Purpose
Creating consciousness of different levels of listening, helping participants practise their listening skills
Description
Listening is one of the key competences in inter- and transdisciplinary collaborations. It seems obvious and listening seems to be a common trait. Truly listening and really hearing the other person is, however, not that common. In academia – and beyond – it is a trained habit to listen with a critical mindset so as to offer critique or advice. Also, oftentimes listeners are focusing on their own response rather than really hearing what the other person is saying.
This activity serves to understand that there are different levels of listening and that each contributes to a different kind of conversation. It also serves to invite participants to be aware of which listening level they are engaging in and whether that indeed fits the purpose of the conversation. Exploring the listening levels makes sense at any stage of collaboration, yet it can never come too early.
Instructions
Step 1: Listening levels
- Introduce the listening levels (see slides) – emphasise that there is no ranking, none is ‘better’ than the other, rather that each serves a different situation. For more background on the listening levels watch the explainer video by the Presencing Institute
Step 2: Reflections on listening
- Invite the participants to reflect some minutes in pairs on their listening experiences (see slide). Gather some responses from the room before removing to the next step. .
Step 3: Different conversation
- Explain that different kinds of listening lead to different kinds of conversations (see slide)
Phase
From the stage of getting to know each other onwards
Competences
All
Time
15 – 20 minutes
Group size
Plenary exercise, no maximum amount
Required space & materials
- Chairs in a circle
- Set of slides
Related tools
The listening levels are a good stepping stone to other activities in which listening is practised: Empathy Map, Five Whys, Interplanetary Travel
Relevant resources
Tips & experience
Avoid any tone of judgement: ‘downloading’ will be quite common, but has its own function too
Explaining generative listening may be done by using a jazz session as example