20 responses
What was most valuable about this Session for you?
20 responses
During our break room session we spent time on what were going to go through as trainees and what is expected as facilitators and as trainees we could ask what we hope to learn in these sessions
Participating in an empathy circle with others who are really committed to practicing empathy.
Being encouraged
Everyone was welcoming and warm.
More learning
The idea of that improved empathetic listening skills can possibly lead to improved creativity. Some tips from our trainer on how to deal with difficult situations
I enjoyed connecting with my small group a lot.
Learning more on how to facilitate my own empathy circle
Making the first step for the training
Reflecting on my strengths before my weaknesses
Getting to be in a small group with a new trainer and new participants
The challenges decreased in intensity, so I was able to see the "effect" my interventions had on the difficult participant(s).
The empathy circle of course. My facilitator was a psychologist and also gave me insight on my career when we took a 5 minute break.
Opportunity to ask questions about what was going on, feedback and clarification.
Learning more about the learnings for each role.
Once again learning that the learning comes from the experience of the process. Trust the Process. As an empathy academic I am continually amazed by the ability of the Empathy Circle process to build individual empathic through the creation of an empathic environment.
Having to see how other people facilitated was helpful for me and very important. Also, receiving feedback on my abilities was also important.
Attentive listening was actively practiced.
The most valuable thing in the session for me was the feeling of being heard by people.
getting feedback on my introduction and leading a circle
What would you change about the Session to make it better for you?
20 responses
I don't know because we were corrected that was helpful to know our mistakes or what to look out for.
I don't think it was communicated to us what the length of the session would be until it had already begun, so it would have been nice to know how much time to block out of my day for this training.
N/A
I was happy with the session.
It might be difficult to keep track of but switching around the facilitator for the trainees would be helpful so that learning from different styles can occur
A short break.
A shorter speaker and active listening for the first 1-2 rounds.
I think our small group didn't do as much practicing facilitating as the other groups? We practiced introducing the empathy circle, but after that we just did our own empathy circle and didn't really practice facilitating.
I really enjoyed the session and can't think of anyway to improve it.
none
Adding a 5 minute break halfway through the 1.5 hour small group exercise
N/a
Taking a 2 minute bathroom break in the middle of the small group
I think having a 5 minute break in the middle of the 1.5 hour Empathy Circle moving forward would be fantastic.
I don't know
Nothing
Nothing at this stage.
I didn't think an 1 would pass so fast but it did.. Our circle did 3 minutes each person but I think it should be 4minutes.
I would make facilitation directions more clear.
I'm not sure I have any changes.
Stop ~1.5 hours in to give everyone a bio break
What questions are in your mind right now about facilitating Empathy Circles?
20 responses
Are there many different ways to empathically listen to someone, What are unique distinct cultural ideas/behaviors in the way people empathically listen? how do they contrast and how do they compare to another? Are there distinct cultural differences in the way people empathically talk to each other? how does that impact the speaker who is from another country who may have different way people empathically speak/listen to each other ?
I'm having a hard time imagining how it would work to do an EC with a group of people who know each other and who are working through a specific conflict.
How can I be more encouraging?
I have no questions, only a bit of nervousness.
Starting to feel more comfortable
What techniques can I use to stay present and engaged in the circle?
N/a
I wonder if I will be good at facilitating and when I will get confident enough to do it on my own.
none
How can I perfect my introduction?
What's the best way to organize them? Everybody participates in different social media, and not everybody (my age especially) is very responsive to email.
If I want to invite my friends to the training, should i advertise the Saturday morning session even though it's optimized for pandemic professors?
How do I make sure everyone is fully participating? What if I'm facilitating a circle in my friend group and not everyone is taking it seriously?
I wanted to understand more of what Joanne had to say how about taking control of the power and what her facilitator was talking about there.
How to improve them for students to use.
Thoughts about creating a diagram to share that summarises the operation of an empathy circle. Perhaps share next week in the breakout as my introduction.
What to say when someone trying the empathy circles for the first time likes the idea of empathy circles, but doesn't want to follow the rules, such as not putting their own thoughts after someone speaks?
None.
Will I be able to facilitate at the best of my ability?
coming up with a good topic, assertively calling time
What is a Empathy Circle Facilitation Challenge you have experienced, have seen or imagine having? Describe it and any questions, concerns, comments, ideas, etc. about it? (we will try to address those in the Session.)
14 responses
Not at this moment
I imagine having one with some members of my family who I've wanted to talk to about difficult subjects like religion and politics. I have not done a good job of listening to others when trying to have those conversations, and I would like to try an empathy circle so that I can hold myself accountable and also hold the other members of my family accountable so we aren't just talking over each other without trying to understand each other.
I have a hard time intervening with interruptions during a conversation.
Sometimes I do not know what to say.
n/a
I've experienced having a friend make jokes and not take it seriously, but I calmly asked him to take it seriously and it worked. I'm interested in next week's session about tackling other challenges.
I imagine a scenario where participants are hyper judgmental of other participants while speaking, and it turns into bickering. I imagine this would happen if I facilitated a circle within a separate family dynamic where there is already tension. I imagine person 1 uses their time to speak negatively about person 3, with person 2 reflecting. And then I imagine this becoming the norm for the day. I wonder if I should intervene, or if I should prioritize freedom of speech while talking. When would the breaking point be?
I have imagined hosting a circle with my friends, and some people not taking it seriously. I wonder what I'd say to keep things lighthearted but also convey that the circle's benefits are real and only achievable with full participation. Maybe I'd say that.
When someone feels annoyed or angry and is rude is there a model to follow or do we be a authentic selves in how we would handle that.
Cant think of one at this point.
Just more about facilitating empathy circles with students.
I imagine people not liking the circle after doing one I facilitated and not returning the next time. I hope to create a safe space and not create "my own" space. I'd like to learn how to welcome everyone.
I'm concerned that things might become too aggressive in an empathy circle. People won't be listening to one another and get out of hand when someone is explaining how they feel. I'm worried I won't be able to control that and get things back on track.
not hearing back from people you invite
Write a question you think we could add to this post-session survey?
20 responses
How can you effectively intervene a disruption?
How can we make this a more comfortable experience for everyone?
List of challenges previous facilitators have experienced
I would not add anymore.
Good as is.
Is there a time when a conversation gets too deep and do we need to end it?
none
What do you appreciate about Empathy Circles in general?
n/a
What is a prompt you have in mind for a future Empathy Circle?
What are you looking forward do in the additional training sessions?
What will you take away from today that you liked or something that you can ponder/re-visit/question later?
Same
None
I'm not sure right now
Do you feel heard?
Do you think that there was enough time, too little of time or just the right amount to do all that you needed?
Type the one word feeling in this survey instead of the chat so we have more time to think about it