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WEEK 3 READING 1 - Basic Skills for Group Leaders (USE OF EYES: You need…
WEEK 3 READING 1 - Basic Skills for Group Leaders
ACTIVE LISTENING:
Listening to the content, voice and body language of the person speaking. It involves communicating to the person speaking that you are really listening.
As a group facilitator it is more complex because you listen to many people at one time, with the aim of being aware of what members are feeling and thinking even when they are not speaking.
This can be done by scanning the room for non-verbal gestures (especially facial expressions and body shifts).
REFLECTION:
Involves reflecting on both the content and feeling associate with the topic.
Purpose of reflection:
To help the group member who is speaking become more aware of what they are saying
To communicate to them that you are aware of what they are saying
A group leader you will use reflection at times with individual members, at times to reflect what two or more members may be saying about a topic or issue, and at times to reflect what the entire group is experiencing.
CLARIFICATION AND QUESTIONING:
Clarification may be done for the benefit of the entire group or to help the individual member become more aware of what he or she is trying to say.
Clarification techniques:
Questioning
Restating
Using other members to clarify
SUMMARISING:
Thoughtful and concise summaries are very helpful to members as groups often generate material from a wide range of viewpoints and the they often don't remember details.
Summaries should be about current situations, not past ones.
It is good to summarise at the end of a session to bring everything together.
Benefits:
Helpful when you have allowed a member to speak uninterrupted for several minutes.
Prevents members from just picking up on the small / irrelevant points
Useful in making a transition from one topic to another.
Sharpens the focus
ENCOURAGING AND SUPPORTING:
This is important in helping members deal with the anxiety of a new situation and sharing their ideas or personal feelings with others.
It helps put members at ease.
Acknowledging that some discomfort is normal often eases member's anxiety.
It is also important that you communicate your support with warmth in your voice, a pleasant facial expression and an "open" posture.
Your encouragement must be genuine and congruent with your actual feelings.
Why it's important:
Members are often concerned with how they will appear to others and sometimes fear that they will say something wrong or stupid.
Members often fear that they will reveal something about themselves that they will later regret.
LINKING:
The process of connecting people together to facilitate bonding. Also called typing together.
Especially important in the beginning stage because leaders want the members to feel connected to each other and to the group.
By pointing out commonalities, the leader tends to facilitate the building of cohesion.
The leader is always alert to how things one person is saying may apply to another person in the group.
MINI-LECTURING AND INFO GIVING:
The leader is often the person who is providing the expertise on subjects.
giving info enables members to learn from the leader and from the discussion that follows.
By keeping the comments relatively short, the leader provides good info without turning the group into a class.
The key is to provide new and interesting ideas
When delivering a lecture, make it:
Interesting
Relevant
Energising
Short
Make sure you have current, correct and objective information
Make sure you have considered cultural and gender differences
TONE SETTING:
This means creating a mood for the group.
The leader sets the tone by his actions and words and what is allowed to happen.
If the leader is very aggressive, he will create an atmosphere of resistance and tension.
A leader who allows members to attack and criticise others permits a fearful tone to emerge.
If the leader encourages sharing and caring, a more positive atmosphere is established.
A leader should consider the following:
Should the group be serious, light or somewhere in between?
Should the tone by confrontative or supportive?
Should the tone be very formal or informal?
Should the group be task-orientated or more relaxed?
Another important aspect of tone setting to be aware of is the environment, such as lighting, setting and wall decorations - these things can make a difference in the tone that is set.
MODELLING AND SELF-DISCLOSURE:
These skills are useful for getting members to share thoughts and feelings.
One of the best ways to teach desired behaviours is by modelling those behaviours in the group.
Behaviours to model:
Effective communication
Your ability to listen
Your encouragement of others
If the purpose of the group involves more personal sharing, then your self-disclosure can be used to demonstrate how to disclose and that you are willing to risk and share yourself.
Your self disclosure also indicates that you are human and that you have dealt with many of the same issues in your life that members are presently exploring.
USE OF EYES:
You need to be aware of how your eyes can gather info, encourage members to speak and possibly deter members from speaking.
You can use your eyes in the following ways:
Scanning for nonverbal cues
Getting members to look at other members
Drawing out members
Cutting off members
SCANNING FOR NON-VERBAL CUES:
Head nods
Facial expressions
Tears
Bodily shifts
GETTING MEMBERS TO LOOK AT OTHER MEMBERS:
The leader can use her eyes to signal members to look at each other.
DRAWING OUT MEMBERS:
By scanning the entire group and contacting particular members, the leader's eyes can serve as an invitation to talk.
The leader's eyes can really encourage members to join in and share.
The leader's eyes can also be helpful when a member is revealing something very painful. Encouragement through eye contact and body language may be just what the members need to fully disclose some previously hidden aspects.
A leader can also draw out a member by making eye contact with that person a number of times while speaking to the group as a whole.
CUTTING OFF:
(There is often one member who tends to speak first on any issue or question)
When a leader wants someone else to comment first, they can ask a question and slowly shift their eyes around to other members so that by the end of the speech their eyes are completely off the talkative person.
Also, if a member has gone on for a while, a very subtle but often helpful technique is for the leader to avoid making eye contact with the speaker.
USE OF VOICE:
The leader's voice can be used to influence the tone and atmosphere of the group as well as its place and content.
Sets the tone:
Leaders using a strong, stern voice may intimidate the members causing them not to share much.
A nonassertive voice may cause members not to respect or believe in the leader.
A warm, encouraging voice often helps the scared, troubled or withdrawn member.
Energise the group:
The leader's enthusiasm will help to energise the members. They must seem interested in the topic they are talking about/teaching.
Pacing the group:
A very slow talking leader will influence members in such a way as to slow the pace down.
By learning to manipulate your rate of speech, you may be able to manipulate the pace of the members.