Burnout syndrome is a process of gradual loss of emotional, cognitive and physical energy, manifested in symptoms of emotional, mental exhaustion, physical fatigue, personal detachment and decreased job satisfaction.
It is seen as the result of constant workplace stress.
High rhythm, plans, reporting, overtime, conflicts between employees, management pressure, unfair assessment of contributions, etc., all this leads to chronic stress among staff, and the consequence is loss of productivity, decreased engagement, conflicts between employees.
Many employees note the presence of mental states that destabilize professional activity (anxiety, despondency, depression, apathy, disappointment, chronic fatigue).
Real practice shows that today the fact of loss of interest in work responsibilities within 1-2 years is quite clearly visible.
All this determines the urgent need to work with personnel to prevent emotional burnout.
Training program
The training lasts two to three hours with a group of 10–15 people.
The group is selected from employees who are showing symptoms of stress or burnout, either by human resources managers or on the recommendation of the department head.
The form of the training is a circle, free movement around the room is possible when performing exercises in subgroups.
Premises, equipment and materials:
— an auditorium accommodating 15 people with space for active activities, equipped with a PC, projector, speakers;
— chairs according to the number of training participants;
— desks, according to the number of subgroups of participants (2-3 pcs.);
- pens, felt-tip pens;
— cards made of paper in A5 format;
- camera.
Training objectives:
1. Prevention of psychological health of employees.
2. Familiarize employees with techniques for dealing with stress and procrastination.
3. Collection of information for holding corporate events, improving the company’s microclimate, creating conditions for a favorable working environment.
Training objectives:
1. Reducing the level of emotional burnout of employees.
2. Planning, through brainstorming, activities to prevent emotional burnout.
3. Increasing the level of team cohesion.
The training consists of three parts.
The first (introductory) is aimed at getting to know each other, creating an atmosphere of trust, goodwill and acceptance of each other by the training participants.
The second (main) is aimed at finding opportunities, individual motivators and activities in the work of the team to reduce emotional stress and create a comfortable working environment.
The third (final) stage is to become familiar with methods of quickly relieving stress, emotional and physical tension, breathing and sound exercises.
Conducting training on “prevention of emotional burnout”
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During the entire training, it is advisable to have quiet, relaxing music playing in the room.
1. Start of the training. Greetings, rules, setting expectations and adjustments.
Greetings from the presenter.“I’m glad that we met, today we will try to relax a little, rest, play and most importantly, do something to prevent emotional burnout.”
During the introductory speech, the presenter talks about the goals of the training, briefly reveals the basic concepts used during the classes, and discusses with the participants the principles and mode of operation of the training group.
1. Establishing group rules.
The presenter explains that each participant must have rules for full and effective work.
The rules are up for discussion:
confidential communication
communication based on the “here and now” principle
sincerity in communication
confidentiality
identifying personal strengths
inadmissibility of direct assessments of a person;
introduction of sanctions for violation of basic rules.
2. Expectations and concerns.
Target: Identifying the expectations of training participants. Correction of the request.
When getting ready for today’s training, you may have asked yourself: “What kind of event will it be?”, “How will everything go?”, “Will this help me?”
You have your own expectations, and perhaps fears. It would be logical if we now talk about these EXPECTATIONS and FEARS. Try to briefly formulate your personal expectations and concerns, and we will write them down so that we can then voice what we can do today and what you need to be especially attentive to.
Think again, what are you willing to invest in the training?
Participants talk in a circle about their expectations from the training and their contributions.
Correction of requests.
Much will also depend on overall activity. At the end of the training, you and I will have the opportunity to review your expectations.
3. Description of the problem.
To begin with, it is necessary to define what “Emotional Burnout Syndrome” is.
Emotional burnout- this is a psychological defense mechanism developed by the individual in the form of complete or partial exclusion of emotions (decreasing their energy) in response to selected psycho-traumatic influences.
List of main and optional signs of this syndrome:
1) exhaustion, fatigue;
2) psychosomatic complications;
3) insomnia;
4) negative attitudes towards clients;
5) negative attitudes towards one’s work;
6) neglect to perform one’s duties;
7) increased intake of psychostimulants (tobacco, coffee, alcohol, medications);
8) decreased appetite or overeating;
9) negative self-esteem;
10) increased aggressiveness (irritability, anger, tension);
11) increased passivity (cynicism, pessimism, feeling of hopelessness, apathy);
12) feeling of guilt.
Procrastination is another employee problem.
Sometimes there is nothing wrong with putting things off until later.
But if you do this with many important things, putting them off day after day, or replacing necessary activities with easy household chores or entertainment, then you are procrastinating.
Procrastination (from the English procrastination - delay, postponement)- a tendency to constantly postpone even important and urgent matters, leading to life problems and painful psychological effects.
Procrastination differs from laziness in that in case of laziness a person does not want to do anything and does not worry about it, and in a state of procrastination he realizes the importance and urgency of the work, but does not do it, finding one or another self-justification.
Self-motivation techniques.
This is unobtrusive programming of yourself for success and achieving goals. You don't have to wait until something changes or an opportunity arises. We need to work on ourselves here and now! Moreover, such a process does not require much effort. It passes naturally and even unnoticed.
Tell us about self-motivation techniques
The main question of the training: how to deal with stress, procrastination and emotional burnout?
4. Introducing the group, establishing contact.
The specifics of the training are related to the features of the program, for the implementation of which it is necessary to create a friendly environment in the group from the very first steps - an environment that encourages creative thinking and behavior.
It is recommended to divide several exercises into three stages:
Stage 1: getting to know the group.
Stage 2 – exchange of information, raising the self-esteem of group members.
Stage 3 - preparation for the main part of the training.
It is advisable to use 2-3 trainings to get to know each other and establish contact in the group. Some options for introducing training group participants.
Introducing the training group participants.
EXERCISE 1.
“Let’s start our work with introductions: everyone in turn will say their name and three inherent qualities beginning with the same letter as their name.”
Such a presentation requires participants to be inventive and flexible in their thinking, offering a somewhat unusual approach to considering their qualities and personality traits. The action that a task prompts group members to take is consistent with the characteristics of a creative environment.
The task requires significant effort to complete it informally, since the temptation to name the first qualities that come to mind with the right letter sometimes turns out to be stronger than the readiness to search for more accurate characteristics that correspond to one’s own ideas about oneself.
EXERCISE 2.
Group members sit in a circle.
“Let’s get acquainted and do it this way: everyone in turn, in a circle, clockwise, will say their name, as well as one of their real hobbies, interests, and one desired hobby, the one that you would like to have, but for now this for one reason or another did not materialize, the one who introduces himself as the second, before talking about himself, will repeat what the first says, and starting from the third, everything will repeat what the two previous people will tell about themselves. So, the name, the real hobby and the desired hobby...”
The coach pauses, giving everyone a chance to think. If someone expresses a desire to start, the trainer begins the training, but only after making sure that everyone is ready and invites the person who wants to start.
As a result of such acquaintance, a tangible change occurs in the emotional state of the group: everyone appears before everyone in a new capacity: the group learns that someone is jumping with a parachute, and someone is growing flowers.
Among the hobbies that have not yet been realized, there are often very unexpected, non-standard ones, which correspond to the content of the training and create an atmosphere consistent with the goals of the training.
EXERCISE 3.
Group members sit in a circle.
“Now we will get acquainted and do it like this. Each person in turn will name three words that are somehow related to his name. In this case, there is no need to mention the name itself. All of us, after three words are spoken that give information about the name of the one who named them, we will try to understand what this person’s name is and say his name.”
This task significantly increases the activity of the participants and the degree of their involvement in the work. In addition, the exercise provides material for discussing many phenomena related to the content of the training: associative thinking, barriers to creativity (in particular, stereotypical thinking), the influence of unlikely factors on people’s interaction, etc.
Completing the task has a motivating effect on the participants, since a comparison of representation options naturally occurs in the minds of each participant, based on the subjective criteria of standardity - non-standardity, adequacy - inadequacy.
Continuation of acquaintance, exchange of information, raising the self-esteem of participants.
EXERCISE 4.
This, as well as the next introduction option, is best used after the group members have introduced themselves and talked a little about themselves.
Group members sit in a circle.
“Let's continue our acquaintance. Imagine that a situation has arisen that you need to reincarnate into some object of the material world, an animal or a plant. Think and tell me which object, which animal and which plant you would choose.”
This version of the representation activates one of the mechanisms of the creative process, in which the problem is repeatedly processed by logical means (left-hemisphere processes) and translated into figurative form, associating emerging ideas with the content of experience (right-hemisphere mechanisms). Group members follow different strategies when completing this task. These strategies are not analyzed at this stage of work, however, the facilitator records their manifestations. Subsequently, the experience gained is used to illustrate data about the stages and mechanisms of the creative process.
The most common are two strategies. In the first case, transformation occurs as if by itself, and then the participant strives to immediately speak out the images that have arisen, or ponders and clarifies them for some time. In another case, the participant identifies several of his characteristics and selects an object of the material world, an animal and a plant, to symbolize them.
EXERCISE 5.
Group members sit in a circle.
“Now we will get acquainted and do it in a somewhat unusual way. Think about what you can do other than your current profession and, using your name, list several options for these possible professional roles. At the same time, be attentive, try to remember what the rest of the group members say.”
EXERCISE 6.
Group members sit in a circle.
“Compliment to the participant sitting next to you” Participants need to think about a compliment to the participant sitting next to them, using the information received about the participants from previous exercises.
EXERCISE 7.
The group members stand in two lines, face to face. Each participant walks between the ranks. Everyone in the line pats the person passing on the head. You are encouraged to compliment those passing by.
Exercise from the theory of “stroking” by Eric Berne. The word "stroking" reflects a child's need for touch. Byrne noticed that as adults, people still tend to touch each other, as if confirming their physical existence. But after leaving childhood, people find themselves in a society where physical contact is strictly limited, so they have to be content with replacing this need with other forms of “stroking.” A smile, a short conversation or a compliment are all signs that you have been noticed, and this brings us joy.
Preparation and setup for the main part of the training.
EXERCISE 8.
Group members sit in a circle.
The coach stands in the center of the circle.
“Now we will have the opportunity to continue our acquaintance. Let's do it this way: the person standing in the center of the circle (for starters, it will be me) offers to change places (change seats) to all those who have some kind of skill. He calls this skill. For example, I will say: “Change seats, all those who know how to drive a car,” and all those who know how to drive a car must change places. In this case, the one who stands in the center of the circle will try to take one of the vacant seats at the time of changing seats, and the one who remains in the center of the circle without a seat will continue to work.
Let's use this situation to learn more about each other. In addition, you need to be very careful and try to remember who changed seats when this or that skill was called. During the exercise, the trainer encourages participants to name a variety of skills, noting those that are especially original and interesting.
EXERCISE 9.
Group members sit in a circle.
“Let’s get acquainted and do it this way: everyone will say their name and their 2-3 motivators that encourage them to be creative, create something new, to engage in non-standard, creative behavior.
These introduction options encourage participants to talk about themselves, which helps bring group members closer together and creates a more trusting atmosphere. In addition, many ideas emerge that may be useful in the future when discussing ways to combat burnout.
During the exercises, a significant change in the group atmosphere occurs, emotional freedom appears, and the tension that is so characteristic of the beginning of a group work decreases. Participants sometimes open up from unexpected, new sides.
5. Brainstorming “Emotional burnout. What to do?"
The main part of the training.
Purpose of the exercise: Increase motivation and degree of emotional involvement in the training. Formulate personal motivators and a list of activities that reduce emotional tension.
The results of the brainstorming session should be used in efforts to prevent employee burnout in the company.
I. Idea generation stage. “Emotional burnout. What to do?"
Participants are divided into several teams (3–5 people in each). Teams receive a stack of blank cards.
New ideas will be recorded on them - how to deal with emotional burnout. One idea, one card.
Suggestions for topics:
1. Methods of individual work with stress.
2. Self-motivation.
3. Improved work environment.
4. Corporate culture.
5. Work-life balance.
The presenter informs about the mandatory rules of this stage:
Absolutely all ideas put forward are accepted and recorded. This is necessary in order not to interfere with the free flight of creative thought.
It is necessary to praise any thought expressed, even if it seems absurd. This show of support and approval greatly stimulates and inspires our inner idea generator.
The best ideas are the crazy ones. Give up templates and stereotypes, look at the problem from a different point of view.
We need to come up with as many ideas as possible and record everything. One idea per card.
The time for this stage is 30 minutes.
At the end of the allotted time, the facilitator asks to report the number of ideas put forward in each group.
II. Idea analysis stage.
The main task is deep processing and polishing of the proposals made.
Rules for this stage:
The best idea is the one you are considering now. Analyze it as if there are no other ideas at all. This rule implies an extremely attentive attitude to each idea. Although criticism is no longer forbidden, it should not be indiscriminate.
It is necessary to find a rational grain in every idea. This means that you need to focus on finding constructiveness in any idea, even a seemingly nonsense one.
You can't throw away ideas.
Completion time is approximately thirty minutes, sometimes it takes longer. If necessary, participants add their thoughts on cards to develop the idea expressed.
III. The stage of searching for implementation opportunities.
The best ideas will remain ideas if the steps to implement them are not thought through.
Participants are asked to review all proposals again in terms of their compliance with two criteria - originality and feasibility.
Each idea card should be marked with two types of icons:
+ + – very good, original idea;
+ – not a bad idea;
0 – the construct could not be found.
And regarding the feasibility of the idea:
PP – realistically implement;
TP - difficult to implement;
HP – impossible to implement.
Of course, a variety of combinations of these icons are possible. After all, an idea can be brilliant, bright, unusual, but there are simply no opportunities for its implementation at the moment.
The time allotted for this stage is thirty minutes.
IV. The final stage.
Let's move on to the final stage of Brainstorming. Everyone gathers in a common circle.
Each representative of each group is invited to make a report on the results of the group's work.
The groups need to talk about those ideas that received either two pluses, an PP badge, or both of these badges.
The “suffering” results obtained in the process of quite a long work are of great importance. Therefore, it seems advisable to formalize the results of brainstorming and present them in the form of recommendations for staff and management.
Read cards are collected in envelopes according to categories:
1. Methods for individual work. Self-motivation.
2. Improving the organization of the working environment and office space.
3. Corporate culture.
4. Work-life balance.
Ideas with the “PP” (really implementable) icon should be included in the company’s work plan for the prevention of emotional state.
Discussion of the result of the brainstorming session.
An understanding is being developed that emotional burnout and stress are a serious problem in our lives, but they can be effectively dealt with.
During the discussion of the work done, the idea that is important for the training usually arises, that in order to combat stress and emotional burnout, general collective work is necessary. Compliance with the rules of communication, politeness, mutual respect and mutual assistance, and for this you need to be attentive, observant, receptive and interested.
Participants in the training group talk more openly about what causes them discomfort in the work environment, express their pressing problems more sincerely, and resolve protracted conflicts.
New ways to combat stress, burnout and procrastination are being invented.
Management receives valuable feedback from employees about the company's work environment and suggestions for improvement.
6. Familiarization of training participants with techniques and exercises to relieve stress
The presenter suggests moving on to the next part of the training: “Everyone has worked very fruitfully, and now we move on to exercises and techniques for relieving stress.”
The presenter can choose to conduct several exercises with the group from those proposed. For other exercises, simply inform the participants.
Breathing exercises to relieve stress
Exercise No. 1.
Slow inhale and exhale. To begin, take a slow breath, counting to 4, then when you count to 4, hold your breath for 5-6 seconds and exhale slowly. Repeat this exercise 5 – 6 times. You can also do this exercise before bed to make it easier to fall asleep later.
Exercise No. 2. “Breathing” with the stomach.”
The first thing to do is sit in a position that is comfortable for you. Straighten your back and lift your chin slightly up. Take a slow, full breath in through your nose, filling your stomach first and then your chest. Hold your breath for a moment. Then, as you exhale, first relax and lower your chest, and then slightly draw in your stomach. Perform 10–15 cycles, while trying to inhale as deeply as possible.
Psychological exercises to combat stress
Exercise No. 1 “Problem”.
To relieve an emotional psychological state, you need to find out the problem that influenced its appearance. After eliminating or dulling the irritant, you need to take steps to help achieve inner peace: you should take a comfortable position, relax and imagine your problem from the outside. An effective way in this situation is to compare the pressing problem with more global catastrophes on a global scale, which will allow it to be minimized;
Exercise No. 2 “Inner Light”.
It takes 5 minutes to relieve stress in this way. This exercise uses a visualization technique aimed at imagining a light beam appearing at the top of the head and slowly moving from top to bottom, illuminating the face, arms, and shoulders with a pleasant warm glow. You should imagine not only the light, but also its beneficial effects: the disappearance of wrinkles, the fading of tension, charging with inner strength;
Exercise No. 3 “Mood.”
Helps cope with stress after quarrels for 15 minutes. To complete this, you need pencils or felt-tip pens, with the help of which you need to express your condition on paper, choosing the appropriate colors and images. After drawing, you can express your emotions in words by writing them on the back of the sheet. Having finished expressing your mood, the “masterpiece” should be torn up, getting rid of negative emotions.
Exercise No. 4 “Simple statements.”
Goal: increasing self-confidence, focusing on your strengths.
Repeating short, simple statements helps you cope with emotional stress and relieves anxiety. Such statements are also called “affirmations.”
Here are some examples:
I feel better now.
I can completely relax and then quickly get ready.
I can control my inner feelings.
I deal with stress whenever I want.
Life is too short to waste it worrying.
No matter what happens, I will try to do everything in my power to avoid stress.
Internally I feel that everything is fine.
Make up your own affirmations! You can repeat them whenever you find yourself in an uncomfortable situation. Important rules for composing statements: they sound in the present tense; the particle “not” and the preposition “without” are missing.
Exercise No. 5 “Questions to yourself.”
Goal: rationalization of fears and anxieties, reduction of situational anxiety.
When you feel that you are faced with a problem, and even more so, that you are exaggerating its significance, ask yourself the following questions:
Is this really a big deal?
Is anything really important at risk right now?
Is it really worse than everything that came before?
Will it seem as important in 2 weeks, six months, a year, 10 years..?
Is it worth it to worry so much?
Is it worth dying for?
What could happen if I fail?
Can I handle this?
Remember that your nerves and mental health are more valuable than all the problems in the world!
Close your eyes so you can better identify what's going on in your body and mind.
Notice how you react during the first five seconds. What is happening in your body (breathing, heart rate and areas of muscle tension), what are your thoughts or images, your feelings? How do you talk to yourself?
Notice your reactions without making judgments or comparisons. Simply observe and then make notes of your automatic reactions to stress and confrontation. And write down again:
a) physical sensations;
b) thoughts or images;
c) internal dialogue.
Stay in these stressful conditions for 30 seconds (that's 5-6 deep breaths) and get a “vaccination” that will help you become less susceptible to fears and stress in the future. When you decide to be alone with something that you have previously avoided, you are telling your primal reflexes that “a leader solves a problem, not a
Exercise No. 6 “Laughter”.
Laughter helps relieve stress.
American psychologist Don Powell advises: “Find a reason to laugh a little every day.” The healing power of laughter is known to everyone: laughter improves blood circulation, digestion, laughter helps the brain release endorphins - natural substances that relieve pain. Remember, he who laughs lives long!
On the Internet, the presenter can select funny videos or coobs with a total duration of 5-10 minutes, and show them to the group using a projector.
Relaxation exercise (relaxation)
Exercise No. 1 “Relaxation”.
Goal: relieving mental stress, arousal, reducing anxiety, since stress and anxiety are associated with muscle tension.
To carry out the exercise yourself, you should record the instructions on a voice recorder in a calm, even voice, pausing in time with your breathing. It is recommended to do it daily.
Free yourself from tight clothing. Turn on calm music. Dim the lights. Lie on your back, close your eyes. Mentally give instructions to specific muscle groups.
“We start relaxing from the tips of our toes... The feet... the ankles... the calf muscles... the knee joints... the thighs... We feel as if a warm wave is rising from the bottom up from the tips of the toes to the top of the head... The gluteal muscles and hip joints relax... Then the hands begin to relax... wrists... forearms... elbows... shoulders... shoulder joints... The back muscles relax from bottom to top (“fan”)... The body seems to go limp... has become heavy... motionless... There is no desire to raise either arms or legs... There is no desire to utter a single word... They begin to relax abdominal muscles... chest... The muscles of the internal organs relax, very deeply... Breathing becomes smooth and calm... The air seems to penetrate into the chest without much effort... Very well, the muscles of the neck and tongue relax deeply... The eyeballs relax... all the muscles of the eyes and all the muscles of the face... All wrinkles are smoothed out... The face takes on a calm, peaceful expression... And, finally, all the muscles of the head relax.”
Immerse yourself in a feeling of relaxation for 3 to 20 minutes.
Physical exercises for relaxation.
Goal: control the state of muscle tension and relaxation.
Exercise No. 1 “Ice cream.”
Stand up straight, raise your arms up. Stretch and tense so that you can feel it throughout your entire body. Stay in this state for a few minutes to get used to the tension and even get tired of it. Imagine being frozen like ice cream. Now imagine that the sun appeared above you, and its rays began to warm you. Begin to slowly “melt” under invisible rays. First relax your hands, then your forearms, then your shoulders, then your neck, then your body, and then your legs. Relax completely. You will see: there will be no trace of tension left.
Exercise No. 2 “Reach for the stars.”
Stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart. As you inhale, extend your arms up and stretch as if you are trying to reach the stars. As you exhale, release and shake your arms and return to the starting position. Repeat 5 times. For greater effect from the exercise, try to breathe very deeply and spread your fingers at the moment when you reach up.
Exercise No. 3 “Tangle”.
Participants stand in a line and take each other’s hands, then the first one begins to twist around its axis and pulls the others along with it until a “spiral” is formed. In this position, participants must walk a certain distance. You can invite the group to carefully squat down at the end of their movement.
Exercise No. 4 “Lemon”.
Goal: control the state of muscle tension and relaxation.
Sit comfortably: place your hands loosely on your knees (palms up), shoulders and head down, eyes closed. Mentally imagine that you have a lemon in your right hand. Start squeezing it slowly until you feel that you have squeezed out all the juice. Relax. Remember how you feel. Now imagine that the lemon is in your left hand. Repeat the exercise. Relax again and remember your feelings. Then perform the exercise with both hands at the same time. Relax. Enjoy a state of peace.
Exercise No. 5 “Sound gymnastics”.
Goal: acquaintance with sound gymnastics, strengthening the mind and body.
Before starting sound gymnastics, the presenter talks about the rules of application: calm, relaxed state, sitting, with a straight back. First, we take a deep breath through our nose, and as we exhale, we pronounce the sound loudly and energetically.
We hum the following sounds for 30 seconds:
A – has a beneficial effect on the entire body;
E – affects the thyroid gland;
And - affects the brain, eyes, nose, ears;
O – affects the heart, lungs;
U - affects organs located in the abdominal area;
I – affects the functioning of the whole organism;
M – affects the functioning of the whole organism;
X – helps cleanse the body;
HA – helps improve mood.
Exercise No. 6 “Typewriter”.
Goal: attention is mobilized, mood improves, activity increases.
Let's imagine that we are all a big typewriter. Each of us is the letters on the keyboard (a little later we will distribute the letters, each of us will get two or three letters of the alphabet). Our machine can print different words and does it like this: I say a word, for example, “laughter”, and then the one who gets the letter “c” claps his hands, then we all clap our hands, then the one who gets the letter “c” claps his hands. someone with the letter “m”, and again a general clap, etc. A space between the words - everyone needs to stand up.
The coach distributes the letters in the alphabet in a circle.
If our machine makes a mistake, we will print from the very beginning.
And we will print the phrase: “Health is more valuable than gold” William Shakespeare.
Exercise No. 7 “Yoga.”
Yoga helps a lot with stress and various muscle stretching exercises. They allow a person to calm down and quickly come to their senses. You can do the following stretching exercise at home:
stand on your feet, keep your back straight;
take a deep breath and, as you exhale, stand on your toes;
As you inhale, simultaneously raise both arms up, and as you exhale, lower them down, while strongly tensing your muscles;
then bend forward, imagining that you are releasing all the tension;
stay in this position for about a minute, try to relax as much as possible at this moment;
then sharply return to the starting position and begin to shake your body, like animals after a bath.
Exercise #8
Show some videos from YouTube on relieving stress and tension. To highlight that there is a lot of material on stress relief on the Internet.
For example: Qigong Li Holden. Relieving stress and tension
End of the training
Target: establishing feedback, analyzing the experience gained in the group.
Each group member must complete the phrase: “Today I…”
What stress management tools can I use on my own?
How can I motivate myself?
Were your expectations met?
Summing up the lesson.
Have a nice day everyone!
The ideas of the training participants on the prevention of emotional burnout suggest further use of the recommendations in discussing and planning the company’s development strategy.
Key words: prevention of emotional burnout, emotional burnout syndrome, stress relief, relief of emotional and physical stress, exercises, self-motivation.
II Training structure
Your plan
Important Steps
How much and how often
Theme script
Psycho-gymnastics in SPT
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
A lot of different materials - theoretical, methodological, research - are devoted to group forms of psychological work. Nevertheless, in my opinion, this topic remains inexhaustible. First of all, I wanted to formulate for myself an idea of how to plan, implement and analyze the work of a group.
Communication skills are learned just like any other skill. It takes practice to learn them. This is about the same as driving a car, or having any other skill: riding a bike, skiing or any other sport. If you remember the first time you tried to master the complex skill of driving a car, you will find that you had to control many different things at once. We can assume that you were holding the steering wheel with your hands, or at least with one hand, while the other was operating the gear shift. At the same time, you had to watch what your feet were doing, and this was not an easy task. You had to pay attention to all this, and in addition, be somewhat aware of what was happening outside the car.
In psychological training, clients do what any complex skill requires: the task is broken down into small chunks or segments so that you can individually perform each small segment until you master it. Once you manage to turn each segment into an automatic, efficient, unconscious skill, new possibilities will open up for you - other components of the task. Then you develop the new components into an unconscious, effective template so that you don't have to pay conscious attention to them.
Today it is impossible to imagine the practical activities of a psychologist without various types of group work with children and adults. With all its content and methodological diversity, it is very often designated by one common “magic” word - training (“Do you know how to conduct training?”, “Come on, do some training with us!”). This fact is undoubtedly distressing, since as a result of an overly broad interpretation, the concept loses its own meaning.
Psychological training is a special form of group work with its own capabilities, limitations, rules and problems. It teaches new skills and helps to master other psychological capabilities. Its peculiarity is that the student takes an active position, and the acquisition of skills occurs in the process of living, personal experience of behavior, feeling, and action. I will try to proceed from this understanding when talking about socio-psychological training (SPT), describing step by step its content and organizational aspects.
SPT is a form of active learning that allows a person to self-form (a clumsy word, but very true in essence) skills and abilities in building productive social interpersonal relationships, analyze socio-psychological situations from his own point of view and the position of a partner, develop the ability to cognition and self-understanding and others in the process of communication.
Beginning of work
What was said above contains not only the enormous potential capabilities of SPT, but also its reasonable limitations. Effective work of SPT presupposes a certain level of personal development, a willingness to engage in training situations, master skills, and cooperate with other people. Essentially, a person must be able to see the world freely, as a new opportunity, and not as a reflection of his problem.
It is very difficult to work on mastering socio-psychological skills when participants begin to “fall out” into a client position and, in fact, request psychotherapeutic help from the leader and the group even during warm-up, “walk-through” exercises; when they cannot give good feedback to other participants because they see not them, but a reflection of their personal, unreacted experiences in their behavior.
This is important to remember at the stages of planning work and selecting participants. The best thing is to precede the work of SPT with a special client group, which allows its participants to work through their current personal problems in one form or another. Such a group can be replaced by a series of individual meetings. Group work is undoubtedly preferable, as it gives a person the primary experience of communication, building relationships, and mutual understanding.
1.Opening remarks
Group work is preceded by an organizational message from the leader. In addition to informing about the goals, objectives and procedure of the upcoming work, the opening statement performs an important psychological function. The participants get used to each other, to the peculiarities of the presenter’s speech, and get ready for work. It is necessary to immediately set the internal pace of work, which will be maintained by the leader all day. This pace should be chosen taking into account the characteristics of the group, but it is very important that it is comfortable and natural for the leader himself, otherwise he will not be able to keep it.
Many manuals suggest introducing rules (standards) for the group’s work already at this stage. I can only partially agree with this. The fact is that at this stage of work the rules can only be introduced authoritarianly, by the presenter himself, since most participants are not yet ready to discuss or express their opinions. With the authoritarian introduction and explanation of rules, the essence of many of them eludes the participants, since they can only imagine them speculatively. I believe that it is advisable to immediately introduce as some kind of “installation from above” those rules that are of an organizational nature.
Law "zero-zero" providing for the timely start of the training, its completion and an equally timely return to the classroom after a break.
Addressing each other as "you"(for working with children, this norm may be slightly modified, but addressing the leader by name, without patronymic, is highly desirable).
Work from start to finish: the person who has decided to participate in the training seeks the opportunity to attend all classes from the beginning to the very end.
Confidentiality of information, discussed in the group, its closedness for discussion outside the training situation.
It is also advisable to immediately enter the norm “here and now” explaining its deep psychological meaning. The work of the group unfolds only in the space of the current experiences and needs of the participants. The subject of discussion may be past events and past relationships between the participants, but only in the context of their current attitude towards those situations and relationships. The states, experiences and relationships that are born directly in group interaction have the greatest value. You cannot change the past, but you can live the present deeply and brightly, taking the best into the future.
Other norms and rules relating directly to behavior and interaction should be introduced gradually during the first hours of work, based on the experience that participants gain in the exercises. Let's call these rules.
All statements must be made on your own behalf: “I think...”, “I think...”, not “everyone now thinks...”, “most of us...”, etc.
When addressing or talking about another participant you need to contact him directly: “you said”, not “Masha just spoke.” (This rule causes many difficulties. The leader must be persistent and constantly correct the participants until one of the group members takes over the corrective function. You can often feel the aggression of those who cannot get rid of the habit of talking about those present as “he” or “she.” Take it calmly and be consistent in your demands.)
Non-judgmental statements towards other group members. Feedback in the form of a description of behavior and expression of one's own feelings about this behavior is allowed and encouraged, but not an assessment of the individual.
Active participation in work: if you want to say something, you need to do it, even if it’s awkward, scary, and you don’t want to prolong the discussion. But at the same time, participants have the right to remain silent and not take part in the exercise if this is dictated by their internal state.
The right to speak and the duty to listen. No one has the right to monopolize the discussion or deprive others of the opportunity to take part in it. Everyone can speak out and should give others the opportunity to be heard and understood.
Agree that if you introduce these rules at once, speculatively, such cumbersome and “alien” information will be poorly absorbed by group members.
Acquaintance
This stage is always present in the work of the SPT group, but it has different forms and duration. Let's highlight three typical situations:
participants do not know each other;
the participants know each other, but the trainer is a new person for them;
participants and trainer know each other.
In the first case, the acquaintance stage will be quite long, since several important tasks need to be solved:
Recognizing and remembering each other's names,
Mutual support,
Self-presentation of participants.
To solve these problems, the work can be structured as follows.
1. First round during which participants speak in turn, answering the questions: what is your name? What do you expect from the training? Do you have any concerns related to the training? After the participant has answered these questions, the facilitator invites him to attach a card with his name, and the group to think about thematic associations: “If Lena was a gem, what kind?”, “If Alexey was a vessel, then what?”. You can compare with flowers, animals, birds, seasons, weather, furniture, dishes, shoes, jewelry, etc. The procedure is repeated for each participant, including the presenter. In a sense, this is the first group action of the participants.
2. Psycho-gymnastic exercises, involving the procedure of acquaintance, the exchange of moods, the transfer of objects and feelings in a circle. The first psycho-gymnastic studies must be selected very carefully, sparing feelings, taking into account people’s fears. There is no need to use tactile exercises (except for handshakes), or do energy-intensive, very active procedures. It is very important to take into account the mood and state of the group. For example, I use a fairly “tested” psycho-gymnastic complex, an element of which is passing objects in a circle. In the adult group, first I suggest passing a flower in a circle, then a watermelon, and then dirt, after which we “wash” our hands in a clean mountain stream and “splash” crystal clear water on each other. This releases group energy and allows participants to relax. In a teenage group, especially if there are quite aggressive children, I do several circles of different content: passing a flower, a kitten, a very small bead. Psycho-gymnastics ends with another circle with a description of one’s current state and mood.
3. Exercise "Interview"(from K. Faupel’s book “Psychological Groups”). The essence of this exercise is as follows: the presenter invites each participant to imagine that he is the hero of the press conference. Everyone writes on a piece of paper five questions (three are possible) that they would like to answer. The questions should concern their life and professional views, that is, they should no longer be factual, but value-based. Then the piece of paper is given to any participant of the author's choice. Then there are “press conferences”. The interviewer to whom the piece of paper was given asks questions in any order, and the author answers. The interviewer has the right to ask one question of his own. The author is not obliged to answer it. The group has the same right. If the group is large - 14 or more people, it is advisable to divide it into two subgroups.
4. "Image of the group." The facilitator offers the group a sheet of Whatman paper and colored crayons. Each participant depicts on this sheet a certain object, an image that symbolizes the group for him at the moment. You can only draw one image at a time, but you can approach the sheet several times. It is inappropriate to ask questions. After finishing the drawing, you can only exchange feelings.
At this point the dating procedure can be completed.
In a situation where group members know each other, the task of recognizing and remembering names is faced only by the leader. In this case, you should not hang name signs. Let the presenter rely on his professional memory. To help during the first lap, he can use snowball technology. The facilitator should tell the participants that sometimes someone's name slips out of their heads, so he will ask again. The rest of the dating procedure is the same.
In the case when everyone knows each other, the tasks of this stage are self-introduction and mutual support. The first circle can be limited to questions about expectations, fears and current status. After this, conduct a self-presentation exercise such as “Motto on a T-shirt”, “Coat of Arms”, in which each participant will identify himself in a training situation: “This is who I am now.” You can complete the procedure with group bonding exercises.
After the “Getting Acquainted” stage, the remaining rules of the group’s work are logically and naturally introduced.
Turning structure
Participation in the training can only be voluntary. If we transfer this thesis to work in an educational institution, then there cannot be SPT, which is part of the educational activities of adolescents or is a mandatory methodological activity for a teacher. The schedule may include a lesson in psychology using elements of a role-playing game and practicing skills. A teacher may be forced by the administration to attend a seminar on psychology (say, on the topic “Effective Communication”). But a person cannot be forced to communicate with other people, give feedback, or develop certain skills and abilities. It's ethically impossible, it's ineffective, and ultimately it could be dangerous to his mental health.
But even people who respond to a psychologist’s invitation to take part in the training must receive all the necessary information in advance in order to make an informed decision. It is good to have a preliminary conversation with each person, talking about the meaning and forms of training work, about the need to take an active position, open up your inner world, experiences, thoughts to other participants, change, appropriating new experiences. Does a person need this? Is he ready for this?
A situation that is not so uncommon deserves a separate discussion, when the decision to conduct training in a team is made by the manager, and ordinary employees are invited forcibly. It is necessary to immediately inform the leader (even before starting work) and all participants (already during the acquaintance) that they can leave the group at any time. However, encourage them to hold off on making a decision and at least be fully involved in the work on the first day. The leader's attitude may not work if subordinates know their leader well and anticipate possible sanctions that will follow their departure.
Participants have very little choice during on-site trainings. In this case, the group’s work should be structured in a special way: with a very long warm-up, a long period of positive reinforcement, and a predominance of mutual support techniques. Discussions must be structured very carefully so that people who are not ready for serious work feel protected.
Forcing teenagers to participate in training (not to be confused with a correctional, psychotherapeutic group!) is strictly prohibited.
Your plan
At V.M. Rozin in the book “Psychology: Theory and Practice” has such a nice and non-trivial classification of psychological methods, according to which they are divided into methods of study, life discovery and life planning.
Behind life-conceiving methods there is always a certain model of human personality, relationships and self-attitude, which is transmitted by the psychologist to the client and transforms the latter’s inner world. From a global perspective, such methods include, for example, psychoanalysis and humanistic psychology (naturally, their models of relationships and personality are radically different). These include socio-psychological training (SPT).
Why does the trainer choose these particular topics to practice and use these particular exercises? Of course, in some cases, simply because he has only one manual with two dozen exercises. But if a coach implements a professional, competent approach, then there is a life-conceiving concept behind everything he does. He conveys to the training participants a view of human relationships that is close to him, and forms in them a certain approach to their construction and evaluation.
Important Steps
Now we will look at the structure of communication training, built on a humanistic view of human relationships. This training envisions a world based on the ability to have open, trusting contact, to respect one’s own and others’ points of view, and to resist various forms of manipulation. It would be possible to talk at length on these topics, but it seems that an inquisitive reader will already understand the value basis of the proposed SPT scheme and relate it to his own moods and ideas.
First step- awareness of the idea of human relations that the coach wants to implement in his work.
Second step- selection of the general logic of the training process. The proposed scheme is based on the following idea of the phases of communication: establishing contact, meaningful exchange (information, feelings, meanings), ending contact. The work of the SPT group is structured in accordance with them.
Third step- selection of topics for practice. There are quite a lot of them, but they are all well known to psychologists. Let's list them.
1. Establishing contact with a partner at the verbal and non-verbal level, exit
from contact.
2. Mutual support and feedback.
3. Expression and understanding of feelings in the process of communication.
4. Interpersonal positions in communication.
5. Normative and value development of the group (group dynamics).
6. Active listening and I-message.
7. Joint decision-making, negotiations and conflicts.
8. Persuasive behavior, skills to argue your position.
Let's correlate those topics that we think are mandatory for working on during the training with the phases of contact. Thus, we will determine the place of each topic during the training process (see table).
How much and how often
The optimal amount of SPT in academic hours is from 24 to 40. The optimal length of the working day is from 8 to 10 academic hours (6 hours in the most extreme case). It is clear that this can only be realized on the condition that classes are held on specially designated days, with nothing else occupied for the participants - vacations, weekends free from other work.
To be honest, in my opinion, it’s only on days like these that it’s worth conducting training sessions. All these combinations with lessons and work matters are completely ineffective. Moreover, a lesson that lasts less than 4 hours is not seriously related to training at all. So, “passed nearby”, illustration. Active learning involves immersion in the training reality, living a full-fledged experience, into which you will not go away just like that, in a few minutes, and from which you will not jump out for a second to make a call or assign homework.
The above does not mean that it is impossible to conduct small practical seminars, classes with elements of group work, short games, and exercises. Of course you can. But this is not SPT and does not have its training capabilities and reserves.
Another question: how often does the group meet? If the classes are short (4–5 hours), then preferably every day or several times a week. If the classes are long, 10 hours long, you can meet once a week, although it is advisable to have the first two classes back to back. The fact is that if a trainer lets a group go for a week, he is obliged to “close” his participants, let them go with a general positive feeling, so that they can work and live normally, remembering the training only at will, and not because of a pressing, unresolved issue. there are problems there. And this is not always good. Working two days in a row, the coach has the opportunity to disband the group in the evening in an unfinished state. It's unlikely to be a good night for everyone involved, but it can be extremely beneficial for growth, group and personal.
But let's get back to the topics. We see that there are “disposable” topics that seem to be “spread” throughout the entire training process. The approach to working them out is completely different.
Topics that occur once are worked out as a complete, complete “piece” according to a specific scenario.
Topics of the second type (feedback, support, mutual understanding) pass through all phases of contact, gradually changing and becoming more complex. Their development significantly depends on the needs of the group and the level of maturity of the participants.
There is another special topic - the development of a training group, support and formation of group dynamics. In communication training, this task is not highlighted as special, since work on group dynamics is not always compatible with the development of communication skills. In SPT groups, the coach manages the dynamics of group development and stimulates those processes that contribute to the development of effective communication skills (for example, norm formation). In some cases, the leader regulates and controls those dynamic processes that lead the group away from the main goal. We will definitely devote a separate conversation to this complex problem.
Theme script
How to work on topics that are clearly related to a certain phase of communication (these include the fourth, sixth and eighth topics)? For this, the scenario proposed below can be used, which allows participants to perceive the topic as something holistic and emotionally complete.
1. Warm-up (best of all - thematic).
2. Diagnosis of the problem during an exercise or small game.
3. Theoretical “piece”: introduction of concepts, rules, technologies.
4. Skill development in a series of exercises.
5. Generalization of acquired skills in a “big” role-playing game.
6. Reflection (exchange of feelings, analysis of what happened, answers to questions from the presenter).
7. Interpersonal support, feedback.
Let's see how this scheme works using the example of such a narrow topic as “Positions “above”, “below” and “equal” in communication.”
Warm-up
An exercise of the “carousel” type, during which participants in pairs act out small scenes with given roles: ticket inspector - “hare”, seller - buyer, etc. Exchange of feelings in couples and in a general circle. Discussion of roles you liked and disliked.
Diagnostic exercise
The participants (playing the role of the boss) take turns persuading their employees to go out on a day off for cleanup. Any methods of influence are permitted. Brief discussion.
Theory
The concepts of three types of extensions are introduced; The verbal and non-verbal repertoire of performance of each of them, the possibilities and limitations of their use are discussed.
Working off
An exercise in threes, aimed at each participant living in all three positions. Discussion of feelings in threes, general analysis. The duration of the discussion in this exercise is maximum. Passive participants are necessarily stimulated by questions.
Generalization game “Hotel Administrator”
Some of the participants play the administrator of a hotel that has no rooms, the rest are trying to get a bed in it, using one of three annexes. Discussion of the results.
General analysis
Stimulating the processes of feedback and self-analysis. Exchange of feelings. Finally, there is a group cohesion exercise that resolves tensions and disagreements that arose during the work on skills, such as “Living Hands.”
Such work undoubtedly requires a lot of time, but due to its integrity and completeness it is very effective. She disciplines the participants well, helps them focus on living a certain experience and mastering specific skills.
Psycho-gymnastics in SPT
In the “living body” of SPT, in addition to specific topics and work on group dynamics, there is one more element - psycho-gymnastic exercises. In communication trainings, in most cases they play a subordinate role and are used as a warm-up during the transition from one topic to another to maintain a group atmosphere.
Psycho-gymnastics is usually used most actively in warm-up. However, we repeat, the TSP does not place emphasis on it. At the same time, one must take a responsible approach to the choice of psycho-gymnastic exercises, since many of them are extremely energy-intensive or, conversely, release a huge amount of group energy, which then may not allow the group to switch to practicing skills. We will also talk about this topic separately.
Conclusion
Psychological training is exercises, an atmosphere, a special state of mind for each participant. But first of all, training is a certain concept of human relations. A concept personally perceived and technologically implemented by the presenter.
With proper organization and training, even a small number of professionals can make our society healthier and better. Let's raise professionals.
Bibliography
1. Bityanova M.A. Magazine “First of September” No. 13, 14, 17 2000
2. V.M. Rozin “Psychology: theory and practice” M. 1998
3. Emelyanov Yu.N. “Active social and psychological training” L. 1985
4. Handbook of psychology and psychotherapy, St. Petersburg. 2000
5. Makshanov S.I. “Psychology of turning” St.-Pb. 1997
In order to provide themselves with competent, qualified employees, many enterprises use training for staff. Modern conditions dictate the rules of fierce competition in the personnel market. Therefore, training and development of personnel, improving their qualifications are very important issues.
What is employee training and what is its main function? Training (from the English train, which means “to educate, develop, teach”) is a short-term form of active learning, during which the development of knowledge, skills, social attitudes and psychological techniques occurs, as well as the application and strengthening of acquired knowledge.
Corporate training, or personnel training, is used to develop employee skills, strengthen management interaction, and it increases the efficiency of an organization or enterprise.
In order to achieve the desired result, a set of trainings is used. Despite the fact that this is a rather intensive and complex process that affects all aspects of doing business, this method fully justifies all the time and financial costs associated with it. It has been proven that as a result of successful personnel training in this form, the performance indicators of the enterprise’s employees in their industries increased significantly.
Types of staff training
For the professional growth of their subordinates, business leaders use several types of training:
- Trainings that are designed to develop and improve the level of professional skills of employees. They improve negotiation skills and optimize sales techniques.
- Management training helps develop leadership abilities, the ability to build a team, and rally the team around one common goal.
- Trainings for successful teamwork are aimed at developing communication skills, the ability to communicate effectively in a group, and finding alternative solutions to problems and conflicts in the work team.
- Time management training, which teaches you how to properly plan your time, so that work tasks are completed more productively and on time.
- Psychological training for staff is aimed at increasing the self-esteem of group members, helping people gain self-confidence, overcome their fears and complexes, and eliminate anxiety. By making important changes in the minds of participants, such trainings also contribute to their personal and professional growth.
Where to start training staff?
The effectiveness of the training, the effective implementation of all tasks assigned to it, depends on clear planning, a competent choice of goals for which the training will be focused, determined by the needs of the company.
To plan training, it is necessary to take into account all levels of the work team that will take part in the training, and agree in advance on the training time, form and topic with the training members and their immediate supervisors. The correct choice of the trainer himself is also important.
Research shows that a large share of the success of the training depends on drawing up a competent plan: 80% of excellent results are responsible for the correct choice of the form of training, the personality of the trainer, who will help create the necessary motivation for success. The moment of creating motivation and focus on the result of training is very important. After all, if employees treat the training as a punishment or another vacation, the work done will not bring the necessary effect and will not allow them to achieve their goals.
When choosing a trainer, it is important to pay attention to the following factors:
- the trainer needs self-presentation and “body language” skills;
- the trainer must be able to establish trusting relationships in the group in order to be heard by the audience;
- it is important to easily and deftly manage the training process (a high level of ability to conduct a discussion, monitor the dynamics of collective thought processes, quickly respond to any changes in group activity);
- be able to use and combine forms of training, combining them in such a way as to achieve the greatest training effectiveness;
- the trainer must encourage the enthusiasm of the participants and make them want to actively apply their knowledge.
Various techniques are used during staff training:
- The case method is the identification of a specific problem situation and subsequent finding of optimal ways to solve it.
- Business game - the coach models possible situations for which it is necessary to find several suitable options for the possible development of events.
- Role-playing game - participants take on different roles and play out certain situations that may arise in the work process.
- Group discussion, or consultation, group discussion of problems, tasks, questions in order to find the right solution together.
- Brainstorming - stimulating the development of creativity among group members.
In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the training, you can conduct staff surveys, surveys of participants, in which the impressions of all members, introspection and self-analysis are important.
Control exercises are also used to determine the level of mastery of the necessary skills and knowledge. It is possible to evaluate how effectively staff training was carried out by observing direct management “in the field,” that is, monitoring the employee’s performance of his or her job duties.
Conducting training for staff is a profitable investment, because the high level of qualifications of employees, their brilliant professional knowledge and skills are one of the main components of the successful activities of the entire organization.
Training programs: a guide for professionals
Edited by V. A. Chiker
The book presents 18 training programs on different topics and for different audiences; The author's concept of each of the trainings and the general structure of their construction are outlined.
The book is intended for professionals who are already conducting training, but, nevertheless, feel the need to turn to the experience of their colleagues, rethink what is already known in the field of training, as well as search for ideas for building their own modified proprietary programs. Therefore, all training programs are conceptual in nature.
FROM THE SCIENTIFIC EDITOR……………………………………………………………………………………… 5
CHAPTER 1. SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAINING FOR LEADERS……… 9
CHAPTER 2. CONFLICT RESOLUTION TRAINING…………………………………………………………… 17
CHAPTER 3. TRAINING OF MANAGEMENT SKILLS…………………………………………… 30
CHAPTER 4. ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TRAINING……………………………………………………46
CHAPTER 5. TEAM BUILDING TRAINING…………………………………………………………………… 55
CHAPTER 6. LEADERSHIP TRAINING……………………………………………………………………………………… 71
CHAPTER 7. TRAINING FOR EFFECTIVE SELF-PRESENTATION……………………………………………………81
CHAPTER 8. SALES TRAINING……………………………………………………………………………………… 103
CHAPTER 9. AGGRESSION MANAGEMENT TRAINING……………………………………………………………… 113
CHAPTER 10. PUBLIC SPEAKING TRAINING…………………………………………………………… 121
CHAPTER 11. TRAINING INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION……………………………………………………144
CHAPTER 12. TRAINING INTERCULTURAL UNDERSTANDING………………………… 155
CHAPTER 13. COGNITIVE-ORIENTED TOLERANCE TRAINING………… 176
CHAPTER 14. TRAINING TO EXPAND THE TEENAGER’S ROLE REPERTOIRE…………… 193
CHAPTER 15. TRAINING FOR EFFECTIVE INTERACTION BETWEEN CHILDREN AND PARENTS… 211
CHAPTER 16. TRAINING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOL COMMUNITY……… 230
CHAPTER 17. ADAPTATION TRAINING FOR FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS……… 249
CHAPTER 18. DANCE TRAINING - LEARNING THROUGH FUN: LANGUAGE
GESTURES IN DANCE………………………………………………………………………………… 257
APPLICATIONS…………………………………………………………………………………………………………274
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 2……………………………………………………………………………………… 274
Constructive and non-constructive means in negotiations (according to R. Fischer and W. Urey)…… 274
Questions for group discussion at conflict resolution training……………………… 276
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 3………………………………………………………………………………………… 277
Questionnaire by K. Wilson………………………………………………………………………………… 277
Motivation and spiritual mood of the team……………………………………………………… 281
APPENDIX TO CHAPTERS 4-6……………………………………………………………………………………… 283
Basic team roles according to the classification of R. M. Belbin……………………………………………………… 283
Questionnaire by R. M. Belbin to determine team roles………………………………………… 284
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 5……………………………………………………………………………………… 288
Comparative analysis of drawings made by participants at the beginning and end of the training
team building …………………………………………………………………………………288
Questionnaire for assessing the main parameters of teamwork……………………………………………………… 289
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 6……………………………………………………………………………………… 291
Game “Exchange Fair”………………………………………………………………………………… 291
Technology of refusal of a request……………………………………………………………………………………………… 292
Types of manipulations and methods of protection against them………………………………………………………… 292
Functions and research tasks of each “hat”…………………………………………………………………… 294
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 7………………………………………………………………………………296
Self-monitoring test………………………………………………………………………………… 296
Scale for measuring self-presentation tactics (S. Lee, B. Quigley, etc.)………………………………… 299
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 8……………………………………………………………………………… 299
Product characteristics………………………………………………………………………………… 302
Technique “Property - benefit”……………………………………………………………………………………… 302
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 10………………………………………………………………………………303
Methodology “Criteria for assessing the informativeness of speech”…………………………………………………………………… 303
Methodology “Criteria for assessing persuasive speech”……………………………………………………… 304
Methodology “Self-analysis of speech”……………………………………………………………………………………… 305
Scale “Public Speaking Ability”……………………………………………………… 306
Questionnaire for assessing the content of intercultural communications training (author’s development
S. 3. Gurieva)………………………………………………………………………………………… 308
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 11………………………………………………………………………………… 308
Map of “Cultural Associations”………………………………………………………………………………………308 APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 12…………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………309 Test of cultural and value orientations……………………………………………………………… ……309
Methodology “Individualism - Collectivism Indicators” (IIC)………………………………………………………313 Test “Masculinity-Femininity” (BSRI)………………………………………………………… ………………………… 318
Methodology “Intolerance - Tolerance” (INTOL)……………………………………………………………… 320
Scale “Tolerance of ambiguity”………………………………………………………………………………322
Methodology “Tolerance of Uncertainty”………………………………………………………………………………325
Methodology “Culture of Business Communication” ………………………………………………………………………………… 332
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 13………………………………………………………………………………… 338
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 14………………………………………………………………………………… 338
Typical situations and roles identified by teenagers……………………………………………………338
Form for the participant’s work in the exercise “A film about my life”…………………………………… 340 APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 15…………………………………………………………………… …………………………… 340
Family relationship test. Modified version…………………………………………………………… 340 Sample list of what children should do to care for themselves and loved ones……………… 344
Children learn what they see in their lives……………………………………………………………… 345 Feedback questionnaire (author’s development by T.N. Chiker and T.V. Sklyarova)……………………… 346
Steps for win-win resolution of conflicts (according to T. Gordon)………………………………………… 346
Biographical Questionnaire (BiV)……………………………………………………………………………………………… 347
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 16……………………………………………………………………………… 347
FROM THE SCIENTIFIC EDITOR
The book is intended for professionals who are already conducting trainings, but, nevertheless, feel the need to turn to the experience of their colleagues and rethink what is already known in the field of training, as well as to search for ideas for building their own modified proprietary programs. Therefore, all training programs are conceptual in nature.
We did not set out to present detailed step-by-step training procedures with micro-design and a thorough presentation of discussions, games, exercises and psycho-gymnastics, since an experienced trainer will always understand what exactly the program he proposes and implements should be filled with. Issues regarding the actual implementation of the program can always be easily resolved based on its idea and concept, as well as an understanding of how the goals and objectives set in the training are technically implemented. Each program is built on the basis of a theoretical basis and a general methodological strategy that are close to the author as a specialist in the field of activity that he represents.
Most of the presented training programs are aimed at developing skills and gaining knowledge in the field of social interaction in various spheres of life - from interpersonal and professional, which is carried out in the family, in groups, in teams, in organizations and ending with intercultural. The last aspect is especially relevant and important for modern society and many organizations that are going through the path of mutual adaptation of different cultures in business. Most programs reflect a behavioral approach to training, where psychological analysis concerns primarily behavioral skills rather than deep personal characteristics. The exception is training focused on overcoming intrapersonal, interpersonal and social causes and consequences of aggression.
The materials in the book do not exhaust all the developments of the staff of the Faculty of Psychology of St. Petersburg State University (for example, the book does not contain such a well-known basic program for training communicative competence, which, in our opinion, being the basis for behavioral training, is very well known and is repeatedly presented in the psychological literature ). However, in our opinion, the content of the book fully reflects the enormous and profound contribution of the Department of Social Psychology of St. Petersburg State University to the development of applied research in the field of group and individual psychological work, as well as effective interaction with management and staff of a wide variety of organizations.
With all my heart I thank each and every author of the book - my friends and colleagues - for responding to the call for its creation and for the patience associated with the rather long time of its editing. I hope that our common work will bring real benefits and give pleasure from work not only to the creators of the book, but also to its readers.
The scientific editor of the book is Vera Aleksandrovna Chiker, Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Social Psychology at St. Petersburg State University
Chiker Vera Alexandrovna- Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Social Psychology at St. Petersburg State University (scientific edition, introduction, chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 19).
Kapustina Alexandra Nikolaevna- Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Social Psychology at St. Petersburg State University (Chapter 1).
Zakharova Alexandra Mikhailovna- Candidate of Philological Sciences, business coach (Chapter 5).
Vodopyanova Natalia Evgenievna- Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Psychological Support of Professional Activities at St. Petersburg State University (Chapter 6).
Pikuleva Oksana Anatolyevna- Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Economics and Management of the Intersectoral Institute for Advanced Training of Management Personnel at the St. Petersburg State University of Engineering and Economics (Chapter 7).
Gavrilko Tatyana Nikolaevna- Candidate of Psychological Sciences, business coach (Chapter 8).
Kurbatova Tatyana Nikolaevna - Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Behavior at St. Petersburg State University (Chapter 9).
Pochebut Lyudmila Georgievna- Doctor of Psychology, Professor of the Department of Social Psychology at St. Petersburg State University (chapters 10,12).
Gurieva Svetlana Dzakhotovna - Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Social Psychology at St. Petersburg State University (Chapter 11).
Bardier Galina Leonidovna- Candidate of Psychological Sciences, psychologist at the Humanitarian Political Science Center “Strategy” of St. Petersburg State University (Chapter 13).
Yanicheva Tatyana Gelievna- Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Social Psychology at St. Petersburg State University (Chapter 14).
Bereznikov Andrey Alexandrovich - Deputy Director of the Non-Governmental Educational Institution "Architecture of the Future" (Chapter 14).
Chiker Tatyana Nikolaevna- educational psychologist of the highest category at the Center for Psychological, Medical and Social Support of the Frunzensky District of St. Petersburg (Chapter 15).
Sklyarova Tatyana Vasilievna - educational psychologist of the highest category at the Center for Psychological, Medical and Social Support of the Frunzensky District of St. Petersburg (Chapter 15).
Gorshechnikova Tatyana Borisovna - psychologist of the Center for Psychological, Medical and Social Support, senior lecturer at the Department of Social and Humanitarian Disciplines of the Stary Oskol Branch of Voronezh State University (Chapter 16).
Safonova Marina Vadimovna - Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Pedagogy and Psychology of Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University (Chapter 17).
Pilipchevskaya Natalya Viktorovna- Senior Lecturer at the Department of Pedagogy and Psychology, Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University (Chapter 17).
Mostitskaya Tatyana Albertovna- Candidate of Psychological Sciences, specialist in dance movement therapy and physical therapy, Kislovodsk (Chapter 18).
Chapter 1
SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAINING FOR LEADERS
The concept of “effective leader” (manager) corresponds, as noted by R.L. Krichevsky, to the understanding that a leader is considered effective if the organization he heads has high scores on psychological and non-psychological criteria of organizational effectiveness (4). Without considering the indicators of non-psychological effectiveness of the organization’s activities, we will touch upon the problem of psychological, or rather, personal characteristics of the leader, which ensure the effectiveness of his management activities.
These features are incredibly diverse. M. Shaw's classification involves considering the leader's personality according to three main personal “blocks”: biographical characteristics, abilities, personality traits (4). Biographical characteristics relate primarily to categories such as age, gender, education. L. Iacocca notes that age is largely an experience, that is, not only a natural, but also, to a large extent, a socio-psychological characteristic of a person (9). However, not only mature age, and therefore experience, allows a person to count on a high position in the organizational structure. There are many examples of superbly performing very young managers. It should be noted that the relationship between age and management effectiveness depends on such characteristics as personality maturity. A. Maslow notes that personality maturity can be formed in two age periods: from 19 to 35 years and from 35 to 60 years.
Another biographical characteristic of a leader’s personality—gender—is especially susceptible to the strong influence of social factors. Recent studies of gender behavior, many facts of entrepreneurial and political human activity show the ever-increasing role of a woman manager in effective leadership (2). And yet, according to official statistics, the percentage of women managers compared to the representation of men in high positions is low. In general, we can say that the issue of gender differences in the context of the problem of effective leadership is based primarily on gender role stereotypes, which are gradually being destroyed under the influence of social realities.
Education, unlike previous biographical characteristics, it does not require special analysis, since professional knowledge is an extremely important component of management activity. The need for managers to have a variety of knowledge not only in the field of management and business, not only knowledge of foreign languages, but also psychological skills, knowledge in the field of culture and art is noted. That is, it is necessary to be a widely educated person and have a high level of culture (1-9).
Along with biographical parameters, the personal characteristics of the leader are necessarily considered, namely abilities. Among them are, first of all, intelligence, as the totality of all human cognitive functions (1). Most empirical studies show a stable relationship between the effectiveness of leadership and the level of intelligence, including, in the terminology of B. M. Teplov, and its practical component.
The manifestation of a person’s other abilities is associated with his managerial activities, managerial functions and, first of all, with personality traits and individual characteristics, that is, with personality structure. In the structure of a leader’s personality, socio-psychological qualities are particularly highlighted: a pronounced inclination to leadership, sociability, independence and self-reliance, self-confidence and self-confidence, responsibility, flexibility and plasticity both in communication and in decision-making, enterprise, propensity to take reasonable risks. , emotional balance, stress resistance, creativity.
The identification and formation of these socio-psychological qualities can be greatly facilitated by socio-psychological training, the concept of which we propose.
Of course, these qualities are formed, first of all, in the direct activities of the manager, as well as in the targeted teaching and assimilation of special management skills and knowledge. So, the basis of modern effective management is the personality of the manager, its psychological components in combination with management knowledge and skills, as well as the performance of managerial functions determined by the organizational specifics of the enterprise.
The practical implementation of the above provisions is the socio-psychological training program we have developed for managers, which includes several modules that allow the group leader to rebuild the basic concept of the communication training program in accordance with the objectives of each specific organization and group.
The main goal of the training is development of managerial skills of a manager in accordance with his personal and psychological characteristics. The main content of the training is making management decisions in situations of business interaction. As E.V. Sidorenko notes, “the work of modern business leaders is mainly communication (60-90%), direct and indirect, and communication that includes both business discussions and non-business conversations...” (6 , p. 57). At the same time, Sidorenko emphasizes that the boundaries between business, social-role and non-business interpersonal communication are blurring. In this regard, the objectives of the training also include the task of increasing the communicative competence of the manager. We consider the formation of a positive (congruent) attitude towards oneself and acceptance of oneself and one’s activities to be a particularly important task of the training, which presupposes a certain knowledge, including about oneself.
The presented program includes traditional training procedures: role-playing games, discussions, brainstorming techniques used within the framework of group problem solving methods, and psycho-gymnastics. It is possible to introduce personality tests into the training program (to assess personality structure, propensity to perform certain individual group and team roles).
THE FIRST DAY
Target. Introduction to the basic concepts associated with communicative competence.
The main thing that needs to be achieved by the end of the first day is to bring the group into a state of efficiency, create an emotionally positive environment, and an atmosphere of trust between group members. Therefore, the training begins with the traditional introduction of group participants, as well as with an introduction to the basic concepts of communication: the criteria for an effective conversation and its main stages. Using the example of a group discussion, participants are shown the main mistakes of communication and interaction; They are trained to analyze the positive and negative aspects of behavior exhibited by both themselves and other group members. Based on this, the sequence of using the phases of a partner conversation is further developed, which is facilitated by role-playing games to come into contact with another person (other people) in various business situations. Such a group analysis of the success and failure of establishing contact between game participants allows, during analysis, to focus on the uniqueness and at the same time typicality of situations, as well as on the manifestation of the individual characteristics of communication partners in social-role interaction (for example, boss-subordinate, interaction of colleagues, business and informal situations interactions, etc.).
The day ends with the training participants assessing their satisfaction with the content of the work and the expression of feelings. Usually at the end of the day, the impulsive behavior of the participants is transferred to an objectified level - the level of learning motivation. During the day, psycho-gymnastic exercises are carried out, the purpose of which is to create a favorable atmosphere in the group. If necessary, in the afternoon it is possible to conduct personality testing techniques (for example, R. Cattell, T. Leary, etc.).
SECOND DAY
Target. Introduction of indicative principles of behavior in business partner conversation.
The games and exercises of this day are aimed at developing attitudes towards the personality and motivation of the interlocutor, familiarization with active listening techniques and their development. To do this, a role-playing game is carried out, based on a significant management situation. During the discussion, it is necessary to dwell on the mistakes made in interaction with other people and show possible solutions to problems. At the same time, active listening techniques and their capabilities are discussed with the group.
Next comes the development of active listening techniques using “dry” and “semi-dry” exercises (written, in pairs or trios) aimed at making decisions. For example, developing three professional qualities necessary for a successful manager.
The next stage of the second day involves a role-playing game with elements of discussion and brainstorming. The group is divided into two subgroups, each of which develops its own methods of making management decisions. Subgroups identify their representatives who argue the decision. A general group discussion of the game is aimed at comparing the quality of the decisions made and, most importantly, the methods for making them.
In connection with the peculiarities of the leader’s activities, a role-playing game “One against all” is carried out. The strongest member of the group is selected, who convinces the team of the legitimacy of making a decision that is unpopular for the team. While the “leader” is considering the arguments, the group is given the attitude to oppose and resist the proposed solution. When discussing this game, the greatest attention is paid to establishing contact with the audience, convincing arguments and the possibility of various options for resolving the current conflict situation. In addition to the ability to justify one’s decisions, this game examines the variability of choosing a particular decision, as well as the features of a leader’s self-presentation. After this rather intense game, it is necessary to conduct a psycho-gymnastic non-verbal exercise to relieve emotional stress.
In the process of discussing the results of the day, group participants should pay attention to identifying their own professional and personal difficulties.
DAY THREE
Target. Development of special management skills.
During the day, role-playing games are held in which administrative, leadership and management skills are demonstrated.
Quite indicative are games that go from the opposite, for example, “How to create an organization so that it is susceptible to self-destruction?” The group is divided into three subgroups, and each of them presents its own options for ineffective development of the organization. At the same time, business and emotional leaders are identified in each subgroup, goals are developed, and solutions to problems are planned. Identification of several subgroups allows us to show the possibilities of variability in decision making.
Another game of the day focuses on "whole action." Such a game can be based on a real problem, represent an abstract or even paradoxical situation, the main thing is that it contains extraordinary and conflicting content. In this game, participants are also divided into subgroups. The main goal of the game is to develop the skills of strategic planning, thinking and transferring instructions (delegation of authority), conducting negotiations, monitoring the implementation of assigned tasks and the interaction of organizational structures. The result of this game should be an optimal solution to the problem or awareness of possible options for finding this solution.
Analysis and discussion of the games of this day takes place in the form of discussions and gives group members the opportunity to understand the level of development of their own managerial skills and leadership qualities. At the end of the day, if testing was carried out, it is possible to familiarize participants with its results. Before finishing work and summing up the results of the day, it is advisable to conduct an exercise aimed at emotional memory and self-esteem.
DAY FOUR
Target. Consolidating acquired knowledge (active listening techniques during a business conversation), managerial skills, as well as practicing techniques for regulating emotional stress and argumentation techniques. Both last groups of techniques can be practiced after familiarization with them and discussion of them in role-play. At the same time, active listening techniques are reinforced. In this sense, exemplary role-playing games can be games with an ulterior motive. At the same time, it is desirable that this be a series of games - at least three - in which various situations of business and interpersonal interaction are played out. Particular attention of the group participants is drawn to the fact that the main character of the game must understand the hidden motive of the partner or partners, relieve emotional stress and find the optimal management solution that suits both parties in a pre-conflict or conflict situation. When discussing and analyzing games, attention is paid to the use of acquired skills.
On the same day, argumentation techniques are practiced, taking into account the personal characteristics of the participants. Self-presentation and impression management exercises are conducted, which are designed with a focus on the target person and the audience as a whole.
At the end of the day, a role-playing game is carried out, the main task of which is to model the structure of the organization with the distribution of job functions.
Completion training is a feedback procedure from the group to each participant regarding his personal and professional qualities. In addition, each participant expresses his impressions of the training as a whole and what new things he learned about himself as an individual and professional.
As a result of the training sessions, each participant receives an adequate understanding of himself; improves basic management skills, demonstrates leadership qualities, flexibility and creativity in making management decisions. The proposed training concept is aimed at the development and formation of psychological parameters that contribute to effective leadership. As part of this training, in addition to role-playing games, it is possible to use business games, although it is more advisable to use them at the next stage of training to consolidate and develop basic psychological management skills. In addition, the result of the training is the creation of a team of partners and like-minded people, which contributes to positive business relationships in the organization.
LITERATURE
1. Ananyev B. G. Man as an object of knowledge. L.: Leningrad State University Publishing House, 1965.
2. Zavyalova E. K., Posokhova S. T. Psychology of entrepreneurship. St. Petersburg: Sova, 2004.
3. Kapustina A. N. On the issue of studying the personal characteristics of a leader // Materials of the All-Union Conference on Management Problems. M., 1980.
4. Krichevsky R. L. If you are a manager... M.: Delo, 1996.
5. MaslowA. Motivation and personality. St. Petersburg: Peter, 1999.
6. Sidorenko E. V. Training of communicative competence in business interaction. St. Petersburg: Rech, 2002.
7. Tarasov V.K. Personnel-technology: selection and selection of managers. L.: Mechanical Engineering, 1989.
8. Chiker V. A. Psychological diagnostics of organizations and personnel. St. Petersburg: Rech, 2003.
9. Iacocca L. Managers' careers. M.: Aspect-Press, 1990.
Chapter 2
TRAINING
CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Any organizational changes, contradictory situations, business and personal relationships between people often give rise to conflict situations, which are subjectively accompanied by serious psychological experiences.
From an ordinary point of view, conflict is associated with aggression, deep emotions, disputes, threats, hostility, etc. There is an opinion that conflict is always an undesirable phenomenon and should be avoided if possible and, if it arises, resolved immediately. However, modern psychology allows us to consider conflict as a way of developing an organization, group and individual, highlighting in the inconsistency of conflict situations the positive aspects associated with the development and subjective understanding of life situations (8). That is why, understanding the inevitability of conflicts, the need to regulate them, their driving force, and also the fact that they are easier to prevent than to “treat”, many organizations place orders for conflict resolution training. This training program is one of the most popular, and its construction is based on the theoretical foundations outlined below.
The word “conflict” comes from the Latin conflictus, which means “clash.” In this understanding, this word is used in psychology in a close, but not identical sense.
The use of the term “conflict” is found in the development of problems in personality psychology, in general, medical, social and organizational psychology, psychotherapy, pedagogy and political science. Conflict can be viewed as a state of shock, disorganization in relation to previous development and, accordingly, as a generator of new structures. In this definition, M.A. Robert and F. Tilman point to the modern understanding of conflict as a positive phenomenon. According to J. Von Neumann and O. Morgenstein, conflict is the interaction of two objects that have incompatible goals and ways of achieving these goals. Such objects can be considered people, individual groups, armies, monopolies, classes, social institutions, etc., whose activities are in one way or another connected with setting and solving problems of organization and management, with forecasting and decision-making, as well as with planning targeted actions (4).
K. Levin characterizes conflict as a situation in which an individual is simultaneously acted upon by oppositely directed forces of approximately equal magnitude (5). Along with the “force” lines of the situation, the personality itself plays an active role in resolving conflicts, understanding and seeing them. Therefore, Lewin's works examine both intrapersonal and interpersonal conflicts.
From the point of view of role theory, conflict is understood as a situation of incompatible expectations (demands) to which a person playing a particular role in the social and interpersonal structure is exposed. Typically, such conflicts are divided into inter-role, intra-role and personal-role.
According to L. Coser's theory of social conflict, conflict is a struggle over values and claims due to a lack of status, power and means, in which the goals of opponents are neutralized, infringed or eliminated by their rivals. The author also focuses on the positive function of conflicts - maintaining the dynamic balance of the social system. In his opinion, if a conflict is related to goals, values or interests that do not affect the basic existence of groups, then it is positive. If the conflict is associated with the most important values of the group, then it is undesirable, since it undermines the foundations of the group and carries a tendency towards its destruction (4).
In essence, conflict is most often seen as competition in the satisfaction of interests. What situation can be called a conflict? This question is answered by the so-called Thomas theorem: if situations are defined as real, then they are real in their consequences, that is, a conflict becomes reality when it is experienced as a conflict by at least one of the parties. In domestic social psychology, social, interpersonal and intergroup conflicts are considered and most often adhere to the following definition of conflict: conflict is a collision of oppositely directed, incompatible tendencies in the consciousness of an individual, in interpersonal interactions or interpersonal relations of individuals or groups of people, associated with acute negative emotional experiences (2, 4, 8).
There are various classifications of conflicts in the literature. The reasons for them may be their source, content, significance, type of resolution, form of expression, type of relationship structure, social formalization, socio-psychological effect, social result. Conflicts can be hidden and obvious, intense and erased, short-term and protracted, vertical and horizontal, etc. (8).
Some of the classifications of conflicts presented below can serve as basic material for conflict resolution training when working to transfer the emotional content of a conflict situation to an objectified level.
By focus Conflicts are divided into “horizontal” and “vertical”; in addition, “mixed” ones are also distinguished. Horizontal conflicts include those conflicts in which persons subordinate to each other are not involved. Vertical conflicts include those in which persons subordinate to one another participate. Mixed conflicts have both vertical and horizontal components. Conflicts that have a vertical component, that is, vertical and mixed, account for approximately 70-80% of all conflicts.
By meaning For groups and organizations, conflicts are divided into constructive (creative, positive) and destructive (destructive, negative). The former bring benefit to the cause, the latter - harm. You can’t leave the first, but you need to get away from the second.
According to W. F. Lincoln, positive the impact of conflict (this must be clearly understood by training participants when forming a positive attitude towards any life events and situations) often manifests itself in the following (4):
Conflict accelerates the process of self-awareness;
Under its influence, a certain set of values is affirmed and confirmed;
· Conflict promotes a sense of community, as others may find that they have similar interests and strive for the same goals and results and support the use of the same means - to such an extent that formal and informal alliances arise;
Conflict leads to the unification of like-minded people;
It promotes détente and pushes other, unimportant conflicts into the background;
Conflict promotes prioritization;
It acts as a safety valve for the safe and even constructive release of emotions;
Thanks to it, attention is drawn to grievances or proposals that need discussion, understanding, recognition, support, legal registration and resolution;
Conflict leads to working contacts with other people and groups;
It encourages the development of systems for just prevention, resolution and management of conflicts.
Negative The impact of conflict often manifests itself in the following ways:
The conflict represents a threat to the stated interests of the parties;
It threatens the social system that provides equality and stability;
Conflict prevents rapid change;
It leads to loss of support;
Conflict makes people and organizations dependent on public statements that cannot be easily and quickly abandoned;
Instead of a carefully considered response, it leads to quick action;
As a result of the conflict, the parties' trust in each other is undermined;
Conflict causes disunity among those who need or even strive for unity;
As a result of conflict, the process of forming alliances and coalitions is undermined;
The conflict tends to deepen and widen;
He changes priorities to such an extent that he jeopardizes other interests.
By nature of the reasons conflicts can be divided into objective and subjective. The first are generated by objective reasons, the second by subjective, personal reasons. An objective conflict is usually resolved constructively; a subjective conflict, on the contrary, is usually resolved destructively.
M. Deutsch classifies conflicts according to the criterion truth-falsity or reality(4):
“genuine” conflict - existing objectively and perceived adequately;
“random or conditional” conflict - depending on easily changeable circumstances, which, however, is not realized by the parties;
“displaced” conflict is an obvious conflict, behind which another, invisible conflict lies at the basis of the obvious one;
"misattributed" conflict - a conflict between parties who misunderstood each other, and, as a result, about misinterpreted problems;
“latent” conflict - a conflict that should have occurred, but which does not, because for one reason or another it is not realized by the parties;
“false” conflict is a conflict that exists only due to errors of perception and understanding in the absence of objective grounds.
Type social formalization conflicts are divided into official and informal (formal and informal). These conflicts, as a rule, are associated with the organizational structure, its features and can be both “horizontal” and “vertical”.
In my own way socio-psychological effect conflicts are divided into two groups:
Developing, affirming, activating each of the conflicting individuals and the group as a whole;
Promoting self-affirmation or development of one of the conflicting individuals or groups as a whole and suppression, limitation of another individual or group of individuals.
By volume of social interaction conflicts are distinguished between intergroup, intragroup, interpersonal and intrapersonal.
Intergroup conflicts presuppose that the parties to the conflict are social groups pursuing incompatible goals and interfering with each other through their practical actions (1). This may be a conflict between representatives of different social categories (for example, in an organization: workers and engineers, line and office staff, trade union and administration, etc.). Social and psychological studies have shown that the “own” group looks better than the “other” in any situation. This is the so-called phenomenon of in-group favoritism, which is expressed in the fact that group members favor their group in one form or another. This, the author believes, is the source of intergroup tension and conflict. The main conclusion that social psychologists draw from these patterns is the following: if we want to eliminate intergroup conflict, then it is necessary to reduce differences between groups (for example, lack of privileges, fair wages, etc.).
Intragroup conflict usually involves self-regulatory mechanisms. If group self-regulation does not work, and the conflict develops slowly, then conflict in the group becomes the norm of relations. If the conflict develops quickly and there is no self-regulation, then destruction occurs. If a conflict situation develops in a destructive manner, then a number of dysfunctional consequences are possible. These may be general dissatisfaction, poor morale, decreased cooperation, strong devotion to one's group with great unproductive competition with other groups. Quite often there is a perception of the other side as an “enemy”, of one’s goals as positive, and of the other side’s goals as negative, interaction and communication between the parties decreases, and more importance is placed on “winning” the conflict than solving the real problem.
A group is more resistant to conflict if it is cooperatively interconnected. The consequences of this cooperation are freedom and openness of communications, mutual support, friendliness and trust towards the other party. Therefore, the likelihood of intergroup conflicts is higher in diffuse, immature, poorly cohesive and value-disparate groups.
Interpersonal conflict is the most frequently occurring conflict. The occurrence of interpersonal conflicts is determined by the situation, the personal characteristics of people, the individual’s attitude to the situation and the psychological characteristics of interpersonal relationships. The emergence and development of interpersonal conflict is largely determined by demographic and individual psychological characteristics. Conflicts related to personal problems are more common for women, and conflicts related to professional activities for men (2).
Psychologically unconstructive behavior in conflict is often explained by the individual personality characteristics of a person. Traits of a “conflict” personality include intolerance to the shortcomings of others, reduced self-criticism, impulsiveness, incontinence in feelings, deep-rooted negative prejudices, prejudiced attitude towards other people, aggressiveness, anxiety, low level of sociability, etc.
Intrapersonal conflict is, as a rule, a conflict of motivation, feelings, needs, interests and behavior in the same person. Of course, the maximum psychological complexity of internal conflicts does not allow them to be worked through in depth in behavioral training, the program of which for conflict regulation is presented below.
Conflict management involves the ability to maintain its value below the level at which it becomes threatening to the organization, groups, relationships. Skillful conflict management can lead to its resolution, that is, to the elimination of the problem that caused the conflict and the restoration of relationships between the parties to the extent necessary to ensure activities. Conflict management can be expressed in resolution, termination, prevention, consensus building, prophylaxis, weakening, suppression, delay, etc.
Interpersonal conflict management is reflected in the well-known scheme of K. Thomas, which describes various strategies of behavior in a conflict situation depending on two main characteristics: the degree of persistence in satisfying one’s own interests and the degree of cooperation in satisfying the interests of others (2). In Thomas's terminology these are avoidance, accommodation, competition, compromise and cooperation.
If we talk about aspects of personal behavior in a conflict situation, then constructive resolution of conflicts depends on at least four factors:
1) adequate perception of conflicts, when there is an accurate, not distorted by personal bias, assessment of the actions, intentions, positions of opponents and one’s own;
2) open and effective communication;
3) creating an atmosphere of mutual trust and cooperation;
4) determining the essence of the conflict.
In conflict resolution, it is of great importance negotiations in order to achieve mutual agreement. By putting forward specific proposals on specific problems, negotiating partners aim to simultaneously satisfy their interests and the interests of other parties. The result of the negotiations is a plan to solve the problem, clarification of the partners’ share of participation in its solution and mutual promises of specific actions. Based on the works of R. Fischer and W. Urey (9), we propose a scheme of constructive and non-constructive means used in negotiations (see appendix).
All of the above is a theoretical basis for building author's (V. A. Chiker) training program"Conflict resolution training."
Main goal of the training- training in adequate ways to effectively resolve conflicts by understanding the content of a conflict situation and optimizing personal behavior. The training program is mainly based on the ideas of behavioral communicative training, but it also includes some elements of working with the personality of group participants, including awareness of individual qualities that interfere with the resolution of conflicting situations and disrupt intrapersonal balance. First of all, this is working with human emotions, which are an invariable companion to conflicts. Therefore, along with the traditional methods of work for behavioral training (discussions and discussions, business games, psycho-gymnastics, post-game and daily reflection of experience), additional work is carried out with the personal problems of group participants, Balint sessions, testing (for example, the Thomas technique, diagnostics of the level of professional burnout, multifactorial personality diagnostics, etc.). The main approaches to the analysis, analysis and interpretation of emerging situations, discussions and role-playing games lie in the plane of analysis adopted in classical socio-psychological trainings. The key role of the facilitator in behavioral training is to help group members transfer impulsive behavior, which is very typical in conflict situations, to the level of objectified, meaningful and constructive.
The training program is a logical continuation of mastering the communication training program, since conflicts are complicated by misunderstanding and emotional experiences of communication between people, groups, and organizations. The conflict resolution training program we have planned is designed for three days of eight-hour work according to the traditional scheme of dividing into “sessions” (intensive work for one and a half to two hours) - logically structured parts related to the development of main topics, after which breaks are taken for rest.
THE FIRST DAY
Target. Defining the content of the concept of “conflict”, its types and types, constructing various classifications of conflicts, awareness of not only the negative consequences of the conflict, but also its positive, developmental components. On this day, the knowledge acquired earlier in the communication training is updated or, if the participants have not previously participated in such training, their foundation is laid.
Any lesson with a group begins with an introductory lecture by the leader, with the identification of goals, objectives and rules of interaction, as well as introduction of group members (or resumption of it, if conflict resolution training is a logical continuation of communicative training, which seems to us to be very effective).
As a question that sets up the main topic of the work, you can ask a question about what helps and hinders each group member in resolving conflict situations. There may also be a question about what associations arise with the word “conflict”; what animal, weather, color is this concept associated with?
Then, to clarify the concept of “conflict” and its classification, it is proposed to work in mini-groups. The generalized opinions obtained during the discussion are put on the flip chart by the presenter and remain in the group for the entire period of its work as methodological support. It is convenient to return to the results of the developed classification when considering specific cases of analysis of conflict situations. In the same way, it is possible to discuss the reasons for the conflict.
The theme is developed by the first role-playing game on the theme “Day of reception of the manager on personal issues,” when “employees” come to the “leader” of the organization regarding personal conflict issues and complaints. When analyzing the game, it is very important to draw the group’s attention to both verbal and non-verbal manifestations of conflict behavior (silence, gaze, posture, facial expressions, tone of speech, sharp objections in conversation, nicknames, oral and written argument and all other features of the manner of address and communication ). In addition, the result of the analysis can be a summing up of the negative and, most importantly, possible positive consequences of each analyzed situation for one and the other side of the interaction. Thus, the training becomes the basis for developing a positive outlook on life situations, the conflict content of which is the basis for personal development.
The next game may be dedicated to mediation in resolving conflict situations. Managers often act as mediators in resolving conflicts, and a situation of this kind can be modeled in training. For example, the plot of a role-playing game could be a situation where two employees refuse to participate in a project together (or spouses do not want to continue living together). The task of the manager (consultant) is to solve this situation by applying the necessary algorithm: listening to one side, repeating this point of view by the other party, then carrying out the same procedure with the point of view of the other party, clarifying the coincidence of points of view with the manager, finding common ground and resolving the conflict. Analyzing the results of the game involves resorting to techniques of establishing contact, active listening and argumentation, which allows all participants to fully understand the point of view of their colleagues.
The results of the day are discussed in a general circle. This procedure allows the training leader to summarize the results of the first day, find out the most important areas for further work and pay attention to the personal experiences of the group participants and their condition.
SECOND DAY
Target. Consideration of the subjective components of the conflict. This implies the separation of subjective and objective causes and components of conflict resolution. The main direction of this analysis is emotions and feelings, which significantly complicate the solution of problem situations. Therefore, a special subject of consideration on this day is the verbalization (pronunciation) of one’s feelings and those of the participants in the interaction. Attention is paid not only to the result - receiving a benefit or achieving a goal, but also to the feelings that accompany this process. It is shown that resolution of conflict situations is possible only by avoiding purely value judgments and replacing them with descriptions of one’s own emotional judgments.
The day begins with the mood for work - with psycho-gymnastic exercises, which, as a rule, are aimed at diagnosing the emotional state of group members and expressing their feelings.
Particular attention is paid to the awareness of psychological plurality and subjectivity of interpretation of almost any situation, when each of the participants sees it only from his own point of view. Work in small groups to interpret the content of the parable is quite suitable for this (N. Pezeshkian’s book “The Merchant and the Parrot” is quite suitable as materials for interpretation) (7). The ambiguity of understanding the described situation and the need to clarify other possible views on it are analyzed.
One of the training exercises can be psycho-gymnastics, the content analysis of which will be the analysis of the first impression of a person, the inaccuracy of which often affects the interaction situation. Group members are asked what impression the partner made during the first contact and why the impression was that way. Attention is drawn to the elements of social stereotyping in the perception of others.
Next, in triplets, personality traits that are subjective prerequisites for conflict are analyzed, and a classification of so-called “conflict personalities” (demonstrative, rigid, uncontrollable, hyper-precise, conflict-free and purposefully conflicting) is built on a flip chart; ways of understanding such people and the ability to find relationships with them are discussed. a common language through establishing contact and verbalizing feelings.
An important point of the second day is the topic of controlling the emotional state in a conflict situation and self-regulation techniques. To do this, it is possible to model, in the form of a role-playing game, the situation of interpersonal interaction in a family conflict, as well as interpersonal claims. It is important to show that from the point of view of personal learning and development, it is “negative” emotions that are the most “positive” and informative factor. Situations in which such emotions arise are situations that a person needs to approach most carefully, as a lesson to be learned and taken into account in the future (1).
On the same day, individual psychodiagnostics can be carried out, concerning, for example, the preferred methods of resolving conflict situations (Thomas test), the advantages and disadvantages of each response method are discussed.
The day ends with group reflection and summing up in the context of the leading topic of the day.
DAY THREE
Target. Consideration of intergroup conflicts, their specifics and prevention, as well as mediation in conflict situations.
After introductory exercises on creating a working atmosphere, it is possible to conduct a role-playing game of confrontation between two teams of “rivals” (managers-subordinates, administration-trade union, students-teachers, sellers-buyers, fathers-sons, etc., depending on the target audience) , when each of the team members, after a group discussion of the general list of claims, makes a personal claim to a representative of the opposing team. When responding to a complaint, both the resolution of the issue and the emotional components of this process are taken into account.
Next, the group leader formulates the possibility of requesting a solution to a personal conflict situation that concerns specific group members. If these requests are formulated (and this is possible by the third day of the training, when the trust of the group members in each other and in the training procedure increases), then you can work with them within the framework of the Balint session. Since the number of such requests can be large, the duration of the session can be very significant.
Another way to answer specific questions from group members may be to consider real cases from everyday or professional practice related to conflict interactions, which are presented by the participants themselves (collection of problems) or are quite typical for a given situation (cases). In this context, it is legitimate, if this has not been discussed previously, to draw attention to the difference in the concepts of “reason” and “reason” that underlie the conflict.
At the last stage of the third day of training, results are summed up on constructive and non-constructive methods of resolving conflicts, and a game for holistic action is played. The main modeling situation is the situation of negotiations with limited resources and claims of the parties to each other. The topic of negotiations is formulated based on the specifics and interests of the group, as well as the objectives of a particular organization. It is important to pay attention to the delineation of the interests and positions of the parties, the clarity of their formulations (9).
A generalizing diagram of constructive and non-constructive methods of negotiation is presented in the appendix. Discussion of it can be a kind of summing up the results of the training.
The final circle of the training gives all group participants the opportunity to speak out, express their own feelings and formulate personal goals against the backdrop of resolving situations of conflict interaction.
The specific context of application of the conflict resolution training program completely depends on the target audience and the tasks assigned to the group leader, and the repertoire of games and situations analyzed in the training can easily be changed without adjusting its general concept.
LITERATURE
1. Ageev V.S. Intergroup interaction. M: Moscow State University Publishing House, 1990.
2. Grishina N.V. Psychology of conflict. St. Petersburg: Peter, 2005.
3. Siegert W., Lang L. Lead without conflict / Trans. with him. M.: Economics, 1990.
4. Krichevsky R. L. If you are a leader. M.: Delo, 1996.
5. Levin K. Resolution of social conflicts / Transl. from English St. Petersburg: Rech, 2000.
6. Scott D.G. Methods of conflict resolution / Trans. from English Kyiv: Publishing house. society "Verzilin and K. LTD", 1991.
7. Pezeshkian N. Trader and parrot. M.: Progress, 1992.
8. Pochebut L. G., Chiker V. A. Organizational social psychology. St. Petersburg: Rech, 2002.
9. Fischer R., Yuri U. The path to agreement, or Negotiations without defeat / Transl. from English M.: Progress, 1990.
10. Snetkov V. M. Psychology of communication in organizations. St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg State University Publishing House, 2000.
Chapter 3
Related information.
During the 2008 crisis, many companies cut funding for corporate training or completely excluded this item from the budget. As the consequences of the economic downturn are overcome, the level of spending on trainings and seminars is confidently returning to pre-crisis levels. Why is the popularity of staff training rapidly growing?
The main and, practically, the only reason for increasing demand is profit. Investments in staff training and seminars pay off and bring tangible dividends. But under one condition: the activities must be carried out by qualified specialists.
In this regard, the crisis turned out to be even useful: the vast majority of non-competitive companies simply stopped organizing training and seminars for staff. However, even now you can find insufficiently qualified trainers and coaches, so it is very important to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff.
ADVANTAGES OF TRAINING FOR STAFF AT THE PSYCONSULTING CENTER
When conducting training events of various types, our employees are guided by the basic and strictly observed rule.Individual approach comes first
A flexible attitude towards each client allows you to adapt any training for staff to your needs and achieve maximum results. Often, managers who turn to us for help themselves offer certain options for increasing the effectiveness of training sessions, after which our specialists adjust the programs.
Close interaction between the trainer and the management of client companies
A good partnership between a coach and top management is the key to the effectiveness of the former’s work. It is thanks to constant contact with managers that our specialists can learn literally everything about the company’s successes and problems. And the more information the trainer has, the better the training sessions for staff are designed, and, accordingly, the more effective they will be.
It is worth noting that when contacting the Psiconsulting Center, seminars and trainings on personnel development are conducted by people who know everything about this kind of event. Creating the most effective programs is their daily task, which they do well. You will only need to clearly define the goals in accordance with which our specialists will offer certain activities.
SELECTING TRAININGS FOR STAFF
How to choose a training or seminar that will be most productive for your company? First of all, you need to decide what exactly you want? If the goal is to increase sales, sales of goods and services, then you should pay attention to seminars on the development of communication skills and programs aimed directly at increasing sales volumes. The means must always be subordinated to the ends.The Psiconsulting Center offers various types of seminars and trainings for staff
Such activities can be aimed at:
- development of sales skills,
- advanced training of management,
- working with the motivational characteristics of personnel,
- development of communication skills of company employees,
- increasing the level of corporate culture,
- training in new technologies to achieve goals,
- increasing the efficiency of the planning process,
- creating a favorable psychological climate in the team, etc.
Training events can be carried out both for the entire team or groups of employees, and for individual employees. In the first case, we are talking about closed trainings, the essence of which is that the specialist works only with members of your enterprise. Such training for staff is often aimed not only at professional growth, but also at team building and the formation of a corporate culture. Open events are intended for employees of various organizations: representatives of other companies also undergo training along with your employees. This allows you to develop management skills, hone your sales skills or provide additional motivation while exchanging experience with colleagues.
The Psiconsulting Center conducts seminars and trainings for staff, which are ultimately aimed at realizing the organization’s human resources potential. In each individual case, we always achieve our goals. That is why the trainings of the Psikonsulting Center are deservedly becoming increasingly popular.
Moscow is a city that provides enterprises with development opportunities - a lot of training and consulting organizations, an abundance of training centers. Therefore, for many managers, the relevant questions at the moment are “Who should I turn to for help? Cooperation with which company will be the most productive and profitable?” If the need for staff development and training has become your problem, and the qualifications, experience and competence of trainers and coaches are important to you, then the specialists of the Psiconsulting Center will be able to help you!
We offer our clients everything they need to run a successful business -
professional training, consultations, recommendations and ready-made solutions!
The training includes both direct exercises to develop sales skills and working with clients in personal contact, as well as exercises that develop individual elements of sales techniques. Also required elements are developmental and test exercises for professional and general abilities, which are necessary for effective interaction with clients in personal contact.
The training program is based on the basic modules of sales techniques in personal communication with the client. The training includes exercises to develop conflict-free communication skills with the client. Also required elements are developmental and test exercises for professional and general abilities, which are necessary for effective interaction with clients in personal contact.
Are you familiar with the word “stress”? Stress is a natural reaction of the body to environmental influences. How to distinguish “everyday” stress from stress that can and should be dealt with? How to learn not to succumb to stress factors in difficult situations in business and develop stress resistance?
The training program is addressed to sales personnel unfamiliar with sales technology and (or) experiencing difficulties in implementing sales skills. The training is conducted in a live, interactive form with practical cases and role-playing games, which allows participants to see their own resources as a successful seller and practice basic sales skills: entering and maintaining contact, identifying needs, presenting and working with objections.
The training is based on a special model of human consciousness and psyche, which separates the concepts of psychological security (the natural inner strength of a person) and psychological defense (special techniques and methods), which allows for a more effective and pragmatic development of skills to repel aggression and neutralize manipulation.
