25 responses
What was most valuable about this Session for you?
25 responses
practical hands-on training - learn by doing; plus, interacting with a variety of people
practice. connecting with fellow humans.
Meeting Michelle and her beautiful energy - and also the practice was invaluable -especially practicing introducing the circles - I got a lot from it.
Feedback from others in my group to myself and others
Challenges and feedback
Hearing from people of other places and cultures.
Learning about the three round five minute empathy sharing
The ability to practice facilitating an empathy circle
The Empathy Circle and the experience.
The facilitation modelled by Bill. A few times, Bill interjected with relevant feedback. I want to specifically call out his reminder that making the effort to listen is valuable in in itself, it isn't mandatory to repeat verbatim or register every single thing that is said. Importantly, his interjection made clear that as a facilitator, he had his finger on the pulse .
Patience
connection to people in the training
Learning how to respond to challenges in a timely and effective manner.
Wiliness to share
Feedback
The empathy circle was very enlightening and moving. I appreciated it very much, and can clearly envision the value that a culture of empathy would bring to the world.
Self awareness
Getting constructive feedback.
I appreciated the constructive criticism given to certain members of the group, who broke out of the empathy circle structure.
Hearing what the other members of my had to say and how all of our stories ended up connecting.
Constructive criticism
participating in practical application of the process
when I was the facilitator
The dive-right-in approach. I was caught off guard by the process but that was precisely the right thing for me as a learner. It helped that I could compare facilitation styles with other learners, allowing for a 360 degree view of different challenges.
Learning that verbal or condescending cues are triggers for more aggression
What would you change about the Session to make it better for you?
25 responses
Nothing
nothing
N/A
post assignments on screen-share for reference ; I save 'chat' and then can't find it
Break room facilitator being more confident, leaving 5 min in the end to talk about the whole breakroom experience and have an open discussion.
I think the large number of facilitators doing teaching is a little distracting and diluting. I am imagining that you want to offer many many people a chance to lead and teach and practice that, but I think there is a point of diminishing returns. It's a not a huge concern, but is something I became aware of.
n\a
add more challenges to practice
Visualize with slides the learning objectives, and session content. Maybe make that as a homework to go watch a video or read some slides before the class and in class go over that content, and open it up for discussion in the empathy circle and connect with our values as we did.
The time of the session. My day begins at 5 or 6 am and by the end of it, I am wiped out. The session ended at 1 am last night for me in India. My focus constantly wavered as I struggled to listen to the speakers.
I'm a visual learner, so some of the expectations need to be in the chat because before facilitating some of us were lost as to what to do.
no changes...
Nothing, it was great.
Nothing the session was great
Nothing. Very grateful for this experience :)
I wouldn't change a thing
Not sure.
n/a
consider a co-host to help Edwin manage the training/breakout rooms
I would like it if people spent a minute getting my name right. Facilitators certainly do - participants who are training to be facilitators must as well. I consider this to be a basic gesture of respect. While it is excellent that trainers model this, it should be explicitly one of the ground rules from the beginning.
What questions are in your mind right now about facilitating Empathy Circles?
25 responses
N/A
none at at this time
Bill did not quite accurately address my question about is it ok to reflect feelings and not just words. His example, "sounds like you're having trouble in your marriage," is an evaluation, assessment, thought or opinion; it is not a reflection of feelings. If the speaker had said "my wife and I fought last night" while shedding tears, I might be inclined to reflect "you're so sad about fighting with your wife last night." This reflects more than the words the speaker spoke; it is reflecting his feelings. Is this ok?
how to make it safe when someone who is very traumatised begins sharing deep trauma very quickly in the circle - how to keep it safe for them and for the other participants who are not ready to cope with that level of intensity
How might I be using empathy circles in the future?
n/a
none
how to host one with only one facilitator?
I'm wondering how to be more in my heart space so that I can be a better listener without effort or trying using my brain.
1. Is there an ideal group size (both larger and smaller)? At what point does it become unwieldy/less effective?
2. Is there a significant difference between virtual and in-person Empathy Circles? I've only ever been part of virtual ones..
How will I handle distractions
What if active listener is making judgmental comments? What do I do as a facilitator?
I need to create more opportunities to practice facilitating empathy circles.
More!!
Can you give examples of empathy circles conducted in businesses (full profit businesses - not non-profit setup) ? What were the topics? and How did they go?
How many people would be the limit in an empathy circle?
How do we introduce or invite people to empathy circles
At what point to make an announcement and break the structure of the group, if things are getting too out of hand, or mixed up.
Nothing at this point
Will I be able to to have a silent moment instead of talking?
advanced training to become a facilitator and start my own circle
how do I get others interested
First of all, thank you for addressing each of my questions from last week in the session! :)
Q: The empathy circles that I have been part of generally take two hours overall (including introductions, check-out). Is it possible to hold a shorter yet equally effective session for people who are pressed for time? If so, what would the structure look like? Would it be the same as the regular one, compressed?
How do I balance enjoying facilitating with listening and time keeping
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.)
23 responses
N/A
n/a
Resisting making suggestions or going into a counseling mode as been challenging :)
Someone falls asleep in the circle.
When a person is having a hard time being the active listener
Staying focussed for 2-1/2 hours with no break.
someone insulting the people
when active listener is speaking too much or when active listener is taking so many notes that it is distracting the listening process
Wearing many hats - time-keeping, listening, speaking, reflecting, ...
I thought it would just be technology but it was interpersonal communication
when active listener is making comments or body language that is showing an opinion or judgment of what the speaker said. It feels off....like not really listening because she/he is reacting to content.
I have a hard time setting a limit, if I believe it may hurt someone's feelings.
A mixture of nerves and vulnerability when sharing things that are important.
Repeating back what I heard.
Internet connections, I'm not sure if it's mine or others, but the hardest part is when it freezes when someone is speaking and you're trying to listen to them, but that's a hard problem to solve.
Being resilient after criticism
distractions - verbal, movement, participants have no video
no challenges
Keeping an eye on the time while also listening/facilitating. The latter demands my whole attention and the former gnaws away at it. Graham described one solution in the last class - delegating that responsibility.
Trying to be at peace with challenges
Write a question you think we could add to this post-session survey?
25 responses
n/a
N/A
none
none.
What did you learn from the experience of facilitating an empathy circle?
none at this time.
I can't think of any now
Ask the following questions:
1- What should we start doing?
2- What should we stop doing?
3- What should we continue doing?
Nothing as of now.
What did you learn from this session?
What is one thing that you learned about yourself, which interferes with your capacity for empathy?
On a scale of 1 to 5 was your expectation meet. "yes- 5"
NA
What personality changes do you imagine might come from frequent experience in empathy circles, such as the one you experienced today?
Which homework assignments of the empathy circles could we include?
I don't have one at the moment.
Nothing right now
-None for now-