Are You Listening to Me? How to Make Sure That Someone Does
WHY LISTENING IS SO HARD: Right now, there are at least three causes: 1) the way our brains work; 2) modern distractions; and 3) lack of education.
A WIRING PROBLEM: Hearing is our fastest sense. Once a sound wave reaches our ear, our brain can recognize it in just 0.05 seconds. (By contrast, it takes about 0.2 seconds for your brain to understand the light that reaches your eyes.) We speak at a rate of about 150 words per minute (wpm), but we can hear at a rate of about 1,000 wpm.
INSTEAD OF LISTENING, WE… Interrupt, try to finish the other person’s sentences, jump to conclusions, daydream, flip through papers, make up our mind before we have all the information, look at our phone, watch our computer screens, try to change the subject to something that relates to our own experiences, think more about our reply than about what the speaker is saying, or listen to win, instead of listening to learn.
WE DON’T PRIORITIZE LISTENING: When was the last time you took a listening class? Never, right? Yet, many of us have taken speaking classes or leadership workshops. These generally focus on rhetoric or persuasion skills but rarely on listening.
What Should You Do?
LEADERSHIP AND LISTENING: One of the most important things we can learn as leaders is how to listen, but we rarely do. Many times, all we really need to resolve a sticky conflict, calm down a staff member, or convince an important colleague to stay is to make the speaker feel really heard.
HOW TO MAKE SURE YOUR STAFF FEELS HEARD:
- Focus: don’t multitask when they are talking;
- Listen to learn not to win;
- Use active listening skills – summarize back to the speaker what you think they said;
- Use the phone or in-person conversations whenever possible; and
- Model good listening and teach your staff listening skills.
For more lessons on listening read: COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY DURING CONFLICT
What Do You Think?
Is politics an issue in your workplace? Call or write us: 303-216-1020 or email: Lynne@workplacesthatwork.com
Did You Know
Effective Workplace Communication Workshop
Thursday, October 1
Webinar: 10:00 am to 12:00 pm (PDT)
We are pleased to offer a complimentary training for a select number of our client leaders. Our Effective Workplace Communication webinar, taught by author Lynne Eisaguirre, will help make your organization more productive by saving time wasted on ineffective communication and as a result,
will help to improve personal and corporate performance.
This two-hour webinar will allow you to sample our newest offering and covers skills for the most challenging conversations that your people may encounter, including:
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- Ensuring that your organization’s workplace conversations are consistent with the law, your policies and your values.
- Advice on what, how and when you should raise your most pressing concerns.
- What words and tone work to talk about important issues.
- Making sure that your team listens to what you say.
- Tackling conflict with improved skill.
This training includes case studies, videos, polls and many question and answer opportunities to keep the workshop flowing, lively and interactive.
Here is what participants are saying:
“Lynne was very informative and on point with each and every subject also giving the right examples 10/10!”
“Super helpful information! This is great to know throughout your career in any company.”
“Great! Webinar went over everything point-by-point and it was very clear and easy to follow.”
Please reply to lynne@workplacesthatwork.com, or call us at: 303-216-1020, to reserve your complimentary seat for our Effective Workplace Communications webinar scheduled for October 1st, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm PDT.
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All our leadership and management classes emphasize communication skills. Call or write us at: 303-216-1020 or Lynne@workplacesthatwork.com
Read Lynne’s book “The Power of a Good Fight” and learn to embrace conflict to drive productivity, creativity and innovation.
September 28, 2020
