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TRANSCRIPT
12/10/2013
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Presented by Laurie Ribble Libove, author of Learning to Listen
What You Will Learn Today
The rewards of being a good listener.
The ways that listening online differs from listening in person.
Techniques to master the internal work of listening.
How to prove you’re listening in a digital workplace.
Ways to create a culture of listening in your organization.
In a world where everyone is talking,
does listening still matter?
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But what’s in it for the person
who is doing the listening?
The Personal Rewards of Listening
Build rapport
Gain information
Develop insight
The Organizational Rewards of Listening:Develop Employees + Support Performance
Leadership
Meeting Facilitation
Customer Service / Sales
Performance Management
Negotiation / Conflict Resolution
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But thanks to the digital workplace,
it’s more challenging than ever.
Chat with Us About Listening
What do you find to be the biggest obstacle
to effective listening?
Use your chat window to tell us what you think.
Fundamental Challenges of Listening
Managing internal distractions
Overcoming external distractions
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Digital Challenges of Listening
More incoming “channels”
Extreme multitasking
Interrupt-driven
Responsiveness expectation
Lack of nonverbal cues
Global, 24 x 7 environment
Open work environments
How to Meet the Challenges?
Strengthen fundamental listening skills.
Leverage or manage technology, as appropriate.
Think in terms of a range of listening situations.
Develop fluency and flexibility across that range.
Allocate listening capacity based on situation.
Develop organizational “language” and norms for listening.
How to Strengthen FundamentalListening Skills
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A Behavioral Model of Listening
Staying Focused:
It’s an inside job.
Capturing the Message:Proving You’re Focused
The Invisible Work The Visible Work
Maintaining an open mind.
Avoiding premature evaluation/judgment.
Listening to understand rather than listening to reply.
Interacting with the speaker to clarify, summarize, and confirm your understanding.
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Helping the Speaker
What does listening look like?
Poll
Which aspect of listening in-person are you most skilled at?
a. Staying Focused
b. Capturing the Message
c. Helping the Speaker
d. I'm good at all three!
Q: If I’m good at listening in-person, does that mean I’ll be good at listening in a digital workplace?
A: Not necessarily
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How do you extend fundamental listening skills to the digital workplace?
Staying Focused in a Digital Workplace
Consider a daily practice that boosts mindfulness.
Schedule intense listening for when you are most alert.
Limit multitasking as much as possible.
Use noise-filtering headphones.
Maximize whatever screen you’re on, block pop-up alerts.
Another Way to Deflect Interruptions
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Capturing the Message in a Digital Workplace
Practice neutrality of thought. Keep a “don’t know” mind.
Resist the temptation to compose a response until you have received a reply.
Read posts, Yelps, or IM messages TWICE before replying.
Ask the “speaker” to repeat or re-state his/her message if you are unsure of what he/she said or intended.
Have a few “go to” follow-up questions.
Helping the “Speaker” in a Digital Workplace
Respond or acknowledge as quickly as possible.
Connect with emotion first, content second.
Match the speaker’s language and tone.
Use standard conversation cues and transitions.
Ask short, targeted questions.
Re-state any decision, agreement, or next steps.
Make closure/completion obvious.
When we receive consistently prompt, thoughtful, high-quality, relevant, personalized responses.
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How Do You Prove You’re Listening Online?
Manage your perceived presence.
Prioritize promptness/responsiveness.
Individualize/customize boilerplate responses.
Follow-up on feedback/comments.
Moderate discussions, taking action as needed.
Take the conversation in a new direction.
Remove “off topic” or hostile posts/comments.
Listening to Customers Online
Listening to Customers Online
“No Vegas hotel could be worth this wait. Over an hour to check in at the Aria. #fail.”
Unfortunately, the Aria wasn't listening, and didn’t tweet back to me. But a competitor was listening. Just two minutes later, I received a tweet from the Rio Hotel down the street.
“Sorry about your bad experience, Dave. Hope the rest of your stay in Vegas goes well.”
Source: The 1 Thing Every Business Executive Must Understand About Social Media, Dave Kerpen on LinkedIn, February 7, 2013
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Both!
To listen effectively, sometimes you need to leverage technology. Other times you need to manage it.
Ways to Leverage Technologyfor Better Listening
Keep your availability status current with reality.
Use keyboard shortcuts and custom autofill.
Learn IM lingo and etiquette.
Establish automatic alerts.
Track keywords.
Match the device to the listening task.
Use Skype, FaceTime, video conferencing.
Ways to Manage Technology for Better Listening
Attend a digital detox or observe digital Sabbath.
Use browser lock-outs and do-not-disturb settings.
Reserve low-tech or no-tech environments (i.e., “dumb conference rooms”.)
Enforce device-free zones and meetings.
Go on a silence retreat.
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Don’t waste precious “deep” listening capacity on shallow situations.
How to Assess a Listening Situation
Uniqueness
Complexity
Intensity
Risk/Importance
Range of Listening
Routine
Simple, tactical
Familiar relationship
Mild emotion
Short-term, limited impact
Exceptional
Complex, strategic
New relationship
Strong emotion
Long-term impact
Shallow Deep
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How to Allocate Individual and Organizational Listening Capacity
Consider Your Needs Consider Your Listeners
What is the volume of shallow listening demands?
What is the volume of deep listening demands?
What is the skill level?
Where are there natural strengths?
Are there development goals?
Building a culture of listening pays dividends.
Who Does Listening Matter To?
Employees
Customers
Suppliers
Partners
Investors
Regulators
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Ways to Create a Culture of Listening
Build individual skill in listening fundamentals.
Develop a shared language about listening.
Acknowledge differences between listening in person and listening online.
Provide technology tools for listening online.
Design work environment for a range of listening demands.
Implement “listening tours” with key stakeholders.