Organization and Communication

Carla J. McCoy

Unit 5 Discussion Board – MGT110

April 18th, 2009

American InterContinental University

Effective Listening

I actually found that there are a few tips people can take on learning how to effectively

listen. Listening is actually a hard thing to do because people are accustomed to concentrating on

what they say rather than what they are hearing which makes this an actual difficult thing to do

for most. Inside of every human being there are internal auditors that must listen to rationales,

explanations and defenses. Let’s review a few tips that will help identify the things people need

to know to effectively listen. The first thing we need to do is Concentrate on what other people

are actually saying. Sometimes it’s hard to listen to someone when they are listening because

even though we are listening to them we are not effectively listening to them because our minds

wander off in various other areas such as our jobs, or something on your to do list that has a

deadline that’s nearing or even important family matters. Only then do we realize we haven’t

heard what the other person has said. It’s been proven through research that most humans speak

at a rate of 175 to 200 words per minute. Research has also proven that we are actually capable

of processing words at the rate of 600 to 1,000 words per minute. The unused brain power that

we have that isn’t listening to the other person can be a potential barrier to effective listening so

we must concentrate on what others are saying at all times. (Lewis & Graham, 2003)

The second tip that should be suggested here would be to send the nonverbal message

that you are actually listening to other people. It is always important to maintain eye contact with

the person speaking to you as well as nodding your head. Your body language can actually send

messages to the person speaking to you that lets them know whether or not you are actually

listening to them so it’s important not to use your hands to tinker with things around you.

Research Experts have stated that nonverbal messages are three times as powerful as verbal

messages so effective communication is very difficult when you are sending a nonverbal

message which shows you are not paying attention and listening to the other person. There are

other things one needs to take into consideration with effective listening which includes avoiding

early evaluations which basically is where you do not want to make immediate judgments about

what the person is saying to you. Mis-interpretation falls into this category all too often because

people discover they made judgments too quickly. You also need to avoid getting defensive and

not take what other people are saying to you personally because we all need to have the reality

that careful listening does not mean we have to agree with what others are saying. If you spend

too much time defending your decision or position, it then becomes obvious that you were not

listening. The reason for this is because this involves changing your role from listening to

proving or convincing others they are wrong. (Lewis & Graham, 2003)

Another tip would be to practice paraphrasing by re saying what the person just said to

you back to the but in your own words Paraphrasing will help improve you’re listening and

problem solving skills. Another area in effective listening would be to listen and observe for

feelings in other people because we not only need to listen and concentrate on what’s being said

but the way it’s being said. Take for instance if you have someone who is raising their voice

when they are speaking to you then more than likely they are angry or frustrated. If a person is

looking down when speaking to you then they are probably either embarrassed or shy. And last

but not least the last tip to offer in suggestion would be to ask questions. This clarifies what

another person has said to you as well as allows you to obtain additional information that may

not have been said. These are some good tips to effective listening. (Lewis & Graham, 2003)

Effective Meetings

There are six tips for suggestion that need to be well thought out prior to scheduling

anything. The first tip would be not to meet. If the information that you want to meet about can

be handled through the form of a memo, email or brief report then do that instead. There are two

keys to having effective meetings which are two-way information sharing and one-way

information dissemination. If a meeting needs to be scheduled under these circumstances it

would be merely to answer questions about any information you may have sent to others. Not

meeting when you don’t have to saves time and presents a message that the meetings that are

important to attend are necessary. The second tip would be to set objectives for the meeting if

you have to have one. What this does is allow you time to write down phrases you want the

group to see such as “By the end of the meeting, I want the group to… be able to list the top

three features of our newest product” This will help plan any meetings you may have. If your

objectives are concrete then your agendas will be more focused. (Meeting Guru, 2004)

The third tip would be to provide an agenda prior to any meeting such as A list of topics

that will be covered as well as a description of meeting objectives and a list that shows which

person will address which topic and for how long. An Agenda will need to include things such as

location, time, and date of the meeting. Background information is also very useful to bring to

the meetings because it will allow informed discussions on the meeting topic to prevail. The

fourth tip would be to Assign Meeting Preparation because giving each member of the meeting a

preparation helps significantly. If you happen to have a problem-solving meeting, this is where

the background information would come in handy because once the group reviews the

background information everyone can get down to business and provide a solution to problems.

The fifth tip would include Assigning Action Items because any discussion that takes place

among meetings needs to also have a decision on how to act on it. Statements that other members

may say are key comments that you need to listen for such as “that’s a topic for a different

meeting” or “we should really” If you can identify these key comments among members within

the meeting then this should trigger action items to get tasks done, hold other meetings, or

examine ideas. Follow-throughs need to be complete and this can be done by assigning tasks and

projects as they arise during these meetings. Let’s say one of the meeting members decides to get

off topic and discuss something that doesn’t have anything to do with the meeting, this type of

key comment will also need to be addressed in order to allow the meeting to stay on track.

(Meeting Guru, 2004)

Anytime you address key comments and statements and provide suggestions on action

items to examine issues this allows other participants to see that you value their input. And last

but not least you need to Examine your Meeting Process by reviewing questions at the end of all

meetings such as “What worked well in this meeting?” Members should be able to give solid

answers to any questions you may ask and never leave a meeting without making a plan to

improve the next meeting and assessing what took place in the meeting you just had. These tips

will provide you with effective meetings. (Meeting Guru, 2004)

Project Reports

Anytime you have a Project Report you must include things such as Limitations of the

Project, Results of the Project, Background information on the issue or problem explored, Project

Objectives along with a Thesis statement, Hypothesis, Scope of the Project, General Procedures

that will be used, A Summary, Basic Assumptions about the Project, and a Project Adviser. The

Context needs to be presented in order to have a complete understanding of the project. In other

words the what, why and how of projects need to be included as well as any assumptions. The

background information may include why the project was chosen or to review the environment

and show what that was in it needed exploration. Assumptions will filter what is seen and unseen

and itemizing assumptions is very important. You will also need to keep the report organized by

using sections previously discussed as a guide for organization. An outline needs to be included

and then written out with a narrative format. You must keep it simple and also draw images or

pictures to make your point heard by using tables, or charts for example. Grammatical tips in

avoiding mistakes are also important so you need to use a consistent verb tense and also use

active voice instead of a passive voice. Formatting also is important because you need to use the

typeface with serifs, double space your reports, use simple title pages and fonts and number your

pages accordingly as well as identifying your work in the header. Citations are a must and need

to be referenced in standard form as well. (Stratton, S., 2009)

References

Lewis, T., & Graham, G., (2003) 7 tips for effective listening: productive listening does not

occur naturally. It requires hard work and practice – Back to Basics – effective listening

is a crucial skill for internal auditors. BNET. Retrieved on April 20th, 2009 from:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4153/is_4_60/ai_106863366/

Meeting Guru, (2004) Six Tips for More Effective Meetings SMART Technologies ULC, Your

Meeting Productivity Experts, Retrieved on April 20th, 2009 from:

http://www.effectivemeetings.com/meetingbasics/6tips.asp

Stratton, S., (2009) Writing Project Reports Developed for Kappa Omicron Nu Web Delivery.

The Structure of your Report, retrieved on April 20th, 2009 from:

http://www.kon.org/ppt/KON_ProjectReports.ppt