Focusing and building on common ground
Featured in the Networking Skills for Business Success training manual
By Tessa Simpson
Category: Personal Development
Credit price: 2 download credits (Single user)
This training activity looks at establishing a positive climate with someone new by building on areas of agreement and common values, beliefs or interests.
Open the training activity by explaining to the participants the importance of establishing common ground with new contacts before communicating information about their organisation or what they can do for them. Through conversation and active listening, they then discover three common interests and share their findings with the rest of the group. Working in pairs, the participants establish a clear agreement on a value, experience or belief which is of mutual interest or importance, and discuss the benefits to them both. The training activity closes with a suggestion that the participants practise the skills of finding common ground in social situations, as an ice breaker that eases the way into conversation for even the shyest person.
Who is it for: This training resource is intended for use by trainers to develop the participants’ interpersonal skills by building rapport and finding common ground with another person before launching into giving information about what your organisation does or what you can do for them.
| Resource Type: | Activity |
| Min Group Size: | 4 |
| Max Group Size: | 20 |
| Typical Duration: | 01:05:00 |
| No of Pages: | 7 |
Resources: View standard resources for Fenman training activities
Purpose: This training resource is intended for use by trainers when you want to help people to build effective relationships by examining ways of building rapport and influencing others when making contacts at the start of any networking activity. It is also useful for those involved in problem solving or decision making, as it helps them focus on what they do agree on, rather than what they disagree about.
Download the training activity, Focusing and building on common ground as featured in the Fenman training manual; Networking Skills for Business Success