No one said you can't talk to one another (if they did not communicate. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 40 minutes for this module. It always gets people talking and laughing when they realise how they have not really been listening to 'my' story. At the end of the two rounds, start a discussion. Towards the end of the activity, you should move through the possible motions in order so that participants get a feel for how different plans might play out. In every case, I've never been disappointed with the response from the learners and it's such a good way of taking the wind out of the sails of the more arrogant delegates! - Carries Conundrum - Are Difficult Conversations Necessary? As an alternative to risking Death by Powerpoint I decided to use The witches of Glum as a medium for getting across how easily we drop into making assumptions and the potential impact making those assumptions. When the word conflict resolution comes up, most folks minds go straight to mediation. Many conflict resolution activities are theoretical. After playing for about ten minutes, ask participants to describe what they noticed and what did or did not surprise them about the rest of the group's participation. To start the activity, split the groups into teams, or choose two participants. How could you use open questions during a conflict? However, they soon learnt what a trap that assumption is when they then couldn't correctly answer the ensuing questions. This activity is, after all, a very personal exercise. Split the team up into pairs and ask them to decide who is A and who is B for the purposes of this next exercise. - Can be used to explore how words and concepts mean different things to different people. Two truths and a lie | 4. Please feel free to integrate them into your training sessions and workshops. It is a good idea for managers to start the discussion, to show team members the format and to remove the stigma of admitting mistakes. Our Management Training solutions range from open courses which are delivered in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Coventry through to Management Development Programmes. A cold wind blows for anybody who thinks conflict can be helpful sometimes. is a question game that challenges players to imagine themselves in tough situations. It never fails to entertain the delegates, but always ticks the boxes for active listening as well as assumptions training. You earn a point if the back of your partner's hand touches the table. Included in this bundle:1. Not much preparation needed yet so effective. If so, please feel free to leave a comment down below, and we'll get back to you within a day or two! In groups, they were able to discuss what they heard and often the lower levels had taken in lots of detail. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. "Blow Wind, Blow!" is a great icebreaker game for participants to get all psyched up and ready for a session of teaching. Real life conflicts can be tense, and mediating fictional conflicts builds team skills in a low-risk setting. Guest Contributions - Conflict Management and Conflict Resolution, How Fighting Dirty At Work Can Be A Career Stopper. It is better to teach teammates how to effectively navigate conflict rather than trying to avoid clashes altogether. It's a great way of illustrating that we're not as good at listening as we think we are. This exercise tasks a group with coming to a decision and then questions the people responsible for making the decision unanimous why they went the way they did and what the stakes would need to be for them to stand firm. Great to use for management programs and communication or for teambuilding. Learn To Control Conflict At Work And Home - Don't Let It Control You! If You Like This Training Exercise:Youll LOVE The Witches of Glum which is also available from Trainers Library. Really makes people think about their active listening skills. Conflict is inevitable in a world where individualsmust interact with one another, both in and out of an organization or a business context. For example, if you ask: What drinks do you like? the person who answers can say a lot of things and elaborate. This chain can end afterdiscoveringthe underlying meaning and proceed to the discussion of the disconnect between what one party means and what another hears. Time:This exercise will take about 15 minutes to complete. For me though, stonewalling seems to conjure up a stronger image of obstruction and uncooperativeness. Running a training session? Improve work relationships by reducing conflict and using cooperative communication techniques. You should pick a pop culture reference that is well-known, or one that is summarized in a short clip. Everyone knows the Goldilocks tale and this existing knowledge really helps drive the learning points home. (influencing) Or, players might be education representatives from the Ministry of Magic, visiting Hogwarts to help the faculty confront Dumbledore about his hiring choices for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. The object is for the group to decide whether, when they pull the ends of the rope,there will be a knot or no knot. Advise participants to use open questions instead of closed questions. His comment was - guess I wasn't really listening! Our award winning Leadership Development Programmes consist of modular topics and usually include some kind of personality diagnostic reporting like 360 Degree Assessments or DISC profiling. Before I run this activity I get the delegates to score their current listening skills out of 10, and then once they complete the activity then re look at their score to check this is a fair assessment. Hundreds of techniques, tips, advice, taken from our books on dealing with difficult customers and conflict with customers. Time:This exercise will take about 10 minutes to complete. Search Our Network Of Business and Personal Development Sites. The Goldilocks exercise is a valuable method of demonstrating to candidates the way they make assumptions. Remote/Virtual Delivery: There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers Library. Conflict resolution activities are exercises that teach diplomacy skills. Prior to breaking for lunch I asked the delegates to think of someone they would consider an idol and what attributes they admire. My participants seem to really love it and it never fails to cause discussion and training room banter with bags full of light hearted frustration. Aims: To test listening skills. To illustrate the dangers of making assumptions. To encourage participants to think about how they can check their understanding of information they receive. Make spaces on the board for categories like causes, plans of action, and possible outcomes. Then, switch sides and have participants argue the counterpoint. This resource includes three back to school ice breakers for secondary students to establish classroom norms for discussion and conflict management strategies to build class community. Animals should be tiger, turtle, fox and dove. One option is to get people to do it in pairs as thing brings in the likelihood that one of the pair had the right answer but was talked out of it despite having 'evidence' written down. Conflict ResolutionActivity for adults (PDF), What Is Imposter Syndrome in the Workplace and Dealing with It, 6 Quick Icebreakers Games for Training Seminars and Meetings for Small Groups. Choose Your Own Adventure Stories are narratives where audience members can affect the outcome by choosing the next action at pivotal moments in the stories. Im not often prone to giving a 100% as I believe we always have room to improve. Questions you can ask to start the discussion might include: Download this Debate vs Dialogue Conflict Management Game (PDF). Conflict resolution activities teach habits like active listening, empathy, negotiation, and compromise. - Fun short exercise done in demonstration form with two volunteers, to highlight how our assumptions color what we hear, the importance of active listening, and relationship of assumptions to conflict. Once each side has made their point, switch sides, and have each side argue the counter-point. This gives participants time to really think about their choices. Open questions start with what, how, why, who, when, where and they usually require more than a yes or no answer. One of the most common reasons for conflict starting in the first place is because one or more people have not actively listened. Well written, and contains a good reference list at the end. One strategy you can use for this icebreaker is dividing team members into groups who play together. As a result everyone is part of a much more valuable training where they learn about diversity and get to call upon on the experiences in the room. It really helps delegates realise how easily we make assumptions and how unconscious we are when we are doing it. What I particularly like about this exercise is that it can be adapted to use in a variety of different sessions. I will also ask that person who went against their strong opinion what they would do if I made them thegroup leaderand their decision was the final one. The main content of the day was more fruitful once this had happened. Group Size:This module is suitable for use with groups of almost any size. Goldilocks is by far my favourite listening activity. Ive used similar exercises in the past and have been put off as they have sometimes caused a little too much debate. Objectives can include: A full rundown of this conflict game, and the various objectives it can teach you,can be found here. For more information about the great work this charity is doing to educate against racism, visit www.theredcard.org. Group Size:Suitable for use with groups of almost any size. YTA, for yes, you are. Conflict resolution is a critical skill in the workplace. I find it really easy to then link this exercise in to the types of calls that my delegates make or receive, especially the common ones where we can assume we know what it is about and how to resolve it without stopping to listen to the customer. The eight-step process below will help you manage a conflict in a way that works for everyone. Download it NOW! Create your account. Here's a full descriptionfrom the WorkSMART blog: "Out of sight of the group, place a length of rope on the ground in a pile. This is a helpful icebreaker for teaching members how to work together toward a common goal. The following two tabs change content below. Is it difficult to listen when somebody disagrees with you? I have used this activity for over 10 years now. By clarifying desired outcomes from their work together, participants can begin to build an agenda that seeks to affirm those desires in practice.". 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