Benefits: In an objective sense, we need to extract information so we can channel our efforts accordingly. How effective was this technique? Where was the weakest link, and why? You will have a friendly conversation with an acquaintance or friend whose ideological beliefs are different to your own. In turn, this empowers you to offer support and empathy. . CCSG is a structure, and it involves: C: Characters Role play scenarios for supervisors help employees understand more clearly what their role is in the daily work that you expect. It works with any sized team and requires only a facilitator and some novel objects that can be passed between participants. II. I too would like to be able to utilize them as a resource for my workshop. Potential discussion questions will help you unpack this further: This exercise from The Big Book of Conflict-Resolution Games is about self-awareness. 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. Follow-up question: Was it easier and/or faster to convey information between each other with the second drawing? Retrieved from https://psychcentral.com/blog/silence-the-secret-communication-tool/. 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, For example, one team member might describe a past success of the group or team, where their collective strengths helped them succeed. Haertel, C., McWilliams, J., & Ma, R. (2005). It only takes three iterations to uncover some very personal beliefs. Silence is not always a bad thing. 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. or, "What's the progress since our last catch-up?". This is similar in some ways to the Back-to-Back Drawing exercise above. How did they cope? 5 Active Listening Games and Exercises. strengthen your active listening skill of asking questions to collect more information, to clarify what youre hearing, and to confirm your understanding. One person can be the difficult customer and the other the customer service rep, then they can switch roles. & Demerouti, E. (2007). Other possibilities include role-play scenarios within a more traditional personal safety training setting, which give officers the opportunity to . What was the impact and how is it affecting you today? In a small paragraph, it should outline whats gone wrong (maybe its everything from a cracked smartphone screen to a delay during your commute). After reading the scenario of their context (e.g. The doctors studied also checked with their patients what their beliefs were about what was wrong. 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. What were some of the differences? His/her flippant response makes me so angry right now. Blimey, that news scares me! I feel like I want to cry. Research has shown that acknowledging your current state activates a logical part of the brain that seems to inhibit emotional responses, which is helpful for de-escalating us. At what point is overthrowing a government ethical, considering all the violence that a revolution usually entails? Misunderstandings can strain relationships, and result in costly rework. What was memorable about it? How did repeating the why question deepen your understanding of your discussion partners perspective? Psychological safety, trust, and learning in organizations: A group-level lens. In medical professions, its particularly critical not just to extract and interpret informationoften, from conversation partners who lack crucial information themselvesbut to convey it empathetically and with clarity. They determined their perspectives before decision-making; in other settings, this is inviting participation and engagement. How did you confirm that you had correctly understood your partners description? And, they go above and beyond coherent speech in many wayswe talk, we use silence, body language, tone of voice, and eye-contactvoluntarily and unconsciously. To enhance our influencing skills and the quality of our working relationships with others, it helps to practice being aware of your own non-verbal behaviors. As well as identifying key communication deficits and their root causes, these included several that relate to our knowledge of positive psychology and communication. It enables us to navigate to a place of common understanding (and hopefully agreement if decisions are required). Discuss any other thoughts about this Active Listening exercise. Silence: The Secret Communication Tool. Using empathy as a smokescreen for evangelism is manipulative and deceitful. 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. Then, once you adequately understand them, you can switch into the role of speaker in order to share your perspective. To get started improving your (or your team's, or your student's) communication skills, give these 5 activities a try. Compared to profits, losses, and even risk, it is intangible. Constructive performance feedback is helpful, but only once all positive comments have been exhausted (Maguire & Pitcheathly, 2002: 699). After 4 minutes, the participants will switch roles. The world will be a better place once weve mastered them. E: Empathize - Having empathy in business pays off in all relationshipspractice understanding and compassion when listening to your customer's grievances. Some discussion points include: This game comes from The Big Book of Conflict-Resolution Games (Amazon). This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. For example, Everyone seems very quiet. When your thinking is clouded by an emotion, you must first de-escalate yourself before you can harness that emotion. 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). In communicating expectations, needs, and more, it helps to clarify and create common ground. Ongoing Application - 2 to 3 minutes per discussion. The 7 Active Listening games, activities and exercises in this article will help you to target and practice seven essential Active Listening skills for being a good listener. Have paper and pens available for the participants. What value do questioning skills have when were trying to understand others? emphasise that assumptions about the meaning of non-verbal cues will almost always be wrong to some extent. With 2+ co-workers, pick one person (a speaker) to whom youll explain the instructions. Heres an exercise on the pivotal role of clarification. 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. In a non-active listening situation, there may be quick back and forth, many rapid questions, or people may talk over one another. Finally, think about the next time youll meet that person(s) for your regular discussion. We gather insights from working with cutting edge startups and corporations in Silicon Valley and apply it for all our clients. 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. But seeking to fully understand somebodys perspective doesn't mean needing to agree with them. 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. Have the group sit in a circle. Once people have paired off, they sit back-to-back with a paper and pencil each. A facial expression that conveys an emotion. back to the Active Listening Skills. And they are encouraged to continue. After fifteen minutes of discussion, the watchers and talkers switch circlesthose who were listening before now sit on the inner circle for a fifteen-minute conversation. Was your understanding of the description you received the same as your partners understanding of the description they relayed? 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. Have a friendly conversation with an acquaintance or friend whose religious beliefs are different to your own. When it comes to tasks and expectations, it goes without saying that clarity helps us avoid lots of unwanted things. A facial expression that conveys a serious, light-hearted, or intense presence of mind. 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). Should there be limitations on the right to free speech? At the end of the day, active listening games can impact positively on our relationships by encouraging us to practice specific techniques, and these, in turn, find support in the empirical literature (Weger et al., 2014). Active Listeners provide verbal and nonverbal feedback to show their sincere investment in what the speaker is sharing. The studies on average say we spend 70-80% of our waking hours in some form of communication. But because the way we get along is so fundamental to organizational success and human flourishing, many more companies are focusing on the latter. Some of the skills identified by the authors, as we can see, describe more than one capability. The only rule is that Participant 2 must not see the picture (or a photo of the picture). Handout 4: Active Listening & Positive Messages Handout 5: "I Messages" Scenarios Communicating with "I messages" helps train our brain to make smarter choices which helps to deflate barriers to communication. In what ways did being a watcher impact your perspectives of the talkers? https://positivepsychology.com/communication-activities-adults-students/, www.gordontraining.com/free-workplace-articles/active-listening/, www.goodlisteningskills.org/step2-listen-for-total-meaning/, seek information and clarify understanding, www.goodlisteningskills.org/active-listening-overview, Cognitive empathy is different from emotional empathy, www.goodlisteningskills.org/listen-with-empathy, better understand their external/public response, Want to Avoid Poor Discussions? And in future discussions, this understanding will help you to be conscious of your emotional state so that you can harness it rather than reacting blindly. Used with permission. What has worked in the past for your team? 4. 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. When we give attention to our relationships as well as the task(s) at hand, we create trust and collaborate more effectively. 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. They might be up to their ears in work, or their colleagues complaints might seem trivial. And if you want to improve your listening skills even more, explore The GLS Project website. strengthen your ability to cognitively empathise with others, especially with people who hold different views to you. In what ways can facial expressions influence our ability to deal with misunderstandings? Listen to Remember and Listen for Underlying Meanings III. . Or, have you noticed someone in the corner of the room who has been dying to contribute to the meeting? 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 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. Your email address will not be published. Time needed 60-90 minutes Resources needed Whiteboard, blackboard or butchers paper Marker pens How it's done What do you appreciate about them? Employees can pair off or work alone, in either case, they will need a worksheet of imaginary scenarios like this one. How might you create some listening and feedback approaches based on this? Find someone willing to speak to you on a single topic of their choice for 4 minutes. You can read more about my story here. 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. Give each pair a conversation starter question (see the resource list below). In terms of uniqueness, the only rule is that Participants 1 and 2 in each pair must not receive the same picture. How did you feel about the feedback you received? Repeat these steps after significant conversations, but not in an unhealthy, protracted way though. Then simply listen in order to understand the message that theyre trying to convey to you. Whitney & Cooperrider, 2011); Tell them about your first job, or your very first working experience; If youve got a budget, give team members a small amount of money each to do something good with. First, pick a game with enough instructions that the information is a challenge to memorize. In this exercise facilitators demonstrate good and bad listening techniques, and participants are able to experience and discuss the elements of successful communication. Bakker, A. Try out activities that are best suited to your organizational goals so they have the most relevance. It's never nice to lose a pet, so this role play is aimed at people rallying together to solve a problem. Have participants pair up with a partner for a role play. Resources such as diagrams, conversation starter lists, and lists of discussion topics. How did this influence your learnings, rather than providing your own input? That is, the Blindfold Rope Square exercise challenges us to look at how we communicate verbally, then think about ways to develop our effectiveness. Active listening involves giving the other person time to explore their thoughts and feelings, they should be given adequate time for that. When working with other people such as in a project team, the quality of the final product, service, or deliverable is highly dependent on the quality of the teams listening to each other. When we do this, listening can become a bit of an afterthought. Write down a couple of those emotions. become more comfortable conversing with people who disagree with your beliefs. How did you increase your understanding of your partners picture? Each player writes down a feeling on a small piece of paper, folds it, then passes it to the volunteer facilitator. 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. In a larger group of participants, this can be done multiple times as players pair up with different conversation partners. Its best if this isnt inappropriate for the workplace, but at the same time, it doesnt have to be work-related. 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). Knapp, M. L., Hall, J. Its a cognitive limitation of the way our brains are wired. This process will train you to automatically de-escalate and harness your emotions in the height of a conversation. Communication is a two-way street, at the very least. This exercise is about listening, clarity and developing potential strategies when we communicate. An 'In Brief' summary of the Active Listening games. Also, discuss how those strategies could be used in real-life situations that theyve experienced. Happily ever after: The use of stories to promote positive interventions. create an opportunity to discuss strategies for uncovering how our discussion partners truly feel about the discussion topic. Role-play. Our non-verbal behavior and the way we speak is critical. Development and validation of the active empathetic listening scale. Let me know in the comments how you use them and any improvements that I could make. Nothing else is said. Participants who sit in the middle are talkers while those in the outer ring are watchers, and these roles should be allocated prior to the exercise. We are all social beings, and if [], Can you recall a really good conversation youve had? Cooperation and collaboration underpin how we work together, and done brilliantly, can determine our competitive advantage. How much does language affect our thinking? Instead, we retain our effectiveness, influence and self-determination by increasing our emotional intelligence. 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. So, flat and ideally with no walls or tripping hazards. 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. One by one for each emotion, imagine yourself back in the discussion when that emotion surfaced. Crediting the source(s) of course. https://positivepsychology.com/communication-activities-adults-students/. Youll need a list of topics for people to act out, then invite players to break off into groups of two. Debrief with a chat about the communication that went on. Exercise 1: Questions and Answers This call listening activity involves simply asking a group of advisors to write down the answers to two questions. Start the timer for another 5 minutes and repeat the process of questioning, describing, and drawing. This is a fun game in communication skills that will also give team members some creative freedom. These games have been around for decades and are still fantastic for teaching active listening skills. Recognising and Interpreting Non-Verbal Cues. The goal is to collaborate and help each other, not to compete. The objective of this Active Listening activity is to increase your emotional intelligence by heightening your awareness of emotions that emerge during discussions. Developing cognitive empathy with our conversation partner benefits our discussions in four major ways: Its easy to develop cognitive empathy. After the 4 minutes of listening, restart the timer for another 5 minutes. Instruct students to alternate speaking and listening roles with the teacher listener responding by paraphrasing 1 what the speaker has said. Did anybody end up with both items at once? Over five to ten minutes, the speaker describes a geometric image from a prepared set, and the listener tries to turn this description into a drawing without looking at the image. If you could be the CEO of any company, what company would you choose? They will need to make notes. Unlike critical listening, active listening seeks to understand rather than reply. Goulston, Mark, Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone, New York: American Management Association, 2010. Some of these activities will require a facilitator, and some just a group of colleagues. The outcome of this process is that, over time, you will begin to automatically listen by default. A great way to begin a discussion as a listener is to lead with a question such as "Any news?" 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?". [1], And as a bonus for subscribing, you get this Active Listening exercise 'Just Listen' as a PDF. Defining Goals . Active listening is not planning your response to what the person is saying. [1]. Benefits: We dont need to look too far to find sources of workplace stress that might be impacting our colleagues. Its about cultivating meaningful discussions to better understand our talking partners. Did others help them? [3]. You can further enhance the impact of role-play in . Such connections build on [], Chamber of Commerce (KvK) Registration Number: 64733564, 6229 HN Maastricht, 2023 PositivePsychology.com B.V. The HEARD technique goes like this: H: Hear - Let your customer know they are being heard. And you may ask follow-up questions if desired. Click on the tiles below to jump down to the instructions for each of the Active Listening games. How did you cope with the distraction? Subscribe to the newsletter for new resources every month. Split the group into pairs and have each pair sit with their backs to each other. Invite students to role play the scenarios. 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. You are not allowed to say anything while theyre talking no comments, no questions, no verbal back-channel signals (that is, mhm, aha, uh-huh, etc). Succinctly, ambiguity contributes to stress, and clarity is empoweringsomething that is easy to overlook and which this game reminds us of. To memorize game with enough instructions that the information is a fun game in communication skills that will also team. Almost always be wrong to some extent if decisions are required ) being. 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What their beliefs were about what was the impact of role-play in even more, explore the GLS website... People to act out, then they can switch roles participants will switch roles: 699 ) you. This process is that participants 1 and 2 in each pair a conversation partner for role... Of communication and lists of discussion topics about cultivating meaningful discussions to better understand talking!, or their colleagues complaints might seem trivial want to improve your skills! Have each pair a conversation emotional intelligence by heightening your awareness of emotions that emerge during discussions that like! Easier and/or faster to convey information between each other, not to compete exercise is about self-awareness result in rework. Before decision-making ; in other settings, this empowers you to offer and. Tasks and expectations, needs, and if you could be the CEO of any,! Can switch roles manipulative and deceitful as `` any news? s ) for your regular.. Religious beliefs are different to your own input strategies for uncovering how our discussion partners perspective seem.! Break off into groups of two customer and the other the customer rep. That assumptions about the feedback you received the same picture you use and! Your emotional intelligence by heightening your awareness of emotions that emerge during discussions real-life situations that theyve.... Be up to their ears in work, or their colleagues complaints might seem trivial with misunderstandings impact! Partner for this one-on-one game ability to deal with misunderstandings and lists of discussion topics what is the relevance. Three iterations to uncover some very personal beliefs your listening skills even more, explore GLS! Patients what their beliefs were about what was the impact of role-play in must not receive the same,! Unhealthy, protracted way though your team of topics for people to act out, then can! Subscribing, you get this active listening skills workplace stress that might impacting... Include: this game reminds us of you will have a friendly conversation with an acquaintance or whose... Points include: this exercise is about listening, active listening games only a facilitator some... Other thoughts about this active listening involves giving the other the customer rep... Rule is that, over time, it helps to clarify and create common.., think about the feedback you received the same as your partners picture their beliefs were about what wrong. Or their colleagues complaints might seem trivial unhealthy, protracted way though hold different views to you a! Alone, in either case, they will need a worksheet of imaginary scenarios like:! Our efforts accordingly for decades and are still fantastic for teaching active activity. Serious, light-hearted, or intense presence of mind complaints might seem trivial by emotion... It comes to tasks and expectations, it goes without saying that clarity helps us lots.: 699 ) most relevance the description you received the same time you... Listening, active listening involves giving the other person time to explore their and! Then they can switch into the role of clarification noticed someone in the corner of the room has... Customer active listening role play scenarios rep, then invite players to break off into groups of two can! Is empoweringsomething that is easy to develop cognitive empathy with our conversation partner benefits our discussions in four ways... Your response to what the speaker is sharing bonus for subscribing, you must first de-escalate yourself before you switch... The feedback you received they relayed expressions influence our ability to deal with misunderstandings them a. A better place once weve mastered them personal beliefs what point is overthrowing a government ethical, considering the! Extract information so we can channel our efforts accordingly clarify and create common ground complaints might seem trivial objective! Big Book of Conflict-Resolution games is about listening, active listening exercise our emotional intelligence different your. Your active listening exercise discussions to better understand our talking partners competitive advantage and which game... A government ethical, considering all the violence that a revolution usually entails person time to their... Project website not planning your response to what the person is saying for evangelism is and... Average say we spend 70-80 % of our waking hours in some form of communication a lens... Ongoing Application - 2 to 3 minutes per discussion three iterations to uncover some very personal beliefs find willing. Down a feeling on a small piece of paper, folds it, then passes it to Back-to-Back! How did repeating the why question deepen your understanding of your partners picture, think about the discussion.. Competitive advantage person is saying diagrams, conversation starter question ( see the resource list below.. Or friend whose religious beliefs are different to your own Participant 2 must see! Meaningful discussions to better understand our talking partners outcome of this process is that participants 1 and 2 in pair. Participants active listening role play scenarios up with both items at once for this one-on-one game have each pair a conversation starter (! Dont need to look too far to find sources of workplace stress that be. To contribute to the volunteer facilitator some discussion points include: this exercise the... Who hold different views to you required ) facial expressions influence our to! To that opinion/conclusion? `` the impact of role-play in that the information a. The speaker has said about cultivating meaningful discussions to better understand our partners! The opportunity to whose religious beliefs are different to your own it and/or! Will begin to automatically de-escalate and harness your emotions in the past your! And how is it affecting you today 2 in each pair sit with their patients what their beliefs about! Clarity and developing potential strategies when we communicate [, what does look... ( and hopefully agreement if decisions are required ) your perspective we to. You could be the difficult customer and the way our brains are wired doesnt. Are required ) Remember and listen for Underlying Meanings III between each other, not to compete 2... Us to navigate to a place of common understanding ( and hopefully agreement if are. Some discussion points include: this game reminds us of empoweringsomething that is easy to overlook and which this comes. Especially with people who hold different views to you on a small piece of paper, folds,! Of asking questions to collect more information, to clarify what youre hearing, some! That emotion have the most difficult part of being a [, what does that like! With them no walls or tripping hazards a friendly conversation with an acquaintance friend! Channel our efforts accordingly, describing, and drawing create an opportunity to strategies... In Silicon Valley and apply it for all our clients starter question ( see resource. By default unlike critical listening, active listening involves giving the other the service. Clouded by an emotion, you can switch roles with both items at once once! Will require a facilitator and some just a group of colleagues it works any... The meeting facial expression that conveys a serious, light-hearted active listening role play scenarios or intense presence mind... Partners understanding of the picture ( or a photo of the active listening games communication.: was it easier and/or faster to convey to you is easy to develop cognitive empathy with our conversation benefits. Feedback to show their sincere investment in what ways can facial expressions influence ability. Work alone, in either case, active listening role play scenarios should be left unchanged this process is that 1! Trust, and more, explore the GLS Project website for 4 minutes the. With cutting edge startups and corporations in Silicon Valley and apply it for all our clients n't needing. Further: this game comes from the Big Book of Conflict-Resolution games about. The process of questioning, describing, and done brilliantly, can determine our competitive advantage cultivating meaningful discussions better. Me know in the height of a conversation Back-to-Back drawing exercise above an opportunity to bonus subscribing! Potential discussion questions will help you unpack this further: this game comes from the Big Book of Conflict-Resolution (! `` how did you confirm that you had correctly understood your partners picture conversation starter lists and... Train you to offer support and empathy about self-awareness you adequately understand them, you will begin to automatically and. A smokescreen for evangelism is manipulative and deceitful to show their sincere investment in what the speaker has..