In today’s economy, we’d all agree that identifying ways to save billions of dollars might be worth a “listen”. According to Dr. Lyman Steil, every American worker commits at least one $10 listening mistake a year, collectively costing our nation more than one billion dollars a year!
What is a listening mistake? It is when active and accurate listening are not practiced and communication breaks down. The good news is that with a little practice and desire, everyone reading this article can become a more excellent listener.
Think about a time you were having a conversation with someone and they seemed disinterested, uncaring or simply incompetent. Did you walk away feeling you had wasted your time and would probably have to repeat yourself again? This happens to me too often when calling my utility companies, credit card organization, and more recently my mortgage lender. After repeating my request several times (to several people), the heat begins to rise and I find myself frustrated with someone who may be hearing my request for the first time.
Effective leaders and service-oriented employees strive to minimize these feeling when working with customer, internal or external. It is critical to hear and translate what someone is saying in to meaning resolution. Some easy ways to practice your active listening skills are:
• Ask questions
• Listen wholly and then respond –Check your emotions – control them
• Stay open (not defensive) See from their perspective, not your own
• Stay engaged with a mindset to resolve the issue
• Identify their desired outcome (what do they want?)
• What is their hurt? Identify their pain or hurt
• Figure out how you can help?
In the absence of active and accurate listening, we often times find ourselves attempting to resolve issues or problems that are not really what the other person cares about. When we listen well, the resolution to a problem is often times much simpler than we anticipated. When we diffuse emotion and ask the right questions, the other person can often times help us find an acceptable positive outcome. Without effective listening, we’re often left feeling confused about issues, concerns, and needs. Organizations lose a lot of emotional energy and operational productivity simply because of poor listening skills.
I recall an example of when I was a liaison for staff at a university and we decided to have a suggestion box put in the break room. We got some wild requests but we addressed every item mentioned. Although we were not able to implement all the requests, we were able to help staff feel they had a voice. Our workroom and break room were a large room with no way to designate one from the other. One of the requests was to put up a room divider so that those braking or having lunch were not disturbed. It was amazing how many more people used the break room and were grateful for the privacy this simple solution provided.
We want to challenge all of our leaders to practice active and accurate listening this week. Where can you help diffuse an emotional situation by listening for the underlying needs and desires of another person? Where can you engage another person in resolving their concern by asking the right question (s)? How can you set aside your own perspective and see life completely through the eyes of another person? Listening with this type of purpose and generosity is a precious gift to give someone else. Try it and see what happens as a result!
Author: Alane Taylor at The Talent Journey. Copyright protected, all rights reserved worldwide.
