ECCAY RESOURCES

The ECCAY resources can help professionals to use in practice the solution focused knowledge they have just acquired.

Exercise nr. 15

What Is Connecting Us?

Minimum number of participants	Average time length	Individual setting	Group setting	Special Equipment	Unit	Online	Challenges/ competition
At least 15 persons	30 min	no	yes	appropriate space, tape	4	no	no

This exercise is particularly suitable for helping diverse groups get to know each other. It shows commonalities of people who seem very different at first glance. This exercise can create a feeling of a community spirit.

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Aim / Benefits

As we show in Unit 4, groups have special functions in the context of the SFA. They can take away the feeling of being the only one affected by a problem. In contrast to the individual setting with a professional, more resources are available for problem solving or better – solution finding. The experience of supporting others within a group, learning together, and being in a similar situation together is powerful. The goal of this exercise is to create a supportive and empathic atmosphere in a group. Through bonding experiences, characteristics or attitudes, the sense of belonging to a group grows.

By asking a variety of questions, this exercise also shows that "the problem" is only one part of oneself.

UNIT(s) related

Unit 4

Why
This exercise can be related to Unit 4 as it makes shared issues and experiences visible. The participants see what connects them with other participants and see they are not alone with their issues.

How to do the exercise

Step 1 / Preparation:
(MANDATORY to explain how to prepare and introduce the exercise to the participant)
The exercise should necessarily take place with at least 15 people. It is important that it takes place in a room with a lot of free space or on an appropriately large outdoor area. The different zones in the room should be marked in advance – the two zones for the initial groups could be opposite to each other, a third zone should be presented as a “stage”.

Step 2
The participants are divided into two groups and asked to move to their zone. If you work with a group consisting of people with a migration background and people who were born here - this should be the separating moment. Otherwise, the group can be separated by gender or age (for example, people under/over 18). The chosen distinction should be “obvious”.

The trainer pronounces the distinguishing characteristic (age, origin, gender) and refers to the differences of the groups. The participants are told by the trainer that different questions will now be asked to them. Participants are asked to answer honestly by moving to the space of the "stage" if the question/statement applies to them.

Step 3:
Now different characteristics and experiences but also emotional states are questioned. The participants who can answer the question with “yes” enter the "stage" area.

The trainer should have prepared different questions which can be answered by yes/no. These questions should be related to the social images according to the groups. For example, typical male/female presuppositions could be questioned when you choose the distinction “gender”. Or even stereotypes that correspond to different cultural backgrounds when you work with a divers and multicultural group - here are a few examples:

Who worries about what clothes they will wear tomorrow?
Who has cried in the last few months?
Who eats too many sweets?
Who has stolen something before?
Who is very much in love right now?
Who believes in God?
Who is feeling lonely?
Who has lost someone they loved very much?
Who likes to make jokes in a group?
Who is shy?
Who has hurt others?
Who is proud of his body?
Who wishes to have children of their own?
Who is afraid to speak in front of others?
Etc.

Final step / Conclusion:
As a final question one should chose a question that strengthens the cohesion of the group and emphasizes the unifying. The goal is that all participants are united on the "stage".

Examples:
Who wishes to be treated with respect?
Who wants to be accepted as they are?

Debrief

After the final question, the zone is left together. The exercise is discussed afterwards. The participants are invited to answer the following questions:

How did I feel during this exercise?
What was particularly surprising for me?
Did I find it difficult to answer the questions honestly?
How did I feel at the very end when everyone was standing in the same area?

The exercise achieves the goal that people who are supposedly separated by many things are not so different after all. It shows that obvious distinguishing features do not always have to be correct and that there are many common, unifying things besides.

Specific materials

Enough free space to have 3 zones and a tape or anything else to mark the different zones.

Tips and Tricks

If you want to use the exercise primarily to emphasise commonalities and to build or strengthen group cohesion, you can formulate the questions very broadly. It is important to ask a question at the end that everyone feels addressed by, and thus everyone gets on the "stage".
However, you can also make this exercise more topic-specific by specifically combining questions from this topic area.
In any case, we also recommend asking " fun" questions, especially at the beginning, to lighten the mood and promote a sense of lightness and openness.
After the exercise, the viral spot from the Danish TV station TV2 (see link below) can be shown. This exercise is closely related to it.

On-line version

This exercise cannot be performed online.

Bibliography - Sitography

“All that we share” – Spot by the Danish TV station TV2: TV 2 | All That We Share - YouTube; [checked 17.01.2022]

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