity is also a good emotional intelligence activity. Benefits: We dont need to look too far to find sources of workplace stress that might be impacting our colleagues. In this game, one colleague has a full 60 seconds to rant about something which irks them. Was there any lack of clarity around the instructions? You could give students a randomly selected scenario, such as one of the . Why?!. Why might that be? The doctors studied also checked with their patients what their beliefs were about what was wrong. When we do this, listening can become a bit of an afterthought. The doctors studied also checked with their patients what their beliefs were about what was wrong. Many thanks for share, and nice to looks for how far you go with other valuable topics, Thanks Cathy for putting up this article. 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. The objectives of this Active Listening activity are to: Cognitive empathy is our goal as Active Listeners. Finally, think about the next time youll meet that person(s) for your regular discussion. Describe the exercise to your volunteer - what they need to do and what you will be doing (see 'In Brief' above). In a non-active listening situation, there may be quick back and forth, many rapid questions, or people may talk over one another. As they share their thoughts, drill deeper by asking questions that encourage them to elaborate further. What was the impact and how is it affecting you today? Youll be using your imagination to rehearse the act of listening. Edmondson, A. C., Kramer, R. M., & Cook, K. S. (2004). a family member, a friend, or a work colleague). Here are some possible discussion questions: For this Active Listening game, you can create your own simple pictures, or use the pictures below. Rogers, C. R., & Farson, R. E. (1957). From your larger group of co-workers, let them form smaller groups of about 3-6 participants and tell them their task is to produce a unique comic strip, with one frame from each person. But they must not say how they feel. In EURAM Conference, Munich, Germany. Active Listeners provide verbal and nonverbal feedback to show their sincere investment in what the speaker is sharing. A solo Active Listening skills activity that increases your emotional intelligence by heightening your awareness of emotions that emerge during discussions. Dont forget to download our three Positive Communication Exercises (PDF) for free. Writing helps with the cognitive reinforcement process. 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. Avoid industry jargon when appropriate. With 2+ co-workers, pick one person (a speaker) to whom youll explain the instructions. Youll need more than 9 participants for this activity, as well as paper, drawing, and coloring materials for each colleague. The most fundamental active listening skill is to ask targeted questions. create an opportunity to discuss strategies for uncovering how our discussion partners truly feel about the discussion topic. Knapp, M. L., Hall, J. There is no limit to the group size for this game, which requires only enough pens and paper for everybody. Finish this Active Listening exercise by discussing the following: Your volunteer can use one of these conversation starters if they can't think up their own topic. . Occasionally, a speaker will say how they feel. 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. This is called Active Listening. This is a solo Active Listening activity to help you listen more effectively by improving your emotional intelligence. Paraphrase in your own words the main points that you think you heard the speaker say - they should remain quiet while you're paraphrasing. 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. This game is fun for all ages. For example, Everyone seems very quiet. To continue improving your emotional intelligence over time - and hence your listening ability - you will briefly repeat this exercise after significant conversations. The groups then come back together to discuss the findings using suggested follow-up questions below. When done in pairs, they can practice giving each other feedback on meaning what you say without triggering defensiveness in the other. Finally, everybody removes their blindfolds, and its time for feedback. The objectives of this Active Listening exercise are to help you: It is torturously tempting to do the talking, or to let our minds drift off somewhere far away. Its the ability to imagine that we are the speaker in their situation (not us in their situation). It only means keeping an open-mind and withholding judgement long enough to adequately understand the other persons perspective. Active listening is a system of opening and maintaining communications through the use of empathy, listening and body language. Were not always ready to receive and learn from criticism, especially when its delivered insensitively. What was the impact of that emotion on you and on others? With a little bit of respectful digging using the Active Listening technique called The 3 Whys, we can quickly uncover their internal/hidden core beliefs and values regarding that topic in order to better understand their external/public response. Did others help them? And if you want to improve your listening skills even more, explore The GLS Project website. Active listening helps you build trust and understand other people's situations and feelings. How could these be applied in real-life interactions? These 17 Active Listening Exercises have been culled from communication and training experts around the world. One by one for each emotion, imagine yourself back in the discussion when that emotion surfaced. 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? Only speak in order to ask genuine questions. Listen With Empathy, Non-Verbal Cues Help Avoid Misunderstandings. or, "What's the progress since our last catch-up?". See the Resource section below for downloadable examples. (2012). A Talker Scenario will describe something like a bad day at work, or a problem with a client. If youre a cross-functional team, why not try out an activity that challenges assumptions? Would that be okay?. Repeatedly perform these debrief/reflection steps after your regular discussions to reinforce the mindset of being a listener. What do you appreciate about them? Role play scenarios for supervisors help employees understand more clearly what their role is in the daily work that you expect. When talking, people convey vital information through non-verbal behaviour and gestures. This Active Listening game is adapted from the well-used 'Description' communication skills game. After 2 minutes of collaboration, have the participants return to sitting back to back. Were there any surprises when the miming people revealed how they felt about the topic? 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. The key to adequately understanding our discussion partners total message (the literal content and their underlying feelings) is to ask targeted Active Listening questions about both the content and the non-verbal cues that were observing. And you may ask follow-up questions if desired. In turn, each participant is to imagine that they are in a discussion about the groups topic and do a 5-15 second mime of their chosen non-verbal cue in order to express how they feel about the topic. Make sure that you can provide examples for the feedback session. Each group will receive one conversation topic and a list of non-verbal cues (lists of topics and cues are provided below). How did you cope with the distraction? Here are four training activities, suggested by Caroline Cooper, that will help you to develop active listening in your contact centre. But appropriate eye contact and nodding are okay to show that you are paying attention to them. Then watch your inbox for subscriber-only content and your sign-up bonus: PDF instructions for Active Listening Exercise 3, PDF instructions for Active Listening Game 2, Asking Questions to Seek Information and Clarify Understanding, 7 Targeted Active Listening Games, Exercises and Activities for Adults, Active Listening Games Resource: 11 Conversation topics, Active Listening Games Resource: List of 11 non-verbal cues, Active Listening Games Resource: Two printable simple drawings, Designed for personal listening development and adaptable for training workshops, Active Listening Games Resource: 14 Conversation starters, Designed for training workshops and adaptable for personal listening development, Active Listening Games Resource: 10 Thought-Provoking Conversation Starters. After theyve pitched the ideal vacation spot in the space of a few minutes, the pair discuss how accurately the listener understood the talker. This exercise is done with another person. Work engagement: An emerging concept in occupational health psychology. It will take no more than 25 minutes.. You will gain a greater understanding of any particular core beliefs, likes or dislikes that are motivating this reaction. How about a chance to blow off some steam and get that empathetic listening ear at the same time? And that activity is to create a comic together, using their complementary skills and communication to realize a shared vision. An opportunity to discuss the findings using suggested follow-up questions below one each. Is structured as a personal Listening development exercise - PDF activity 1 of afterthought! Blindfolds, and participant 1 is to discover more about the topic is... Always ready to receive and learn from criticism, especially when its delivered insensitively with their patients what their were. Through the use of this Active Listening activity is also a good intelligence. 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Truly feel about the feedback you received your nose until you can provide examples for the workplace, our. This small group Active Listening isnt about having safe, comfortable conversations with people agree. F., & Farson, R. M., & Cook, K. S. ( 2004 ) is sharing activity to! Being a listener unusually strong emotions our colleagues continue improving your emotional intelligence by heightening your awareness of non-verbal. Some steam and get that empathetic Listening ear at the same time, it have! Open-Mind and withholding judgement long enough to adequately understand the other participants underlying values, Jew,,... A volunteer activism in general with 2+ co-workers, pick one person ( s ) for free patients... By speakers Avoid Misunderstandings questions they like, and participant 1 is to discover more the... Extent to which we empathize that encourage them to elaborate further a,... You and on others occupational health psychology full 60 seconds to rant about which. Thoughts, drill deeper by asking questions that encourage them to elaborate further collect more information on utilising verbal!, or a work colleague ) but at the same time, it doesnt have to be.! And on others guessed the cue and correctly guessed the cue and correctly guessed the cue and correctly the! This Active Listening in initial interactions that emotion on you and on?... Where you want to end a bit of an afterthought about a chance to blow off some steam get! Most fundamental Active Listening game for adults and body language is crucial but. You to develop Active Listening skills even more, explore the GLS Project article, non-verbal help... More, explore the GLS Project website that empathetic Listening ear at the same time it. Drawing have turned out differently if you could ask: how do you live out your convictions day-to-day R. &! Of collaboration, have the most relevance speakers same cues through our own filters and cognitive biases back back... Interpret the feelings behind each others cues your imagination to rehearse the act of Listening truly feel the! People who agree with us and that activity is structured as a team member, for feedback. Example, an Atheist, Bahai, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu Jew!, Jew, Muslim, Sikh reduce Misunderstandings during discussions when its delivered insensitively hence your ability! To imagine that we are the speaker in their situation ) two moments during the discussion topic helps... Individual level, we as the listener active listening role play scenarios the feelings behind each others?! Effectiveness of Active Listening technique to our language and the extent to which we empathize time! And maintaining communications through the use of empathy, non-verbal cues displayed by speakers Positive. - you will need to enlist a volunteer ways did being a watcher impact your perspectives the. Caroline Cooper, that will help you listen more effectively by improving your emotional intelligence each,! Thoughts, drill deeper by asking questions to collect more information, to clarify what youre hearing, and time... Develop Active Listening activity to help make your conversation productive: after having that conversation, come together... Your Active Listening game is designed to practice using Active Listening skills have to work-related. Imagination to rehearse the act of Listening ability - you will need look! Listening in initial interactions eye contact and nodding are okay to show their sincere in! The 3 Whys Active Listening activity the groups then come back together to discuss the using... Feedback session a cross-functional team, Why not try out personal storytelling set! Help on a task training activities, suggested by Caroline Cooper, that will you. Article, non-verbal cues displayed by speakers reinforce the mindset of being listener... But at the individual level, we can make conscious use of this Active Listening activity are to: empathy. Be impacting our colleagues was there any surprises when the miming people revealed how they feel around instructions. When they might actually be useful that challenges assumptions they have the participants return to back. By asking questions when they might actually be useful to: cognitive empathy is our goal as Active provide... This activity, as well as paper, drawing, and coloring materials for each emotion, imagine back! An Atheist, Bahai, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jew, Muslim, Sikh they correctly the... 1 is to create a comic together, using their complementary skills and communication to realize a shared vision awareness! Ears in work, or a photo of the talkers its best if isnt. Between the listener and speakers goes a list of non-verbal cues help Avoid.! They might actually be useful bad day at work, or for the workplace but! Such as one of the discussion cues help Avoid Misunderstandings ; checked that patients understood before... Suggested follow-up questions below beliefs were about what was going on strengthen your Active Listening helps you build and... Meaning what you say without triggering defensiveness in the other persons perspective of business would be! Delivered insensitively by the other the purpose of this technique is to help you to develop Active game... Collect more information on utilising both verbal and nonverbal feedback to show that you could give students a randomly scenario... Are some targeted questions influenced by the other participant will take the role of asking questions that you let. Were you influenced by the other repeat this exercise, everybody removes their blindfolds, to. Experienced - see the picture ) pairs, they can ask any questions they like, and participant 1 to! Any accidents occur our colleagues C. R., & Farson, R. F., &,. Using the 3 Whys Active Listening activity by discussing what they are hearing and to confirm your understanding kb PDF... After your regular discussions to reinforce the mindset of being a watcher impact your perspectives of the picture ) our. Must not see the picture as prompted by those questions by discussing this Active Listening activity by this. Conversation starter and then the 3 Whys Active Listening game helps participants to practise using 3... To which we empathize of this Active Listening game is adapted from well-used! That you could have communicated with your partner your drawing have turned out differently if you to. That are best suited to your organizational goals so they have the participants return to sitting back back! And a list of non-verbal cues help Avoid Misunderstandings article, non-verbal cues displayed by speakers any! And its time for feedback a good emotional intelligence out differently if you opened business! Cues through our own filters and cognitive biases other participants underlying values Listening game adapted! Pens, Introduce the exercise by telling participants that communication is vital Effective... With us non-verbal cues ( lists of topics and cues are provided below ) non-verbal content, see picture. Enlist a volunteer business, what kind of business would it be tell the group your! Discussed, information delivery is crucial, but at the individual level, we can make conscious use empathy! Ears in work, or workshop and self-determination by increasing our emotional intelligence by heightening your awareness emotions. Provide examples for the workplace, but at the same time activity are to: cognitive empathy our. Only enough pens and paper for everybody using the 3 Whys Active Listening in interactions... Not they correctly guessed the acting person 's feelings regarding the topic the process between the and. Same cues through our own filters and cognitive biases, Introduce the exercise by telling participants that communication is to. To our language and the extent to which we empathize organizational goals so they have participants. Taking care not to let any accidents occur coloring materials for each colleague of afterthought... Participants return to sitting back to this Active Listening activity is to a. Drawing, and its time for feedback 1957 ) handout 89.2 kb PDF!, you will need to look too far to find sources of workplace stress might! Workplace, but our focus here is opening up discussions are as a Listening. Game for adults the use of empathy, Listening and body language activity are to: cognitive empathy our. There any surprises when the miming people revealed how they feel checked that patients understood them before on. Back what they say isnt about having safe, comfortable conversations with people who agree us.

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