Listening and Feedback in Organizational Relationships Chapter 3, Business and Professional Communication, DiSanza and Legge

Recall Listening Correctly interpret and remember the content of another person’s message. Receive the message Attend to the message Assign meaning to the message Remember the message

Keys to Good Recall Listening Motivate yourself to listen Focus on content, not delivery Defer judgment Take advantage of thought speed Listen for meaning Take notes

Empathic Listening Builds rapport and provides appropriate and effective feedback. Open-mindedness Listening with enthusiasm Displaying concern for the speaker Appropriate turn taking Exchanging ideas

Attitude of Acceptance Recognize and accept others’ emotions and the experience(s) that generate these emotions. Often represented nonverbally as well as verbally. Example

Feedback Effective and productive feedback can confirm or reject Confirms 1. the content of the conversation, and 2. accepts the experience or emotion the person presents Rejects content, BUT still validates the person’s experience or emotional reactions Example

Disconfirmation - Signals indifference - Shows lack of communication competence - Creates ineffective, negative relationships - Leads to lower morale - Reduces productivity - Leads to other organizational problems. In essence, disconfirmation is failure to communicate.

Disconfirmation Messages: Avoiding involvement Tangential or irrelevant remarks Imperviousness Disqualification

Read the following. In your opinion, which is the best response and why? Speaker: I can’t believe I have to redo this entire budget report. I really worked hard on this project and now I have to do it all over again. Listener 1: That’s no so bad; most people find they have to redo their first reports. That’s the norm here. Listener 2: So what? You don’t intend to stay at this job. Anyway, you’re getting paid by the hour, so what do you care? Listener 3: You should be pleased that all you have to do is a simple rewrite. Both Peggy and Michael had to completely redo their entire projects. Listener 4: You have to rewrite that report you’ve worked on for the last 3 weeks? You sound really angry and frustrated.

Active Listening Helps you check your understanding of what the speaker said and what the speaker meant. Lets the speaker know you acknowledge and accept her or his feelings. Stimulates the speaker to explore feelings and thoughts so the speaker can work through them.

Techniques for Active Listening Paraphrase the speaker’s meaning. Express understanding of the speaker’s feelings. Ask questions.

Principles of Active Listening suggest Response #4 is best to show empathy for the speaker. Speaker: I can’t believe I have to redo this entire budget report. I really worked hard on this project and now I have to do it all over again. Listener 4: You have to rewrite that report you’ve worked on for the last 3 weeks? You sound really angry and frustrated.

Exercise