Goals of sensitivity training are to allow participants to gain a picture of the impact that they make on others and to facilitate the study of group dynamics and of larger organizational concepts such as status, influence, division of labor, and styles of managing conflict. Some believe that sensitivity is talent, while others believed that sensitivity is something which is not so much developed, as allowed to exist. It is a trait called “empathy”. Sensitivity is found wanting in people as they are often preoccupied with their own problems that they don’t “have time” for others. Their tension disallows them to pay attention to someone or to relate to what the person is saying, Most believe that sensitivity to others could be developed. Some people have this ability, but most just fake it.
Sensitivity training involves a small group of individuals focusing on the here-and-now behavior and attitudes in the group. In short, the individuals discuss whatever comes up naturally in the group. For example, one participant might criticize an opinion expressed by another, and both the opinion and the criticism could become the focus of the entire group. The intent of this process, which might take several days at 12 hours or more per day, is for participants to learn how they affect others and how others affect them. In turn, “sensitivity” learning can help participants become more skilled in diagnosing interpersonal behavior and attitudes on the job.
A sensitivity training program requires 3 steps:
1)Unfreezing the old values: It requires that the trainees become aware of the inadequacy of the old values. This can be done when the trainee faces dilemma in which his old values are not able to provide proper guidance. The first step consists of a small procedure:
- An unstructured group of 10-15 people is formed.
- Without an objective, the group looks to the trainer for guidance. (A trained leader is generally present to help maintain a psychologically safe atmosphere in which participants feel free to express themselves and experiment with new ways of dealing with others.)
- But the trainer refuses to provide guidance or assume leadership
- Soon the trainees are motivated to resolve the uncertainty by themselves
- To this end, they try to form some hierarchy. Some try assume the leadership role which may or may not be liked by other trainees.
- Then, they start understanding what they wish to do and come up with alternative ways of dealing with the situation.
2) Development of new values: With the trainer’s support, trainees begin to examine their interpersonal behavior and give each other feedback. The reasoning of the feedbacks are discussed which motivates trainees to experiment with range of new behaviors and values. This process constitutes the second step in the change process of the development of these values.
3) Refreezing the new ones:This step depends upon how much opportunity the trainees get to practice their new behaviors and values at their work place.
Sensitivity could be enhanced by adopting the following view points:
- Everybody is entitled to their feelings, no matter how illogical they are;
- There is no such thing as ‘blame’… Everybody involved is equally at fault;
- A person should not attack, but express their feelings about others’ actions;
- Leaving a problem unresolved will make it worse with time;
- Nobody is perfect which includes one self.
Encounter Groups were nontraditional attempts at psychotherapy that offered short-term treatment for members without serious psychiatric problems. These groups were also known as sensitivity (or sensory) awareness groups and training groups (or T-groups). Encounter groups were an outgrowth of studies conducted at the National Training Laboratories in by Kurt Lewin. The use of continual feedback, participation, and observation by the group encouraged the analysis and interpretation of their problems. Other methods for the group dynamics included Gestalt therapy (working with one person at a time with a primary goal of increasing awareness of oneself in the moment, also known as holistic therapy) and meditation. Encounter groups were popularized by people such as Dr. Fritz Perls and Dr. Will Schutz (of the Esalen Institute) and had their greatest impact on the general population in the 1960s and 1970s. These groups fell out of favor with the psychiatric community because of criticism that many of the group leaders at the time were not trained in traditional group therapy and that the groups could sometimes cause great harm to people with serious emotional problems.