THE COMMUNICATION ASSESSMENT

Sometimes people will end up with partners they are not happy with. And, of course, there is no way to completely control this. And no matter how obvious it might be that the "bad" communication was the other person's fault, the attendee will nevertheless be left with a slight feeling that he did something wrong, that he picked a wrong partner, that he shouldn't have come to the Game in the first place, etc, etc.

The purpose of the "Assessment", therefore, is to help indicate exactly what was wrong; that the problem was not "a lousy parter", but a particular communication problem, which could conceivably be handled. The attendee then feels better by being aware of exactly what the problem was, and by being aware that such things can be corrected.

The Assessment goes as follows:

"Incidentally, I'd like to ask a few questions. Would communication be an 'all right' subject to talk about for a moment?" They will usually nod agreement.

"Has anyone here ever tried to communicate with someone who monopolized the conversation and talked too much?" Nod, if anyone answers.

"Has anyone ever tried to communicate with someone who wouldn't really listen?" Again, nod, if answered.

"Has anyone ever tried to communicate with someone who had nothing interesting to say?

"How about this? Has anyone ever tried to communicate with someone who kept finding fault with you?

"Or, has anyone ever tried to communicate with someone who had his or her attention scattered all over the place?

"One last question. Has anyone ever tried to communicate with someone who had his or her attention fixed on something?

"As you can see, each of these is an important communication problem. And they do come up now and then. Sometimes, they even happen in a People Game. Of course the Game doesn't solve such problems, but it does show up differences between good and not-so-good communication. Naturally, we hope you've had no such problems this evening, but if you did you might be interested in some of the books on the subject listed in the brochure."

That is the Communication Assessment. It may be a little long to memorize, but I cannot stress enough how important it is to the ending of the Game. People aren't bad; they are basically good. But, often, they have communication problems. And those problems make them seem bad. When a person comes to realize that it was the communication that was bad rather than the other person he can relax and feel better about himself as well as about the other person.

Please be sure to do the assessment, and you will see what I mean. If you can't memorize it, read it out of the book!