Among the most important practices of Organizational Development are interventions focused on improving the efficiency of individuals and groups in order to harmonize interdepartmental relationships and, therefore, optimize the results of the total organization.
And one of the techniques to reduce interpersonal problems is the Awareness Workshops –also called T-Groups and / or Behavioral Laboratories– whose origin dates back to the summer of 1946 when Kurt Lewin, in the company of Leland Bradford, Ronald Lippitt and Kenneth Benne, led a workshop to improve interracial relationships in New Britain, Connecticut.
Although relatively new or unknown in Mexico, these workshops have continued since 1947 in Bethel, Maine, hometown of the National Training Laboratories - currently renamed the NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science.
New responses to new situations
Typically, Awareness Workshops are not rigidly structured. They focus on the feelings, emotions, behaviors, and interactions that individuals experience as a group in the here and now. Basically the subject of change is the person. The participant confronts himself, confronts his own image and the perception that other members of the group have of him / her, causing a change in behavior.
This requires the facilitator to develop a trustworthy socio-emotional environment in which the participants can experience new behaviors and try new responses to new situations through games and group dynamics.
However, one must be cautious. Not everyone can run an Awareness Workshop. This requires that the facilitator have a deep knowledge of the applied behavioral sciences, great proven experience in group processes and skills and, preferably, have participated in some individual and group psychotherapy program; otherwise, if you do not have the required skills, it can cause serious damage to the emotional balance of the participants.
However, the Awareness Workshops carried out by an expert professional in Organizational Development can be a very positive experience and a good opportunity to get to know us more deeply and to improve our interpersonal skills.
