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The Importance of Listening in the Workplace

Structure:  Introduction  Objectives  What is listening?  Barriers to Listening  Strategies for Effective Listening  Listening in a Business Context  General Discussion

The Importance of Listening in the Workplace


Structure:  Introduction  Objectives  What is listening?  Barriers to Listening  Strategies for Effective Listening  Listening in a Business Context  General Discussion

Introduction
 Listening is the most important of all the aspects of communication.  Listening precedes communication.  Listening is more frequent on job than speaking, reading or writing.  New model of business based on teamwork requires more effective listening skills than before for greater coordination.  We will understand true meaning of listening, examine some obstacles to listening and discuss methods to be adopted for better listening in the workplace.

The Importance of Listening in the Workplace


Structure:  Introduction  Objectives  What is listening?  Barriers to Listening  Strategies for Effective Listening  Listening in a Business Context  General Discussion

Objectives

 Distinguish Clearly between hearing and listening.  Categorize the main barriers to effective listening.  Assess our listening skills by adopting specific strategies.  Recognize the importance of listening in the workplace.

The Importance of Listening in the Workplace


Structure:  Introduction  Objectives  What is listening?  Barriers to Listening  Strategies for Effective Listening  Listening in a Business Context  General Discussion

What is Listening?
 Lundsteen states Listening is a highly complex process by which spoken language is converted to meaning in the mind.  Stephen Covey identified listening as one of the seven habits of highly effective people.  Listening is skill that can be cultivated and developed just like speaking, reading or writing.  Though listening and hearing are synonymous key difference is hearing is passive process and listening is active.  It means being alert to and understanding the meaning behind the speakers words.  Processing the information, reconstructing the information and also giving meaning to the information.

Types of Listening
 Discriminative Listening  Comprehension Listening  Evaluative Listening  Appreciative Listening  Empathetic Listening  Therapeutic Listening  Dialogic Listening

Discriminative Listening
 Most basic type of listening whereby the difference between the sounds is identified.  Difference in sounds expresses the meaning.  Difficult to speak the language of other country as we find sounds similar and do not understand the subtle differences.

Comprehensive Listening
 Once we discriminate between the different sounds, next step is to comprehend the meaning of these sounds.  To do this we require
      Dictionary of words Rules of grammar and syntax Need to understand speakers nonverbal behavior Meaning of nonverbal behavior Body Language Tone of voice

Evaluative Listening
 Involves making judgment about what the speaker is saying.  Listening critically and trying to assess if it is good, bad, worthy or unworthy.  We generally resort to this type of listening if we sense persuasion, change our behavior or convictions.  We have tendency to question the speaker.

Appreciative Listening
 Paying selective attention to certain kinds of information.  Relevant to us.  Meets our needs and goals.  Tendency is to appreciate such information better.  Listening to good music, poetry or powerful speech are examples of appreciative listening.

Empathetic Listening
 This type of listening we try to put ourselves in the other persons place.  Understand the moods, beliefs, goals and feelings behind the speakers words.  It requires following:
    Excellent discrimination. Paying attention to nuances of emotional signals. High degree of sensitivity. Tactful probing on the part of the listener.

 Examples are dealing with customer grievances, employee feedback, Performance review by manager.

Therapeutic Listening
 Listener tries to help speaker change or develop in some way more than just merely empathizing with the speaker.  In other words listener plays role of therapist and diagnosing the problem at hand and offering a remedy or solution.  Examples are social situations involving family or personal problems resolved through counseling.  Example of Manager doing performance review where he does counseling suggesting measures subordinate would take to improve performance in future.

Dialogic Listening
 This type of listening involves listening and learning through dialogues.  Listening is two-way rather than a one-way process.  Interchange of ideas and information between listener and speaker.  Active listening involving continuous clarifications, feedbacks and listener engaging in conversation with the speaker.  Since relation is established through exchange of ideas it is called as relational listening as well.

The Importance of Listening in the Workplace


Structure:  Introduction  Objectives  What is listening?  Barriers to Listening  Strategies for Effective Listening  Listening in a Business Context  General Discussion

Barriers to Listening
 Obstacles that stand in the way of effective listening.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Physiological Barriers Physical Barriers Attitudinal Barriers Wrong Assumptions Cultural Barriers Gender Barriers Lack of Training Bad Listening Habits

Barriers to Listening- Physiological


 Genuine hearing problems.  Difficulty in processing information.  Memory related problems.  Rapid thought (Listeners process information faster than speakers)

Barriers to Listening- Physical


 Distractions in Environment.( AC, Cigarette smoke or overheated room).  Information overload.  Example ringing of mobile phone during meeting with manager.

Barriers to Listening- Attitudinal


 Pre-occupied with personal or work related problems resulting in loss of focus even though the conversation is of prime importance.  Egocentrism or that you are more knowledgeable than speaker.  Nothing new to learn from speakers ideas. Closed mind attitude are poor listeners.

Barriers to Listening- Wrong Assumptions


 Success of communication depends on both sender and receiver. Listener has role to play as much as the speaker for effective communication.  Good presentation can go wasted if listener does not have active participation due to notion that its sole responsibility of speaker to deliver the message across the listeners.  Ask questions, agree or disagree with speaker, give feedback etc. as listening is active process rather than passive process of just hearing.  David J. Schwartz states Big people monopolize the listening, Small people monopolize the talking. Listeners are as important and as powerful as speakers.

Barriers to Listening- Cultural


 Different Accents based on different regions, countries etc.  Cultural Values ( Oriental and western values)  Orientals regard listening and silence as virtue whereas westerners attach greater importance to speaking.

Barriers to Listening- Gender


 Communication research has shown that gender can be a barrier to listening.  Studies have revealed that men and women listen very differently and for different purposes.  Women are more likely to listen for the emotions behind a speakers words, while men listen more for the facts and the contents.

Barriers to Listening- Lack of Training


 Listening is not an inborn skill. People are usually not born good listeners.  Lack of training in listening skills is an important barrier to listening.  Today many organizations all over the world incorporate listening skills in their training programs.

Barriers to Listening- Bad Listening habits


 Mostly people are average listeners.  Habit of faking attention or trying to look like active listener for the sake of impressing speaker.  Some listen to each and every facts but miss the key point.  Subject is too much technical or difficult to understand or subject itself is uninteresting.

The Importance of Listening in the Workplace


Structure:  Introduction  Objectives  What is listening?  Barriers to Listening  Strategies for Effective Listening  Listening in a Business Context  General Discussion

Strategies for Effective Listening


 Barriers can be overcome for effective listening through conscious efforts, training and practice.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Create a conducive environment. Select Face-to-face channels. Be open-minded and avoid distractions. Use Non-verbal clues to Indicate active listening. Use verbal Communication to Indicate Active Listening. Listen First Before Responding. Use the speaker-listener Gap constructively. Focus on the verbal and Non-verbal Message. Focus on the content, rather than the Delivery Ask Questions of yourself and Make notes.

Please refer to Page No. 62 A Good Listener table showing characteristics of good listener.

The Importance of Listening in the Workplace


Structure:  Introduction  Objectives  What is listening?  Barriers to Listening  Strategies for Effective Listening  Listening in a Business Context  General Discussion

Listening in a Business Context


   Effective listening is one of the essential qualities of a successful manager and rated as most crucial skills based on studies. It can boost productivity and profits. Listening errors can lead to costly errors such as retyping of important documents, rescheduling of important meetings and so on. As managers you will have to listen to superiors ,subordinates , customers and other stakeholders. Listening is found to be important in service industries, insurance industries, banking, healthcare etc. Listening to customers and then acting upon it.

  

Listening in a Business Context


 Customer orientation means identifying and then satisfying customer needs, which in turn involves listening to what the customer really wants. Customer can create negative word-ofmouth therefore it is necessary to satisfy and retain existing customers so that they remain loyal to your company. Some approaches for handling customer complaints and listening to customers are: Believe the customer. Listen Actively Apologize. Satisfy. Thank.

 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Listening in a Business Context Listening to Employees


  Upward communication to superiors must be encouraged. Upward communication may provide valuable suggestions from employees. During performance appraisal is one of the example as a part of downward communication. Manager can have blend of empathetic and therapeutic listening to enhance performance of the employee.

Listening in a Business Context Listening during Job Interviews.


 During hiring process both interviewer and interviewee have to be effective listener. During exit interview process interviewer have to do more listening to gather feedback from employee regarding his reasons for leaving the organization.

The Importance of Listening in the Workplace


Structure:  Introduction  Objectives  What is listening?  Barriers to Listening  Strategies for Effective Listening  Listening in a Business Context  General Discussion

General Discussion
 As a student of management, which types of listening would you need to practice most often. Describe any situation in your experience where the communication failed because the listening was faulty. Identify the barrier to listening in this situation and how you overcome this barrier.

Thank You

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