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The art of listening

Lee Iacocca once said, “Business people need to listen as much as they need to talk. Too many people don't realize that communication works both ways. "Your quote reminds us that if we are dealing with a manager, clients or co-worker we have to cultivate the art of listening. The definition of the word art denotes a skill gained through experience, study, and observation, it tells us that we will have to work hard to become a good listener.

Why is it so important to develop this art?

Listening effectively shows respect and consideration for those with whom you work. Helps you report to others who show you care. Most importantly, it allows you to create a workspace where employees listen and are heard, thus giving you the tools to reach your full potential in your work environment.

Sadly, statistics show that an untrained listener only retains 50% of a conversation and this drops to a 25% retention rate 48 hours later. So the problem we are faced with is that we might think that we are good listeners, when in fact we are not. Experts suggest that we will make at least one listening mistake a day. The results of that mistake could be costly.

Is it easy to rectify our bad habits by listening? No, it definitely takes a lot of effort on our part.

Just think that we spend years learning to read and write, but we don't spend time on listening skills. So where do we start? Well, here are some tips to help you move in the right direction:

Silence is one of your main tools to be a good listener. How often do we not interrupt when someone speaks to us? You cannot hear if you are speaking. If you continually interrupt, the other person will give up in frustration. If we don't keep quiet, we won't get the whole picture.

Naturally, we cannot be silent all the time, so we must balance this with other techniques. For example, the regular use of effective questions allows you to better understand the discussion. This also tells the speaker that we have not only heard what they are saying, but that we are looking for more information. Therefore, this promotes a two-way dialogue.

When listening, face the other person and give your full attention. Eliminate the white noise around you, focus on what they are saying. This allows you to maintain eye contact at all times.

Don't judge what you are hearing. Doing this will compromise your ability to assimilate what is being said. Wait until the speaker has finished to evaluate the information, then you will have the whole picture.

Don't keep interrupting, not only does it interrupt the person's train of thought, but it also shows disrespect, destroying a productive conversation.

Be an active listener by paraphrasing what was said to the speaker. This shows that you understand his concerns.

Use verbal affirmations like "I know or Thank you." "Are you saying that?" "Did you mean that?"

The art of listening also involves us listening to non-verbal communication. Did you know that between 60 and 75% of our communication is non-verbal? This means that you must capture what a person's body is saying.

The environment in which you have the discussion is very important. It is challenging to have a meaningful conversation when there is a lot of background noise. Find a quiet place to sit and listen.

Here are some tips for acquiring the art of listening. As you can see, it's a skill set that will elevate your workplace, resulting in better results and productive teams. Developing this art is not easy, but at Successful Learning Solutions we are here to help you and your team through this complicated process.