What challenge inspired this recipe?
While it is good to talk, share and express during a conflict, it often backfires as in the state of fear, stress, sharing can come off as aggressive and instead of resolving the conflict it can make it even worse.
The principles of non-violent communication can serve the volunteers as a method to express how they feel and what they need, without the accusative part. It can be worked on as a session with practices, but also as a practical instruction with examples that can be put in the resources of the app.
Ingredients :
Print the sentences for examples or have pen and paper.
Step by step guide
I Types of conflict that non-violent communication tackles.
II How it works – instead of accusatory sentences, we would use I statements that express how we feel and give a clue to the potential solution thus leaving space for expressing emotions but also proposing a solution.
I statements – start with I, express emotion, neutrally express the issue and propose a solution that involves the other person.
III Examples – you would give accusatory sentences and the groups would try to think about the I statement.
Judgmental sentences/ “I“statement
- You can’t even finish the simplest project on time/ – I feel anxious that the project hasn’t been completed I would appreciate it if you gave it your full attention.
- You are impossible to deal with/ I feel frustrated about how this conversation is going. It would be great if we could talk about this issue together.
- You make me so mad when you listen to what I’m saying! / I feel frustrated when I can’t get my point across, I need to talk about it.
- You are so irresponsible with the budget! / I am worried about the finances of the project and would like to save money to cover activities in the project.
- You never take enough initiative to organize something. / I have been feeling very tired lately. I would be so thankful if we took turns in organizing the project.
Important to highlight!It can be included in existing sessions on conflict management. Volunteers can become mentors to others and share the knowledge |
Before you start cooking, keep in mind…
This exercise should be done in the beginning, so the volunteers have a good tool to use in case something happens.
