Workshop: Appreciative Communication

Effective communication is the foundation of collaboration, especially in academic environments where diverse perspectives and high expectations often converge. Communication is most effective when it is heard and understood - this is where an appreciative approach becomes essential. The “Appreciative Communication” workshop provides participants with the tools to foster respectful and constructive interactions in their work environments. By exploring key principles such as active listening, nonviolent communication and effective feedback, this workshop empowers participants to manage challenging conversations and maintain positive relationships. The interactive design focuses on engaging exercises and real-world application to support practical skill development.

Goals

• Developing an understanding of the concept “appreciative communication” and its importance in academic settings
• Recognizing and addressing common communication barriers and adopting communication techniques to foster a positive work environment
• Learning effective techniques for giving and receiving constructive feedback and to express needs clearly without compromising relationships
• Building practical skills for resolving conflicts respectfully and maintaining solution-focused communication
• Enabling long-term integration of communication techniques through practical exercises and real-life applications regarding the specific challenges of academic teamwork

Content

• Principles of Appreciative Communication: Participants explore approaches such as Nonviolent Communication, active listening and learn to identify Thomas Gordon's 12 communication roadblocks
• Feedback skills: Participants practice structured methods and important aspects for giving and receiving feedback
• Conflict Resolution: Participants learn techniques for de-escalating conflict while maintaining respectful, solution-focused language
• Interactive exercise and role-playing: Participants put theory into practice by engaging in “serious games” and role-playing exercises to address real-life challenges in their academic field of work
• Transfer task: Participants apply the techniques to real-life situations between sessions, analyzing and reflecting on their experiences and exploring ways to sustainably integrate these practices into their daily academic communication for long-term effectiveness

Methods

Short and crisp theoretical input, serious play and role play, transfer task between sessions, group sharing and self-reflection on real-life experiences

Working language: The course language will be English for the theoretical parts. Exercises will be carried out in the participants' usual workplace language in order to ensure that the experience is as realistic as possible and that what is learnt is sustainable.

• ​​​​​​Principles of Appreciative Communication: Nonviolent Communication, active listening and Thomas Gordon's 12 communication roadblocks
• Feedback skills: structured methods and important aspects for giving and receiving feedback
• Conflict Resolution: techniques for de-escalating conflict while maintaining respectful, solution-focused language
• Interactive exercise and role-playing: putting theory into practice with “serious games” and role-playing exercises to address real-life challenges
• Transfer task: applying techniques to real-life situations, analysing and reflecting on experiences, and exploring ways to integrate practices into daily academic communication for long-term effectiveness.