| Aim | The aim of the activity is to enhance the comprehension that our way of communicating inevitably influences the achievement of results in our everyday life. Building positive communication skills is therefore key in our day-to-day activities. |
| Trainee profile | Any. People with special needs can participate as long as they are able to express themselves. |
| Learning Objectives | To comprehend the challenges of communication when we interact
To comprehend how our perception influences the outcomes in a group work To experience how words and people roles may hinder the pursuit of common results To experience the limitations of one-way communication |
| n° participants | Between 6-12 people |
| Duration | 45 minutes |
| Materials | Two identical sets of 15 interlocking blocks (ex. Lego, Duplo, etc.), paper, pens. |
| Preparation | Identify two rooms and collect the necessary material for the activity. |
| Implementation | 1. Divide the participants into two groups. You may call them Team A and Team B, or you may have the participants decide their own team.
2. Have the teams placed themselves far away from each other, ideally in two different rooms. 3. Ask Team A to build a peculiar structure with the blocks. Specify there is no need to place all 15 of them. In the meantime, Team B has to wait, where they cannot hear or see Team A. While Team A builds the structure, they must write down step-by-step instructions on how to re-build the structure. Tell the team that once they have completed the task, the challenge for Team B will be to rebuild the structure by having only those instructions as a guide. Team A’s goal is therefore to help Team B complete an exact copy of the structure. 4. After completing the structure, Team A goes to Team B with the instructions and the other set of blocks. Without further aid, Team B must rebuild the structure. 5. Once Team B has completed their structure, Team A brings the original structure and the two are compared. 6. Have the two teams discussed the following questions: a. How accurate is the second structure? b. How helpful were Team A’s instructions? c. What worked? What did not? d. How did the team’ members behave in their achievement of their respective goals? 7. Ask the teams to go back to their initial locations. 8. The process is repeated with opposite roles. Team B will be the builders and the writers of instructions, while Team A awaits to later rebuild the structure. 9. The structures are compared again to see if the two teams were able to improve them communication skills the second time after the first round’s lesson learned. |
| Debriefing | Have all participants gathered up and discuss on the following questions:
How well did the other team follow the instructions? How difficult was it to see how the other team struggle with your own instructions? Can you give similar situations to this one in your everyday life? How did your team’s perception differ from the other teams’ perception? How did your personal perception influence your team’s perception? What changed in round two? In what ways the understanding of the activity increased from round one to round two? What did you learn? |
| Tips and hints | Take notes on how team members behave, if they decide together to select roles or if those roles are shaped unconsciously through the interaction. During the reflection time, facilitate the participants’ conversation towards these points, yet let them realise them on their own. |
| Safety measures | In the case of participants with special needs, have them get acquainted with the rooms and the blocks before starting the activity. |
| Added value | The added value of this activity is the understanding of how our mindset, our perception, our words and our way of communicating does inevitably influence the group’s perception and the pursuit of common results. |