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TOT 202 – WEEK 202
“Active listening- barriers ”
(Note: The objective of this weekly blog is to assist the trainers involved in giving training in mediation to enhance their training skills.)
One of the important components of active listening is empathy. Mediator will have to be very conscious about empathy blocks. Trainer can make the participants understand how to overcome empathy blocks through simulation exercises or through situational role play.
Example
Choose a recorded role play with 2 participants., one being the mediator and the other being the party. Trainer has to choose a particular scene where the mediator and the party are in a private session.
The participants are to be requested to watch the role play.
The trainer has to ask the participants to identify the empathy blocks.
Trainer has to ask the participants to label/ name in not more than a sentence ‘what the mediator should have avoided or not have done.’
Trainer has to ask the participants to suggest what could have been done by the mediator.
Preparation of role play
The role play should have elements of a) argument b) interruptions c) denying d) ignoring etc..
Trainer has to check whether the participants are capable of identifying these elements of empathy blocks. The next step would be to elaborate on the empathy blocks identified by the trainer/participants, and make them move towards avoiding such empathy blocks.
Example: What could have been done by the mediator to avoid arguing? Could the mediator have asked clarificatory questions to get confirmation regarding the information provided by the party instead of entering into an argument with the party.
Likewise, for each of the identified empathy blocks, the trainer has to take the participants through what could have been done.
Challenge
The greatest challenge lies in preparing the role play.
A short conversation between the party and mediator which should not extend beyond 3 to 4 minutes has to be prepared.
In this short conversation all the elements of empathy blocks must have been covered.
Debriefing by the mediator has to be very specific.
At the end of the exercise participants must know i) what are the empathy blocks and(ii) how to overcome the same.
Advantages
By the end of the exercise participants will know how to:-
Replace argument with clarification
Avoid Interruption using the technique of deferring/ redirection / or allowing the party to complete his/her narrative.
Replace denying with acknowledgement .
Replace ignoring with deferring .
TIME: Total time required for the exercise: 15 minutes.
The essence of a role playing game is that it’s a group cooperative experience.
By Gary Gygax-Designer and author known for Co creating tabletop role playing game.)
(All copyrights reserved by the author S. Susheela)
Training of Trainers in Mediation 