I had the privilege of doing a comprehensive Serving Leader course through one of my jobs. Honestly, at the time I did not love the course – it took time for me to appreciate the content. One of the the concepts I adapted to slowly but now is a part of my life, is the process of rounding. In rounding each person has a timed amount to talk and during that time no one can interrupt. The conversation continues around to each person without questions or other interruptions until everyone is done.
Shortly after practicing it at work it became glaringly apparent that our dinner table was just a whole bunch of loud talking and not a lot of listening. So, we adapted a serving leader approach. Each kid shares a good thing and a bad thing from the day. (Usually they also ask to each share a silly thing which adds a nice amount of dinner-time giggles). Someone starts and everyone has to listen. Then we move around the table to each member of the family. It is truly a skill to listen without interrupting and certainly isn’t the easiest to learn. We have a long way to go before there is a dinner without any interruptions, but it has taught my kids to listen and wait their turn to speak – a skill that will serve them well in life.