paraphrase their message). 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. This Active Listening activity is also a good emotional intelligence activity. With 2+ co-workers, pick one person (a speaker) to whom youll explain the instructions. Employees can pair off or work alone, in either case, they will need a worksheet of imaginary scenarios like this one. Write down a couple of those emotions. What was the impact of that emotion on you and on others? 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). Give each person at least 4 minutes to speak and to listen. I've grouped the 20+ exercises into 5 categories: I. During their acting, the others in the group should individually write down what they think the miming person feels about the topic. Who in your life brings you the most joy? 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. Time needed 60-90 minutes Resources needed Whiteboard, blackboard or butchers paper Marker pens How it's done First, pick a game with enough instructions that the information is a challenge to memorize. | Powered by WordPress. What could we do to better understand non-verbal cues that we observe? Many thanks for share, and nice to looks for how far you go with other valuable topics, Thanks Cathy for putting up this article. Built with love in the Netherlands. Sometimes it gives us a chance to reflect, in others it creates a space for others to take the floor. And that activity is to create a comic together, using their complementary skills and communication to realize a shared vision. The doctors studied also checked with their patients what their beliefs were about what was wrong. Practice Makes Perfect V. Uncovering Assumptions They might be up to their ears in work, or their colleagues complaints might seem trivial. Conclude this Active Listening activity by discussing what they experienced - see the suggested follow-up questions below. We can brush it all off as too soft and fuzzy, or we can embrace communication as one of the keys to an emotionally intelligent workplace. After everyone in the group has acted out their non-verbal cue, the group should compare notes as to how accurately they managed to interpret each others cues. After that 5 minutes is finished, use the remaining time to have a follow-up discussion. 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. Repeatedly perform these debrief/reflection steps after your regular discussions to reinforce the mindset of being a listener. zDevelop the environment. So, plush toys, tennis balls, or similarbut the more imaginative they are, the better. Try out activities that are best suited to your organizational goals so they have the most relevance. Some discussion points include: This game comes from The Big Book of Conflict-Resolution Games (Amazon). Tell them to let you know once theyve agreed that the job is done. 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). Once they have gathered in your chosen safe space, invite them to put on their blindfolds and turn around a few times so they are (reasonably) disoriented in the space. If their original conversation starter is too personal, then allow them to choose a different one. Any number of co-workers can participate in this very simple mime game. Some of these activities will require a facilitator, and some just a group of colleagues. Once you've finished paraphrasing, the speaker can then confirm, correct and clarify. The games and exercises in this section are about connecting on a human level so that we can communicate with more emotional intelligence in the workplace. Thanks to Conversation Starters World. Put the shapes at different positions and angles. Typically, we dont freely share our internal beliefs with others. Benefits: As discussed, information delivery is crucial, but our focus here is opening up discussions. Then call everyone back together to debrief this Active Listening game - see below. Between them, they need to decide the plot of the comic, who will be carrying out which tasks, and what the frames will contain. You will need about ten meters of rope and a safe place for employees to walk around blindfolded in. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Identify someone who has a belief that is different to your own. Were there different interpretations for the same cue? - The ability to deliver information effectively. https://positivepsychology.com/communication-activities-adults-students/. To magnify this ambiguity, we as the listener interpret the speakers same cues through our own filters and cognitive biases. Use the discussion points below. However, discerning the speakers underlying feelings and attitudes is more difficult because we cant see them. Follow-up question: What could you have done to overcome any differences in understanding? They showed that they understood how their patients were feeling to relate at an interpersonal level; where they didnt know, they at least made a stab at empathizing through educated guesses. Follow-up question: Was it easier and/or faster to convey information between each other with the second drawing? In these pairs, they will take turns being a mime and being an asker. It is being attentive and respectful to the person talking. Split the group into pairs and have each pair sit with their backs to each other. 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. Furthermore, misunderstandings can prevent the team from uncovering ideas, solutions, insights, and collective work experience and skills needed to produce an excellent product, service or deliverable instead of a mediocre one. Give each group one of these topics, or use your own topics: Give each group a copy of this list. For this game, use the list of conversation topics and the list of non-verbal cues in the Resources section below. This can show what happens when we dont. Therefore, a key skill of every good Active Listener is to actually listen - no talking, no interjecting, no interrupting, no shifting the focus onto ourselves, no daydreaming or planning our response. & Demerouti, E. (2007). Enjoyed it. Finish up by discussing this Active Listening exercise with the speaker. Youll find it helpful if that person is also keen on developing their listening skills. Communication exercises may not feel 100% natural at first, but they let us work withrather than live in fear ofthat discomfort. Swap roles. See the Resource section below for downloadable examples. 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. What are some things you want to accomplish before you die? When your thinking is clouded by an emotion, you must first de-escalate yourself before you can harness that emotion. Also, discuss how those strategies could be used in real-life situations that theyve experienced. Some of the skills identified by the authors, as we can see, describe more than one capability. Also, share your own exercises, activities and games that develop specific Active Listening techniques and skills. Step-by-step instructions are provided. Imagine attending a communication workshop, in purely lecture format. Developing emotional intelligence in high potential middle managers: The role of experiential learning. It involves listening closely, paraphrasing back to the speaker what you hear, clarifying what you think you hear, etc. It works with any sized team and requires only a facilitator and some novel objects that can be passed between participants. For example, one team member might describe a past success of the group or team, where their collective strengths helped them succeed. Bakker, A. Lost cat. Visualise yourself asking an open-ended question specifically related to the emotion, which would draw out more information. 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?". To practice active listening and assertive communication. This listening skills game concludes with a group discussion on the difficulties of communicating with others, on Active Listening strategies that they could use to overcome those difficulties, and on how to use those strategies in real-life work situations. An animated or subdued gesture that conveys an emotion. Give Participant 2 a different simple picture and Participant 1 a blank sheet and pen. Only speak in order to ask genuine questions. Shannon, C. E. (1998). Write up suggestions on white board as active listening skills. It reduces the possibility of us misunderstanding them. Here are four training activities, suggested by Caroline Cooper, that will help you to develop active listening in your contact centre. Otherwise, the idea is identicalinformation gets misinterpreted thanks to noise, but we can improve our verbal communication and listening skills to minimize this risk. What were you really into when you were a kid? Listen With Empathy,, This activity was originally published in the article '7 Unique Active Listening Games, Exercises and Activities for Adults' by Andrew G. Ward, at, Understanding a person's core beliefs and values helps us to understand the topic from the other persons perspective. The only rule is that Participant 2 must not see the picture (or a photo of the picture). Paraphrase in your own words the main points that you think you heard the speaker say - they should remain quiet while you're paraphrasing. During their acting, the others in the group should individually write down what they think the miming person feels about the topic. Benefits: In an objective sense, we need to extract information so we can channel our efforts accordingly. Warning: digging deeper can result in lively discussions! We cant stop these emotions from appearing. They can ask any questions they like, and Participant 1 is to describe the picture as prompted by those questions. In your head, silently acknowledge your emotional state and give that emotion a name. Succinctly, ambiguity contributes to stress, and clarity is empoweringsomething that is easy to overlook and which this game reminds us of. Discuss what happened to your internal dialogue. With active listening, the speaker is given the time and space to speak as much as they want. C: Conflict In short, non-verbal cues contain vital information, but we should not make assumptions about their meanings. Who is your longest friend? Possible imagined response: Based on what youve shared, your proposal [, Emotion - 'Nebulous' and indescribable. Deadlines, role boundaries, budgets, and the why, how, what of tasks. Bring the groups back together and conclude this Active Listening game by discussing the findings. We gather insights from working with cutting edge startups and corporations in Silicon Valley and apply it for all our clients. Our external conversation and behaviour are influenced by our internal beliefs, values, motives, and past experiences. A great way to begin a discussion as a listener is to lead with a question such as "Any news?" 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!]. Crediting the source(s) of course. Make it extra-hard if you like, by instructing them not to look at one anothers creative progress as they draw, either. They use the goals as a guide for the conversation, while the watchers listen carefully and make notes. Compared to profits, losses, and even risk, it is intangible. In what ways might your drawing have turned out differently if you could have communicated with your partner? Each group will receive one topic. 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. Give Participant 1 a simple picture. Discuss how the speaker felt by having the freedom to speak without interruption. Maguire, P., & Pitceathly, C. (2002). This Active Listening activity is designed for training workshops. In a non-active listening situation, there may be quick back and forth, many rapid questions, or people may talk over one another. 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