Building a Listening Organization PMI-NEW presents.. Building a Listening Organization

Are you Listening? Listening is not an automatic response to an individual who is sending a verbal message. The ability to receive the message and understand all that the speaker intends to communicate takes active participation on the part of the listener. Because it is the method by which we receive the majority of our information, it is vital that this mode be as efficient as possible. Like any skill, it can be improved through better technique and consistent practice.

8 Reasons to Listen! L = Legendary Status! I = Information “Learning is not compulsory… neither is survival.” W. Edwards Deming S = Satisfaction “You can make more friends in two months by becoming really interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” Dale Carnegie

T = Team building: You can’t make a centipede by gluing a bunch of ants together. E = Empowerment: “Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand.” Brenda Ueland N = Negotiation “If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.” George Bernard Shaw

Are Your Listening? U = Understanding: “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” George Bernard Shaw P = Problem Solving: “A consultant is someone who looks at your watch and tells you what time it is.”

Reason Why Humans are Poor Listeners Are You Listening? http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/penelope---therapy/n12399?snl=1 Reason Why Humans are Poor Listeners

Reasons Humans are Poor Listeners Humans are never really taught how to listen. “Most people don’t listen to understand…they listen to reply.” Steven Covey Humans have very short attention spans. Humans are cognitive. Humans are very easily distracted.

Reasons Humans are Poor Listeners Humans can listen at twice the rate of human speech. Humans listen with different frames of reference. Most people are terrible speakers. Cognitive Dissonance and Selective Perception are common human characteristics.

Improve Your Listening Skills Are You Listening? Improve Your Listening Skills

IMPROVE YOUR LISTENING SKILLS: Hold your tongue. Remove external distractions. Evaluate your listening environment. Remove internal distractions: Clear your mind. Show the speaker you are interested: Give the speaker your undivided attention

IMPROVE YOUR LISTENING SKILLS: Be patient. Timing is critical. Recognize fatigue and diminishing returns. Overcome bias and barriers. Use Parroting and Paraphrasing.

“One cannot hit a target one cannot see.” ~Zen~ I want to be a better listener and this is what I plan to do…