Lesson 4 Active Listening - Key to Effective Communication

Good communication skills

• Expressing yourself plainly and clearly

• Communicating effectively with clients, customers, and vendors

• Communicating well with managers and subordinates

*Written communication skills are also important for a manager

Listening

• Best communicators are often the best listeners (not the best speakers)

• Speaking is half the communication model

– Must listen and understand the other person

• Speaking is the easier side of communication

– Know what you are trying to say

• Listening involves knowing the background of the situation, etc. and understanding

Active listening

• Focus on what is being said

– Then know how to respond

– Able to identify and capture requirements accurately

Active listening techniques

• Look at the speaker

– Make eye contact

– Helps speaker feel at ease

• Invest the time

– Dedicate time to someone else

– Do not take phone calls or other business during this time

– Doing other things makes the other person feel his or her business is unimportant

Active listening techniques

• Show an interest

– Do not look as if you would rather be somewhere else

– Avoid looking at other work, checking watch, etc.

• Other person feels as if he or she is wasting time

– Choose to engage verbally and non-verbally

• Leaning toward other person

• Nodding when appropriate

• Smile when appropriate

Active listening techniques

• Clear your biases

– People tend to make sense of information based on their individual experiences

– May selectively hear parts of a discussion that support their point of view

• Draw the speaker out

– Sometimes speaker does not have good skills or is uncomfortable

– Previous techniques help with speaker’s communication

– Follow-up questions also help understanding

Nonverbal techniques

• Listen!

– Conscious attempt to make time to listen

– Resist urge to voice opinion

• Let other person speak (within reason)

– Do not cut him or her off

– Let other express opinion

– Speaker may become annoyed and lose the thought if interrupted

Nonverbal techniques

• Observe non-verbal expressions

– Majority of information in discussion expressed non-verbally

• Easier to communicate in person than on phone

– Look for non-verbal clues

• Leaning back with arms crossed: disagreeing with you

• Red-eyed: upset

Nonverbal techniques

• Avoid using distracting non-verbal expressions

– Be cognizant of your non-verbal behavior

– Rolling eyes signals disagreement

– Checking watch often signals you wish to be somewhere else

– Yawning shows you are bored or tired

– Playing with objects show you are preoccupied or bored

– Tapping fingers signals impatience or boredom

– Crossing arms shows resistance to other’s opinion

– Placing feet on desk shows disrespect

Verbal techniques

• Encouraging statements

– Show your interest

– Keep other person talking

• Restating and summarization

– Repeat and validate you understood and heard correctly

• Reflecting

– Similar to restating but include other’s feelings

Other tips

• May need to interrupt listening to speak to manager or sponsor

– Keep interruptions to minimum

– Note importance of interruption

– Apologize in advance

• Restate commitments to avoid misunderstanding

• People can learn to be good listeners

– Critical skill for managers

• Employees should feel manager is concerned with them as people as well as their opinions

Summary

• A good communicator needs to be a good listener

• Practice the active listening techniques

• Nonverbal techniques include listening, observing, and avoiding demonstrating poor nonverbal behavior

• Verbal techniques include restating and asking the speaker questions