Team Development I: Communication Page 1 Facilitator Introduction 05 MINUTES Welcome and Workshop Overview Welcome Natural Work Team to the first of a 6-part series on Team Development. Today s topic is Communication. (Slide #2), Ask Why start your team development program with the topic of Communication Reinforce answers, and thank participant for contributing Review Today s Objectives (Slide #3) If possible tie back to opening comments. Review the Program Norms: (Slide #4) Reinforce the importance of committing to these as team participants. Ask for and answer any questions. 10 MINUTES Effective Listening (Slide #5) Ask participants to Think of three people you know that are good listeners. -- What makes them a good listener Distribute Listening Grid Handout, Have participants write down on the handout, those characteristics identified in the 3 people. Share the characteristics at their table, add any other characteristics to their list.
Team Development I: Communication Page 2 Ask participants to share some of the characteristics from their list. Collect on a flip-chart. Ask participants to rate themselves on a 1-5 scale on how well they exhibit the characteristics. (They are the only ones that will see their scores.) Ask participants if anyone would like to share their findings. 15 MINUTES 20 MINUTES Listening Exercise Show the overhead, Effective Listening (Slide #5-ear) and introduce group activity. Ask participants to pair off. Have pair decide a Person A and Person B Distribute handout, Listening Exercise Person A, and Listening Exercise-Person B. to the appropriate participants. Explain Activity Ask each person to read silently his/her part for Part One Part One: (Two minutes) Person A=Speaker, Person B=Listener Call time on the activity, move to Part Two: Ask each person to read silently his/her part for Part Two Part Two: (Two minutes) Person B=Speaker, Person A=Listener Call time on the activity and return to the general session.
Team Development I: Communication Page 3 Group Discussion Debrief Ask individuals from groups to work with their larger table and answer the questions listed. Listening Exercise Discussion, (Slide #6-#7) Write responses on a flipchart from last question. ( What from this activity can we apply to our work together as a team) Post the flipchart. 10 MINUTES Interactive Presentation Show the overhead, Communication. (Slide #8) Comment that: Can you imagine trying to do your job without talking with people: coworkers, team members, suppliers, customers (Pause) Probably not. But I bet you can remember times when you ve had frustrating discussions when you couldn t get a work in edgewise, or you were sure the other person didn t understand what you were trying to say. Ask participants these questions: How many of you work in a place where you never talk to anyone Who are the some of the other people you communicate with Why is it important to communicate effectively with these people Highlight the importance of communicating effectively with others.
Team Development I: Communication Page 4 Comment that: Communication is an important part of people s lives at work and home. Today, everyone is being called on to interact with a wider variety of people at work, including co-workers, leaders, team members, suppliers, and customers. Interactions are more demanding. Discussing improvement ideas, solving problems, negotiating, and planning actions are becoming a regular part of people s jobs. Handling these interaction effectively affects how well people do their jobs, the quality of products and services, and whether customer requirements are met. In this section of today s workshop, we will help you become a better communicator. You ll learn more about the elements of good communication and how to recognize and overcome barriers that prevent good communication. 10 MINUTES Communication Activity Show the overhead, Communication Activity-Part One (Slide #9) Review the exercise and its objectives. Ask groups to select on individual to be Receiver and on individual to be Sender. Rest of the participants will be Observers. Distribute 15 Dominos to each Receiver. Explain exercise:! Sender will have 5 minutes to describe to the Receiver the diagram on Chart 1! Reinforce, that the Sender is the only one that can talk, Receiver and Observers are to be silent.
Team Development I: Communication Page 5! Distribute Chart 1 to each Sender Call time on the activity and return to larger group. Group Discussion Debrief Ask individuals from groups to share their groups, frustrations. (Briefly) Comment to Group: You were just involved in an exercise which represents some of the most common barriers to effective communications. There was no participation, no two-way communication, to tools set up for understanding, no feedback allowed. 5 MINUTES BREAK Interactive Presentation 15 MINUTES Show the overhead, Communication Model. (Slide #10) Talk through different parts of the model Sender Receiver Encodes Message Decodes Barriers Show the overhead, Communication Model - Environmental. (Slide #11)
Team Development I: Communication Page 6 Show the overhead, Communication Model-Verbal. (Slide #12) Show the overhead, Communication Model-Interpersonal. (Slide #13) Show the overhead, Communication Model - Domino. (Slide #14) Apply the Dominos Activity to the Communication Model by asking the following questions: Sender: How did you feel not being able to ask questions or to check progress Did you feel that you were understood Receiver: How did you feel not being able to ask questions, clarify Did you know if you were on track Observers: How did you feel not being able to participate What types of Barriers were present during the activity Ask participants What can we do to reduce frustrations & increase effectiveness of communication Tell groups, they have 3 minutes to talk as a group to plan, organize, define terms or ways to describe the dominos. (Slide #15) 10 MINUTES Communication Activity Show the overhead, Communication Activity-Part Two (Slide #16) Review the exercise and its objectives. Ask groups to keep the same Receiver and Sender. Rest of the participants will be Observers.
Team Development I: Communication Page 7 Explain exercise:! Sender will have 5 minutes to describe to the Receiver the diagram on Chart 1! Reinforce, that the Sender and Receiver can talk in this round and Observers will continue to be silent.! Distribute Chart 2 to each Sender Call time on the activity and return to larger group. Group Discussion Debrief Ask individuals from groups to participate in the Communication Exercise Discussion (Slide #17) Write responses on a flipchart from last question. ( What from this activity can we apply to our work together as a team) Post the flipchart. Summarize by showing Communication Model Two-way (Slide #18) One-way communication 1 st Round Two-way communication 2 nd Round MORE EFFECTIVE WHY FEEDBACK!! 12 MINUTES Interactive Presentation Show the overhead, Feedback (Slide #19) Comment on:
Team Development I: Communication Page 8 As we go through this program we will be learning many new skills. But just learning about them isn t enough. We also need to practice using them within the training room, and with your team members. We develop better skills when we receive feedback on how well we did and on what we could have done better. Good feedback, not only during our whole training program, but also as an ongoing skill is very important. Having good feedback skills is an important part of working with others. Letting your co-workers know when they re doing a good job motivates them to continue to do well. At the same time, when a co-worker s actions hinder your performance or your group s your feedback can help the person work more effectively. As a member of a Natural Work Team, you need to receive feedback, too. Just like your team members, it s important for you to know when you re doing well, when you need to improve, and how you might improve. Introduce Positive Feedback (Slide #19) Introduce Feedback for Improvement (Slide #19) Reinforce feedback needs to be sincere, balanced, and specific. Ask participants When giving feedback what are the do s and don ts Collect ideas on a flipchart Ask participants When receiving feedback what are the do s and don t s Collect ideas on a flipchart
Team Development I: Communication Page 9 20 MINUTES Team Building Activity MineField 5 MINUTES Conclusion Show the overhead, Post Session (Slide #23) Confirm for team next training session, time/date/location. NOTES: