Communicating at Work

Chapter Outline The Importance of Listening Chapter 4 Listening Chapter Outline The Importance of Listening Barriers to Effective Listening Listening Styles Listening More Effectively Types of Listening © Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2005

The Importance of Listening Listening is one of Stephen Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” “The better you listen, the luckier you will get.” – Kevin Murphy Of all business skills, Listening is the most important and prevalent © Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2005

Barriers to Effective Listening Misunderstandings: the rule, not the exception Physiological Barriers Hearing deficiencies Rapid thought and Generative Listening Environmental Barriers Physical distractions: cold, noise Communication channel noise Overloaded communicant © Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2005

Barriers to Effective Listening Attitudinal Barriers Preoccupation Egocentrism Fear of appearing ignorant Abdication of responsibility of conversation Assumption that listening is passive Assumption that talking is more advantageous than listening © Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2005

Barriers to Effective Listening Big people monopolize the listening. Small people monopolize the talking. ― David J. Schwartz © Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2005

Barriers to Effective Listening Sociocultural differences Cultural differences Accent Degree of experience with differing speech styles Conversational parameters, such as topic flow and use/prevalence of silence Gender differences Listening purpose and ambiguous conversational events Status and competition for others’ attention © Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2005

Barriers to Effective Listening Lack of training Though most people listen, few listen well Listening skills are becoming part of a company’s training programs © Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2005

Listening Styles People-oriented Action-oriented Content-oriented Creating and maintaining positive relationships Action-oriented Accomplishing the task at hand Content-oriented Evaluating an issue from a variety of perspectives Time-oriented Efficient use of time as a resource © Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2005

Listening More Effectively Minimize distractions Talk less Pay attention to verbal cues Pay attention to nonverbal cues © Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2005

Listening More Effectively Ask questions Sincere questions Counterfeit questions Statements and advice Traps Hidden agendas Leading questions Paraphrase © Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2005

Listening More Effectively Paraphrase Verify and Clarify Paraphrasing content “So we will talk after dinner, which is at 6?” Paraphrasing intent “You are doing this to see who’s interested?” Paraphrasing feeling “You seem disappointed.” © Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2005

Types of Listening Listening for information Withhold judgment Be opportunistic Look for an outline or thesis Take notes Repeat what you’ve heard © Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2005

Types of Listening Evaluative listening Get info before evaluating Consider the speaker’s motives Examine the data Judge credentials Examine emotional appeals © Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2005

Types of Listening Listening to help Five categories of helping responses Advising Analyzing Questioning Supporting Paraphrasing Avoid being judgmental Take time © Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2005