Active Listening Aim (what for?) Group (whom for?

) Material needed Practice active listening and get feedback. Groups of three and out with the rules (se download)! procedure of the e"ercise and also some theoretical information about active listening. $% minutes active listening per case and % minutes feedback & back in plenar' $( minutes feedback about the process. ) *n groups of three! one person is the initiator that e"plains a problem that he or she is facing in work or in life in general. +he active listener! listens! ,uestions and paraphrases & as a coach would do and helps in the problem solving. *t is important to guide the solution coming from the initiator and not imposing 'our own. +he observer watches the process and gives feedback on the active listening and not on the content. -omment. -onfidentialit' is a big issue here. Make sure that there is enough trust in the group if personal things are likel' to come up. /urther info01ource Aptapted for the 1AL+2 +raining -ourse 3*nclusion and Group *nitiatives3 from 4 ow to become a better supervisor ? 5 6ational 1ervice 7esource -enter 81! www.nationalserviceresources.org www.nationalserviceresources.org 9"ercise -onflict Management Personal #evelopment 1ocial *nclusion

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Short guide to active listening, giving and receiving feedback

Active Listening What ? Two-way communication. 1. Listen to understand. 2. Check to see if the meaning of your message is understood by the person you are communicating with. Why? Everyone filters what one hear differently. Everyone is influenced by his her assumptions.

How? Attention Listen carefully! "on#t $udge! "on#t give advice! Paraphrasing "on#t repeat! Reflection Try to get the message %feeling & meaning'! uestions Try to clarify!

!uidelines for Personal "eedback %Tkit on Training Essentials p. ()* +.,. -anson'
. Consider the needs of the person receiving the feedback. . "escribe behaviour only / do not attempt to interpret. . 0ocus on behaviour that can be changed. . 1e specific. ,ive e2amples. . 3ait for feedback to be asked for. . "o not $udge. . 4f possible* give feedback immediately after the behaviour %if asked for it'. . 5llow the freedom to change or not to change. . E2press feelings directly %e.g. 64t makes me insecure when you7# '. . 5lso give positive feedback.

!roup #nstructions Active listening $%ercise

&o''unication Skills Think about a problem / big or small / that you have with someone or a few other people. Try not to construct a problem but rather go with a problem from real life. 4t can be one from work* from this course or something from your private life. 4t should be a problem though* that means so much to you that you actually would like to do something about it. Cooperation in a small group of three persons is needed in this e2ercise. Each one of you has got a different role. The roles will change during the e2ercise. The roles are8 the initiator* the listener and the observer. Each conversation should last about 29 minutes. 5fter each conversation there should be a short discussion of about :-19 minutes led by the observer. The roles can then be changed and a new problem can be discussed.

(he initiator The initiator e2plains for the listener the problem that he she wants to get some help with. "uring the e2ercise opportunities will be given to the initiator / with encouragement and facilitating from the listener / to think about the problem from different aspects. (he listener The listener is supposed to help the initiator to think about the problem by active listening* by asking ;uestions and so on. The listener will help the initiator to see his her problem from different perspective* to understand the background* to facilitate the initiator to come up with new ideas and a conclusion. The listener should put a lot of effort in trying to put himself herself in the situation of the initiator in order to easier understand the problem of the initiator and to help facilitating. 1ut remember / the listener can not solve the problem / only the initiator himself herself can do this. Try not to advice but rather try to escort the initiator so that she he can come to a conclusion. (he observer The observer observes and analyses what is happening between the initiator and the listener. -e she is not allowed to take an active part in the conversation until afterwards when the conversation is already finished. Then the observer should try to give the initiator as well as the listener some relevant feedback. 0or the observer the main point is to observe how the listener is listening and communicating but also to observe how the initiator gets to his her conclusion rather than concentrating too much on the content in the conversation. The way of communicating and the problem-solving part is to be focused rather than the final conclusion. Adapted from How to become a better supervisor ? National Service Resource Center US, www.etr.or !nsrc!pdfs!""S!bbs.#tml