Listening Builds the Bridge of Understanding

Listening 

 

Listening is one of the most important skills one can have.  How well you listen has a major impact on your job efficiency, and on the quality of your relationships with others. 

We listen to acquire information.
We listen to comprehend.
We listen for pleasure.
We listen to learn.

Given all this listening we do, you would think we would find ourselves to be good at it!

In fact most of us are not. Depending on the study being quoted, we recall between 25% and 50% of what is heard. That means that when you talk to your boss, colleagues, clients or spouse for 10 minutes, they pay attention to less than half of the conversation. This is depressing!

Turn it around and it shows that when you are getting directions or being shown with information, you aren't hearing the whole message either. You hope the important parts are captured in your 25-50%, but what if they're not? 

Clearly, listening is a skill that we can all benefit from improving. By becoming a better listener, you will not only improve your productivity, as well as your ability to influence, persuade and negotiate. What's more, you'll prevent conflict and misunderstandings. All of these are necessary for workplace success!

Good communication skills need a high level of self-awareness. By understanding your personal style of communicating, you will go a long way towards creating good and lasting impressions with others.

The way to become a better listener is to work on our "active listening". This is where you make a conscious effort to hear not only the words that another person is saying but, more importantly, try to understand the complete message being sent. 

In order to do this you must pay attention to the other person very carefully.  You cannot allow yourself to become distracted by whatever else may be going on around you, or by forming counter arguments that you will create when the other person stops speaking. Nor can you let yourself to get bored, and lose focus on what the other person is talking about. All of these add to a lack of listening and understanding.

Suggestion: If you're finding it particularly difficult to concentrate on what someone is saying, try repeating their words mentally as they say them – this will reinforce their message and help you stay focused.

To enhance your listening skills, you need to let the other person know that you are listening to what he or she is saying. To understand the importance of this, ask yourself if you've ever been engaged in a conversation when you wondered if the other person was listening to what you were saying.

 You wonder if your message is getting across, or if it's even worthwhile continuing to speak. It feels like talking to a brick wall and it's something you want to avoid. 

Acknowledgement can be something as simple as a nod of the head or a simple "uh huh." You aren't necessarily agreeing with the person, you are simply indicating that you are listening. Using body language and other signs to acknowledge you are listening also reminds you to pay attention and not let your mind wander.

You should also try to respond to the speaker in a way that will both encourage him or her to continue speaking, so that you can get the information if you need. While nodding and "uh huhing" says you're interested, an occasional question or comment to recap what has been said communicates that you understand the message as well. 

It takes a lot of awareness and willpower to be an active listener. Old habits are hard to break, and if the listening habits you have are as bad as many people's are, then there's a lot of habit-breaking to do to become a better communicator!

Be conscious with your listening and remind yourself regularly that your goal is to truly hear what the other person is saying to you. Set aside all other thoughts and behaviors and concentrate on the message. Be sure to ask questions, reflect, and paraphrase to ensure you realize the message. 

If you don't, then you'll find that what someone says to you and what you hear can be incredibly different!  Start using active listening today to become a better communicator, improve your environment such as your workplace productivity, and develop better relationships both personal and professional.