How are we going to get this cupboard up the stairs? Open and closed questions are both very useful in a conversation. If you only want a quick yes or no, closed questions are best. But if you’re looking for help, or need more information on an issue, open questions will encourage the other person to give you a much fuller answer, and allow the conversation to flow on. Repeating details Repeating the details in your own often helps you to understand an instruction better, particularly if the task you’ve been asked to carry out is complicated, or you haven’t done it before on your own. OK, I’ll take these fittings over to Bill and tell him the three-hole brackets go on the underside and the four-hole brackets fit flush against the wall. This helps you to reinforce the steps in your own mind while you’re still both together, so that you’ve each got one last opportunity to pick up on any misunderstandings before you set off to do the task. Learning activity Here is another exercise, similar to the last learning activity. It is also designed to illustrate the crucial importance of feedback in allowing both parties to a conversation to check that the message has been received and understood properly. This time we’ll use an example that involves giving and receiving instructions. Ask your partner to turn around so they’re facing away from you. Draw a simple diagram of several shapes, like the drawing below. (You can use this actual drawing if your partner hasn’t already seen it.) Your task is to provide an exact description in words of the drawing to your partner. Their task is to re-draw it, based only on the verbal instructions you give them. They are not allowed to see your drawing or ask you any questions. You are not allowed to see their drawing or ask them for any responses. Once you have finished describing the drawing, ask them to stop and turn back to face you. Compare the two drawings to see how closely they resemble each other. Then answer the following questions in your workbook. How did you both fare are the two drawings a match? If not, why not? – What sort of mental effort was involved when neither of you were able to give each other any feedback?
How are we going to get this cupboard up the stairs? Open and closed questions are both very useful in a conversation. If you only want a quick yes or no, closed questions are best. But if you’re looking for help, or need more information on an issue, open questions will encourage the other person to give you a much fuller answer, and allow the conversation to flow on. Repeating details Repeating the details in your own often helps you to understand an instruction better, particularly if the task you’ve been asked to carry out is complicated, or you haven’t done it before on your own. OK, I’ll take these fittings over to Bill and tell him the three-hole brackets go on the underside and the four-hole brackets fit flush against the wall. This helps you to reinforce the steps in your own mind while you’re still both together, so that you’ve each got one last opportunity to pick up on any misunderstandings before you set off to do the task. Learning activity Here is another exercise, similar to the last learning activity. It is also designed to illustrate the crucial importance of feedback in allowing both parties to a conversation to check that the message has been received and understood properly. This time we’ll use an example that involves giving and receiving instructions. Ask your partner to turn around so they’re facing away from you. Draw a simple diagram of several shapes, like the drawing below. (You can use this actual drawing if your partner hasn’t already seen it.) Your task is to provide an exact description in words of the drawing to your partner. Their task is to re-draw it, based only on the verbal instructions you give them. They are not allowed to see your drawing or ask you any questions. You are not allowed to see their drawing or ask them for any responses. Once you have finished describing the drawing, ask them to stop and turn back to face you. Compare the two drawings to see how closely they resemble each other. Then answer the following questions in your workbook. How did you both fare – are the two drawings a match? If not, why not? What sort of mental effort was involved when neither of you were able to give each other any feedback?
communication_and_teams_kb_learner_guide.docx