Perceptual Positions: Seeing ‘it’ from Someone Else’s Perspective Mentoring CPD & Supervision

What do you see? Two faces or a vase?

What do you see? A man playing a trumpet or a woman’s face?

What do you see? A duck or a rabbit?

What do you see? A young woman or an old woman?

Which centre circle is bigger?

OK! So you know that people can see things differently. People are unique. Who we are is influenced by –background experience –knowledge base –ability to reflect –self awareness –and much more this leads us to see the world in a unique way. How do we encourage our understanding of the different perspective? Discuss.

What helps us see the other side of a story?

Perceptual Positions NLP Technique Aim: An exercise to encourage people to see an incident from another perspective. Equipment Required: Space and 3 chairs (or table and 3 objects) Benefit: Seeing the full picture. Understanding other sides of a story, understanding how you influence other and how others influence you.

The Exercise Step one: –Clearly identify the issue: what is the situation and who are the key players. Identify the key protagonist other than yourself. Identify a someone who is neutral to this situation who would be fair and not take sides. An example: –My manager asked me to complete a report by the end of the day. I did this, however they were annoyed with me when I handed in the report because I did not also complete a second piece of work they gave me to do an hour later.

The Exercise Step one: –Clearly identify the issue: what is the situation and who are the key players. Identify the key protagonist other than yourself. Identify a someone who is neutral to this situation who would be fair and not take sides. An example: –My manager asked me to complete a report by the end of the day. I did this, however they were annoyed with me when I handed in the report because I did not also complete a second piece of work they gave me to do an hour later.

The Exercise Step one: –Clearly identify the issue: what is the situation and who are the key players. Identify the key protagonist other than yourself. Identify a someone who is neutral to this situation who would be fair and not take sides. An example: –My manager asked me to complete a report by the end of the day. I did this, however they were annoyed with me when I handed in the report because I did not also complete a second piece of work they gave me to do an hour later.

The Exercise Step one: –Clearly identify the issue: what is the situation and who are the key players. Identify the key protagonist other than yourself. Identify a someone who is neutral to this situation who would be fair and not take sides. An example: –My manager asked me to complete a report by the end of the day. I did this, however they were annoyed with me when I handed in the report because I did not also complete a second piece of work they gave me to do an hour later.

The Exercise Step Two: –Set up your space: identify a space to represent the situation from your perspective. Find a space to represent the other protagonist’s perspective, find a space to represent the neutral party’s point of view. –Example

The Exercise Step Two: –Set up your space: identify a space to represent the situation from your perspective. Find a space to represent the other protagonist’s perspective, find a space to represent the neutral party’s point of view. –Example

The Exercise Step Two: –Set up your space: identify a space to represent the situation from your perspective. Find a space to represent the other protagonist’s perspective, find a space to represent the neutral party’s point of view. –Example

The Exercise Step Two: –Set up your space: identify a space to represent the situation from your perspective. Find a space to represent the other protagonist’s perspective, find a space to represent the neutral party’s point of view. –Example

The Exercise Step Three: –Get to know each person First position: you Second position: the other person Third position: the neutral party.

The Exercise Step Three: –Get to know each person First position: you Second position: the other person Third position: the neutral party. Example: –Think, in detail about what happened as you experienced it. –What influenced you? Now move to the second position.

The Exercise Step Three: –Get to know each person First position: you Second position: the other person Third position: the neutral party. Who are they and what might influence their perspective? –What is their personality type? –Who influences their working life? –What mannerisms do they use? –What might this tell us about them? Now move to the third position

The Exercise Step Three: –Get to know each person First position: you Second position: the other person Third position: the neutral party. Who are they and what might influence their perspective? –What is their personality type? –What mannerisms do they use? –What makes you trust them? Go back to the first position

The Exercise Step Four: – Get each person’s position You The other person The neutral party

The Exercise Step Four: –Get each person’s position You The other person The neutral party What did you do? What did you think? How did you behave? What did you say? How did you react to what they said and did? Go to the other person position

The Exercise Step Four: –Get each person’s position You The other person The neutral party What did they do? How did they behave? What did the say? What might they have thought? How did they react to what you did and said? –Why might this have been How might they have been affected by the influencing factors identified above? Go to the neutral position

The Exercise Step Four: –Get each person’s position You The other person The neutral party What might the neutral party think? –What might they witness? –What might they think about each party? –What might they suggest about the situation? –What advice might they give? Go back to your own position

The Exercise Step Five: –Review What have you learned from this analysis of the situation? How is the picture clearer now that you have considered other view points? What do you understand about the other person? What might you have done differently?

The Exercise Time: 1 hour – working in pairs work for half an hour each, facilitating your partner through the perceptual positions exercise.