13/05/2018
Good communication in the work force results in employees feeling connected, motivated, and engaged. This increases productivity as people feel part of a team and that their contribution is valued and matters. How often have you heard about people leaving a job because a boss spoke disrespectfully or a worker who felt unappreciated?
We spend a large majority of our life at work (a third of our lives) and with the people we work with. It’s a wonder companies don’t invest more in improving communication skills that not only unite teams, but keep workers happier longer term, increase productivity at work and reduce stress.
We all have ideas of how we’d like to be communicated with and how we think we should communicate, but most places don’t offer a setting to open up these issues and figure them out.
True, it’s difficult to organize for people to miss work, but long term it’s so beneficial that the positives heavily outweigh the negatives. And yes, regardless of whether you can get away from the office for half a day or 5 days, this is a skill that is truly important to prioritize.
Communication and group dynamics can be taught in many ways, but often an unconventional way of learning, experiencing and problem solving together offers the most effective, experiential and powerful learning experience. I recently worked with three companies who wanted to improve communication and productivity in the work place. Here is some insight into our communication workshops with horses.
The first team came from the hi tech world. Communication for the most part involves a huge deal of computer interactions, emails and skype calls. Communication through the screen is an important part of their job yet something in their frontal team work in the office and interactions wasn’t working. Seeing this played out with the horses was so intriguing as each person was challenged with both individual and group tasks. The group dynamic in general showed a passive communication style which hindered performance and prevented the team from cooperating and accomplishing mutual goals both with the horses and in the workplace.
The second team was involved in people-to-people interactions. Staff were responsible for the daily functioning of adults with special needs, many of them non-verbal. I found myself trying to teach them to hold back in their interactions which were perceived as bossing around the horses and the horses’ clear discomfort in their interactions with them. Metaphorically, this is what happens at work, and is how they get the residents to cooperate in daily activities. This team needed to learn and focus on respect, empathy and relinquishing control. It is important to be able to accomplish goals but without pushing too hard.
The third team involved was a team of managers looking to strengthen their communication with employees. Again, the dynamics are always fascinating as the managers showed every type of communication style and found themselves comparing accomplishments and learning from one another.
Each team had a different focus but the strengths and weaknesses of each team came up immediately with the horses allowing us to bring them to awareness and to solve them. The horses act as metaphors for the learning process in taking the role of clients, employees or mutual challenges that arise in the office. They give us great insight into our communication styles and allow us to deal with the issues at hand.
If your team could benefit from a workshop that improves communication, please get in touch.
Leah Prejserowicz M.A.
Group and workshop facilitator
+972-52-577-4748
