About Calibration, Part 2
Calibrating others in change work
The success of any NLP intervention depends on the practitioner's ability to calibrate. When starting out in NLP it's easy to make the mistake of focusing on the process rather than the person. When you are working with someone you need sensory specific information to be sure the technique or intervention has had the desired effect - relying on the person's a self report is not sufficient.
Calibrating groups of people
We find ourselves working with groups of people in many situations, such as in meetings and training events. This is when calibrating shifts into another dimension. We're not only observing signals in individuals but also looking for patterns of behavior within the group.
When working with a group you may identify certain states that are useful. If, for instance, you're presenting to a group you're likely to want them to pay attention. If you are delivering a training session it would be useful for the participants to be in a learning state. Calibrating with groups means using your sensory acuity to detect the non-verbal behaviors that indicate to you the group are in the desired state.
Of course, a group is made up of individuals and there will be differences in how they respond. This will also vary over time. If you are working with a large group it's possible to pick out certain individuals to calibrate. When you're clear how a person responds when he or she is bored, this person's behavior can act as an indicator to you that you need to take some action to liven up the proceedings for everyone. The art of calibrating groups lies in observing how non-verbal responses change according to the interventions you and other group members make.
Calibrating your own responses
One of the most beneficial things you can do is to calibrate your own responses to what you're doing or considering. You might notice, for instance, a nagging feeling of doubt when something doesn't feel quite right. You may even be able to detect where in your body you experience this feeling of uncertainty. Or there might be an internal voice or some other sensory-based expression of incongruence. Some people also experience a feeling of alignment or a sense of being centered that suggests to them that they are taking the right course of action. In NLP this is known as congruence.
By tuning in to your own internal signals for congruence you are able to question an intended course of action rather than ploughing ahead without first resolving your cause for concern.