How can you use active listening to prevent burnout and turnover in large group facilitation?

Active listening is easier said than done with a large group, especially when facilitating virtually. It’s important to listen and watch for clues that your audience may be getting to a burnout or not finding the material engaging. Some these clues might be some of the same people are the only ones engaging, cameras are off, people are multi tasking, yawning, blank stares and slow to respond. Listening and watching for these clues allows you take a different approach on the rest of agenda to retain their focus and interest.

Active listening is a way of showing respect for the speaker. Paying attention to a speaker and focusing on the content helps the listener understand the topic. Fully comprehending the speaker's view and perspective will provide the listener with the information needed to determine how impactful the speaker's content is. The speaker can also feel understood if you use nonverbal cues. I have found that asking questions will test your understanding. The listener must also approach engaging the speaker respectfully. Ask open-ended questions that encourage the other person to share more. Avoid interrupting the speaker. Active listening is essential to effective communication and helps with relationship building.

In my experience active listening is overlooked by simply not being in the moment. By turning into your audience with full attention naturally allows you, the listener, an opportunity to see, hear and appreciate the whole conversation. While most people are asked to do more today than ever with technology we overlook the importance of human interaction. Whether on a cell call, a virtual, or a live face to face interaction. Pause. Being in the moment and having the ability to simply focus on the person and their message as you give your full attention will help create the active listening experience.

As an active listener I know it creates a lot of goodwill with the speaker who is usually encouraged to speak more and more in depth.

When facilitators actively listen, engagement and collaboration happens automatically. How: -Be genuinely interested in what participants are saying. -Repeat or summarize key points made by participants. -Clarify to demonstrate your commitment to understanding their viewpoints. -Acknowledge and reflect the emotions expressed by participants. -Avoid Interrupting participants. -Very important here to create opportunities for participation from all participants. -Sufficient discussions time and actively manage the pace of the conversation. -If participants express concerns/challenges, address them promptly. -Express empathy towards participants' experiences/challenges. -A positive/constructive tone throughout the facilitation process.

The pandemic left a lasting impact on the importance of workplace culture and employee wellness. Focusing on the overall health of team members can improve employee engagement and prevent burnout. Active listening is a proactive way to understand what impacts the team members. Employees are more than workers, and while workplace stressors may be easy to identify, life stressors may be more challenging for an employee to share. Active listening will help leaders understand all the stressors impacting team members. Active listening will enhance the relationship between the speaker and the listener; employees feeling heard and understood will foster trust. Burnout is a problem that can be solved with proactive steps.

I agree with the idea that working as a group facilitator we can help ourselves and our audience by using techniques related to active listening to avoid burnout. Emotional intelligence a key factor. Through self awareness, active reflection can help us recognize when active listening turns from engaging and energizing to exhaustion simply as a result of a facilitation role. This role requires an extended attention to many aspects of the group process, while interacting, interpreting and analyzing activity of the members. Active listening is essential to understanding and identifying opportunities within the group’s dynamics and enables everyone’s communication skills for success with less stress.

Aktives Zuh?ren h?lt einzelne Workshop-Teilnehmer:innen "bei der Stange", bei denen die Gefahr besteht, dass sie geistig aus dem Workshop aussteigen und sich nicht mehr beteiligen.

The pandemic left a lasting impact on the importance of workplace culture and employee wellness. Focusing on the overall health of team members can improve employee engagement and prevent burnout. Active listening is a proactive way to understand what impacts the team members. Employees are more than workers, and while workplace stressors may be easy to identify, life stressors may be more challenging for an employee to share. Active listening will help leaders understand all the stressors impacting team members. Active listening will enhance the relationship between the speaker and the listener; employees feeling heard and understood will foster trust. Burnout is a problem that can be solved with proactive steps.

An example of applying active listening “techniques” to prevent dissatisfaction and turnover - use a group process to capture their desired results at the beginning of each session. Always write their words on the e-white board, chat or other medium available for sharing. If they are entering their own, always read the statement out loud and check for clarification. Seeing our words and listening to them as they appear directly demonstrates active listening. Avoid assuming these ideas were met, simply use the same “Desired Results” as a guideline during the process and close with a review of each original statement for the session. Turnover results from lack of engagement and feeling heard. Demonstrating active listening wins the day.

3 easy steps of practicing Active Listening:- Maintain eye contact - This way, you'll stay engaged in the conversation and create a sense of connection with the speaker. Non-Verbal Affirmation - While someone is speaking, reducing the use of fillers like "hmm," "ok," "ha" is essential. Instead, use them strategically. When someone else is speaking, these fillers can work wonders for you as well as the speaker. Paraphrase and summarize - This not only gives the feeling that you have been listening, but it also ensures that you haven't misunderstood anything.

When soliciting volunteers to contribute to the group, strive to establish a supportive environment where every participant is encouraged to express their thoughts. Every team possesses unique personality dynamics, with some individuals naturally more vocal than others. It's crucial to be mindful of quieter individuals and extend an invitation for them to share, respecting their choice if they prefer not to. When reaching out to someone who typically remains reserved, acknowledge their decision if they choose not to share, saying, "No problem. I just wanted to ensure you had the chance to voice your thoughts if you wished." Then seamlessly transition to the next participant, fostering an inclusive atmosphere that values everyone's input.

Erst einmal sollte sich mit den Grundprinzipien des Aktiven Zuh?rens auseinandersetzen und reflektieren, ob man diese Prinzipien in seinen Gespr?che bisher einsetzt. Besonders hilfreich hat es sich erwiesen, übungsgespr?che durchzuführen, die man idealerweise auf Video aufnimmt. Im Anschluss k?nnen sich die Teilnehmenden Feedback geben, ob sie sich gegenseitig aktiv zugeh?rt haben. Die Auswertung des Videos kann weitere Erkenntnisse für Verbesserungen liefern.

As stated above setting intention is key. Another is to check your self expression. If you say something mean it with your mind and your heart. It will reflect in your body language and especially in your facial expressions. Giving yourself an opportunity to correct is another. “Did I just say that?”, “Now that I hear it”, let’s try it again this way”. Modeling makes us better over time. We’ve all had experiences we share and maintain, and some we use as examples of what not to do. Remember to check in on your emotional intelligence, especially the match between self perception and self expression during interpersonal relationships across a group. Consistency provides psychological safety and space for both error and recovery.

As I had mentioned earlier too that 3 things can help practice active listening faster:- 1. Maintain eye contact 2. Giving Non-Verbal Affirmation 3. Paraphrasing and summarizing Now the trick to improve on active listening fast is to practice these 3 sub functions in every interaction. Not only professional interactions but personal too. As a matter of fact it will improve your quality of life to a great extent.