Aims:• To encourage discussion about customer service.• To identify common pitfalls to avoid in relation to customer service.• To highlight and share best practices for satisfying and delighting customers. You do need to tell people it is for their own personal use and that the scores for individuals will not be discussed. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 90 minutes for this module. It helped me as a trainer to deliver in a way that kept interest and attention. Some of the cards may not be applicable to your participants so, before starting the exercise, review all of the Pitfalls and Trampoline cards and remove any that aren't relevant. Skills and Behaviours Tested:Communication skills, teamwork, collaboration, information sharing, information gathering, listening, questioning, attention to detail and problem solving. The current time of 45 minutes to complete the exercise is far too long. Great communication skills can be learned with Alison's free online Communication skills courses. All the scenarios contained in the cards are based on actual experiences faced by managers in their first year of managing a team. I got my inspiration from Trainer's Library and I selected Glasstap Sheep Trials as an exercise. The questionnaire worked well to elicit what people felt. They discovered This is a great activity to put across the importance of good communication especially questioning and listening skills and not making assumptions. So we recommend that you encourage participants to use the lists of ‘good’ behaviours they generate to refer to when planning and then reviewing their performance in later role-play/simulation tasks. They did this by taking the emotion and history out of the problems and getting everyone's needs out in the open before they tried to solve anything. Wrong Standard - Examination of a Real 'Standard Letter', Yes But, No But! Notes:This module has been written from a UK perspective. And the de-brief section of the trainer notes, contained really helpful guidance. Aims:• To give participants an opportunity to develop an effective 30-second sales pitch.• To test the pitch for effectiveness. - allowed for team building as some participants did not know one another but worked in the same unit. I also specified that the topic for the meeting would be around attracting more clients to the pet shop. Group Sizes:This module is suitable for use with groups of almost any size. For the purposes of this exercise we've shortened the original email by removing a few of the more technical paragraphs. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 45 minutes to complete this module. If you have more than 15 in your group, split them into teams. I used the Happy Holidays exercise during a Sales Fundamentals programme for people working in a high pressure, high target sales situation. Drawing on empirical literature on communication skills in the workplace, we can look at Maguire and Pitcheathly’s (2002) study of doctors for a good example. Notes:This exercise is ideally suited for use as an icebreaker for team training and teambuilding events. Behavior Change in Hygiene and Sanitation guide”, “Building interpersonal communication skills manual” for UNICEF India, Global Handwashing Planner’s Guide and training materials on the handwashing campaign from Uganda. Time:The exercise in this module can be completed in about 20 minutes. I used Pitfalls and Trampolines for Presentation Skills on a course last week. It was good to share how aware the delegates were of others emotions and how their own behaviour can influence others. The empathy exercise in this module worked really well it worked well to discus the difference between empathy and sympathy and how you don't have to agree with someone to be empathetic and what it felt like to get feedback with empathy and then with no empathy. This module has two alternative handouts – one with work based scenarios to discuss, and one with non-work based scenarios. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 30 minutes to complete this module. The Change Journey - What to Do When Change Really Hurts, The Hotel Booking – A Customer Service Experience, I use this activity in a Customer Care course to illustrate the importance of empathy when dealing with a difficult situation. I was looking for something to summarise the course, and this fitted the bill perfectly! their own behaviour and bought into it how they treat other teams too. I used this module alongside part 2 with a group of staff who became more expressive with their emotions (at detriment to each other) following a period of change. I have now been using this exercise for about 10 months as part of the sales training induction for new outbound and inbound starters. You'll Need:• Plenty of post-it notes.• Flipchart paper and pens. The poor instructions and the role play that is used to demonstrate a lack of enthusiasm for their efforts is a great way to demonstrate how delegation should not be done. Download our training resources and extend your portfolio to meet market demand and deliver state-of-the-art interactive training courses. Quick, neat and did the job about making assumptions in people’s meanings and how to help get the best out of interviewees. Purley In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 30 minutes for this module if working with a group of 10-12 participants. Notes:This is a powerful exercise that really gets participants to think about the way organisations communicate. [CDATA[ */ During the role-play element it is advisable to select with care the people who will be receiving the different types of feedback. Aims:• To identify key barriers to effective communication.• To explore why such barriers occur.• To identify 'good practice' principles that will help to avoid the barriers to effective communication identified. I ran the exercise as part of a section on delegation with a group of team leaders - all of whom had expressed an interest in improving their delegation skills. This exercise involves a look at customer service, particularly in relation to face-to-face contact, managing difficult situations and conflict. Rather than use a board game (because of the audience I was delivering to) I split the learners into small groups and gave them different activity cards to discuss and feedback on. When the exercise finished I was very pleased to notice the complete transformation of the dynamics and communication of the department. Customer Support: Communication Skills Training Exercises and Resources. Useful For:First line managers and supervisors. I set up the full experience and gave the teams a ruc sac with water bottle, sandwiches, biscuits, the map, a pencil, string and an anorak which went down well. Time:The exercise in this module can be completed in about 50 minutes. Time:The exercises in this module can be completed in about 80 minutes. Sink or Swim is based around an imaginary organisation called Bob’s boats, where delegates are given A4 paper with little clear instruction and asked to build boats. You'll Need:• Post-it notes.• The job description, person specification and the candidate applications for the role you’d like to interview for.• One room containing a table and chairs for each group taking part in the practice interviews.• A waiting room for your candidates. Notes:In this exercise, participants will be working in teams of 4 or 5. I followed this exercise with a coaching role-play, where the manager had to give feedback to an ‘employee’ about his/her performance which helped the participants to use a more appropriate state when giving feedback. This activity really helped get the point across of how easy it is to give recognition we then incorporated our own internal recognition schemes to make them aware of what is available. I recognised this and reduced it to 30 minutes yet this was still too long and the learners felt that they got nothing from the exercise, other than demonstrating how clever they were! Straight forward introduction to TA that you can pick up and Notes:This exercise can be useful in any course on communication skills or presentation skills. This exercise was used after the Behaviour Based Interview – What and Why exercise and helped them understand the types of questions they could use to drill down to get the information they want from candidates without leading them to the answers they want. (See the module, What is Assertiveness?). - Communication Through Body Language, We Need to Talk - Holding Difficult Conversations, I really like this activity it provokes alot of thinking in terms of managing the conversation and the handouts are really thorough, detailed and well laid out. You'll Need:• To prepare one set of Sales Process Cards for each team participating. Time:The exercise in this module will take about 20 minutes to complete. The questionnaire really does allow for quite deep personal discussion very easily. Group Size:This module is suitable for use with groups of up to about 20 participants. I printed off a schedule of a property they were currently marketing and they used this to identify features. Tip: You can read more about preparing for a negotiation in our article, Essential Negotiation Skills . Although I didn't use this activity as a board game it is an extremely useful module. Useful For: Anyone in a customer facing role. After a couple of minutes they all started to discuss what was on their cards and established the tasks they were required to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing about 40 minutes for this module. I have successfully used Pitfalls and Trampolines for a couple of years now with great results. Before we reviewed the case studies, I added in a short exercise where I asked them to work in 3’s. As a result they blamed the Team Leaders for not standing up for them. Aims:• To draw up some guidelines for making and refusing requests.• To describe and practise a number of assertiveness techniques.• To test participants’ understanding of assertive behaviour. What fantastic recall. Notes:This module helps participants to understand what makes difficult conversations ‘difficult’ and encourages them to think about how they approach such conversations. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 20 minutes to complete this module. What was particularly useful was that they all became very aware of how ineffective and costly the meetings they were holding had become and the introduction of 'APPLE' could not have come at a better time for them. Time:The exercise in this module can be completed in about 15 minutes. The design is very clever and does a great job in provoking extreme emotions and reactions. Useful For:Anyone who needs to manage conflict and interpersonal relationships. Make clear that participants guiding another colleague are responsible for that participant’s safety at all times. I highly recommend this activity as it gets those sales skills out in the open at a very early stage of a sales course. Aims:• To demonstrate the importance of summary and clarification in effective communication. Notes:This can be a challenging session to run so it’s important that you feel confident in your knowledge and have lots of information to add if the group clams up. We use this as part of our induction. Using it as a leadership activity, you can focus in the debrief on the role of the leader, on leadership styles/approaches, and what it might have felt like had they not had a leader. By focusing on subjects such as body language, listening techniques, effective questioning, self-analysis and empathy, delegates gain a better understanding of how to have an effective communication with others and improve thier relationships. Brilliant for generating learning points. If you want a great activity to use for topics on change management, this is the one. Time:The exercise in this module can be completed in about 15 minutes. which improves their own re-drafting skills STUDY MATERIAL . A really great activity that I will definitely use again and again in various ways depending on their level and group size. Learn to teach using train the trainer courses. I’d recently just finished a 10 module project on Customer Service with a regular client, and was looking for something, fun exciting, and motivational to use as a review of the customer service work we had done. I recently delivered a Telephone Techniques course and as part of that I used the 'Communicating Without Body Language' module. Aims:• To encourage participants to consider the difference between good and bad customer service.• To encourage participants to consider the behaviours that those who deliver good customer service demonstrate.• To consider strategies for avoiding or managing customer conflict. On one occasion, I started the game early on, then later in the course asked the groups to write some of their own challenges (relevant to their own scenarios) then switched these for the ones provided to conclude the game. Aims:• To help participants understand their current use of assertive behaviour and identify areas for improvement. they use it they get new answers. We don’t always use the board. It also helps individuals to understand how different people take in information in different ways, for example some people only come to life in this exercise when they are allowed to see the information written down in a visual format. - Notes Supporting the Glasstap Film. They found it hard to remember all of the important information until they were allowed to write it down and ask questions. The first group had a pleasant banter, but the second group I thought had missed the point completely when the person who was definitely asked not to present, actually volunteered. Useful For:Staff at all levels especially those in a customer facing role. I’ve used this activity at the end of training, to practice what has been learned. Simple and clear activity that really illustrated the importance of shifting perspectives in conflict to listening and helping the other parties. This activity is excellent to do this. I recently used this module for a group of managers to get them to start thinking about how to prepare and conduct those difficult conversations. It was a really good way to re-cap what we had done. How to use a simple empathic technique to construct sentences based on what you hear from others and make an empathic communication, How to transfer a phone call to someone else. My areas of problems are to do with conflict and being bullied into things, then doing it resentfully. The group found this module really useful and there were several ‘lightbulb’ moments throughout the room specifically with the ‘fogging’ method. Apart from me being able to put a slide up of Vicky Pollard, which made the group laugh, the activity was really well received. We end up with a very interesting and accurate list of dos and don'ts which then I display in the training room for the duration of the course. Time:The exercise in this module can be completed in about 35 minutes. United Kingdom, Registered in England and Wales. Notes:Pitfalls and Trampolines is a fun board game. This is a brilliant exercise. This was a very useful activity for delegates to practice being assertive in potentially difficult situations. Group Size:This module is suitable for use with groups of almost any size. Time:The exercise in this module will take about 25 minutes to complete (but can be shortened if necessary). Useful For:Anyone who needs to give or receive feedback. It can even be used to highlight one barrier to creativity and innovation within organisations. The teams did all the stereotypical things while participating that gave us some great discussion in the debrief – e.g. We also had a very intense and productive debate about the value of constructive feedback and how one goes about it. For example, you might want to end a creative problem solving course by asking participants to develop a 30-second sales pitch for their favourite idea. 'page_path': url As the first group presented back their findings to the class, the person presenting from the second class asked to be excused. No-one is very surprised at their score. It provides participants with an opportunity to practise responding assertively to a range of situations - whether it's with managing upwards, dealing with peers and colleagues or in personal situations. ), An Alien Challenge - Getting the Questions Right. Time:The exercise in this module can be completed in about 15 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 50 minutes to complete this module. Aims:• To encourage participants to think about what causes meetings to be ineffective.• To identify what can be done to make meetings effective.• To introduce the acronym APPLE and explain how focusing on five simple themes will help participants ensure meetings are effective. Everything you need to help participants improve their communication skills, covering things like effective questioning, active listening and effective use of skills such as summary and clarification. A key learning point was limiting the use of ‘why’ questions when we’re trying to get someone to open up; too soon or too often will potentially lead to defensiveness resulting in less trust and co-operation. By the time the first group started the exercise all participants were discussing the other group's performance amongst themselves and asking their team leader to communicate with them in a different way or using the same techniques if those were working. - The Use of Body Language in Communication, Pitfalls and Trampolines - Call Centres and Telesales, Pitfalls and Trampolines - Customer Service. A lot of running around for the facilitator and a lot of newspaper is needed! When looking for a go-to collection of communication skills training material, you will find a lot of options. Then at the start of the training, I invited comments and we discussed some examples. Tried out Gossip with a large team of 16 split into 2 groups. At first the partner would listen well when in the conversation. Time:The exercise in this module can be completed in about 45 minutes. Notes:This exercise can be used in sales training, or any training where you want to develop participants’ influencing skills. This taught them valuable lessons on learning styles and how to engage with thir delegates more to ensure effective learning. I didn’t use the board as I felt with 12 delegates it might not be practical. I just love this activity. Time:The exercise in this module will take about 20 minutes to complete. Aims:• To generate a list of open questions that can be used during participants’ sales calls/meetings.• To generate a list of unique selling points for the product or service that participants sell.• To group these according to where they would most naturally be used in the sales process. Thanks for a great activity. With each card turned over, I gave them some suggestions; Types of communication Lesson 3. If your level of membership doesn’t include the option to stream this video, you can purchase a digital copy. I have used this on numerous occasions and it never fails to deliver! Time:The exercise in this module can be completed within 30 minutes. Time:The exercise in this module will take about 30 minutes to complete. The specific design on the course also enables trainers to use slides, handouts and exercises in combinations with their own materials. It was a really useful, non-threatening introduction to self awareness before moving on to part 2. It is a simple idea which helps sales people to really reflect on what they do and to potentially notice how easy it can be to, as the title suggests, fall into the role of a Talking Brochure. It is important that all of the cards are distributed and that every participant has a card but some participants can receive more cards than others – in fact it’s better if they do. Group Size:This module can be used with groups of any size, however the exercise works much better with larger groups. Have used this for years and everyone is always so proud of their boats and often take them home! One client I visit where I used it about 3 years ago I still get comments "here's Bob's or Burton's Boats". Notes:Summary and clarification are important in all forms of communication and this module is relevant to courses covering topics as diverse as interviewing (particularly behaviour based selection interviewing), counselling skills, negotiation skills, performance management, customer service etc. It put them in their delegates shoes. What are different styles of communication? They found the simple acronym 'APPLE' easy to understand and implement into their daily working environment. Time:The exercise in this module can be completed in about 15 minutes. Aims:• To identify why potential customers don’t like receiving sales calls.• To consider the skills that sales consultants will need to use to get their message heard by potential buyers. However, I feel that with a clearer brief and fewer parameters for success, this could work well with senior people. The next phase was an evaluation of what successful delegators do. Facing up to Challenges - Assertiveness Role-Play, Glasstap Sheep Trials - An Exercise in Communication and Continuous Improvement. The inference on the general use of the “prey” and “predator” approaches, I would not use again as it created a bit of controversy over their validity (some challenged the basic premise) which detracted from the key message for a time. It also demonstrated transferrable skills. I have even found this immensely useful in one to one coaching – even though that is not what it was designed for originally. How to Avoid Bad Training Exercises : Training Articles, Train the Trainer, Communication Skills, Design:::: 3 Ratings :::: Tuesday, September 15, 2020 Many trainers are always in search of the next best exercise for their courses. I think it works better for the teams to be in the same room in corners of the room. That takes skill in asking the right questions. I had teams of two representing each of the tribes who arrive on the island and need to decide how to divide it according to their needs. Time:The exercises in this module can be completed in about 80 minutes. I was slightly sceptical about whether my audience would be receptive to this activity but I’m so glad I used it. Training courses useful for: new Trainers or those looking to build a better bridge than their own tendencies why. Concept of eye accessing cues was on their level and group Size: this module can be completed about! 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