Business Communication LISTENING

What is Listening Communication begins with listening It is a deliberate effort While listening we must discriminate, evaluate, appreciate and react. “The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them.”

The Process of Listening

Features Paying attention: One has to resist distractions and tune out noise. Focus on the other speaker in a generous way: Sometimes people listen looking for flaws. They focus on matters other than the substance of the talk. This must be avoided Avoid making assumptions: Many listening errors come from faulty assumptions. We should never ignore instructions thinking it is unnecessary. Listen for ‘feelings’ as well as ‘facts’: -- We must consciously listen for feelings -- We must pay attention to tone of voice, facial expression and body language --We must never assume silence means consent.

Importance Listening is vital to any organization. It can improve quality, boost productivity and save money. Listening skills can help in learning important information such as how a contract should be drawn up, how the management expects to make up for a bad sales year etc The information you gather from listening can also help you present your own ideas and needs more successfully and make advancement in your career.

Listening to prospective customers can help you in selecting the best product or system you have for their individual needs. Listening to prospective customers lets them know you are interested in their needs-not just making a sale. Carefully listening to subordinates or so-workers suggestions lets them know that they are important to you and that you value their suggestions. Careful listening aids an organization in carrying out its mission

Pre-requisites of listening Positive interest- An active listener must have the positive attitude that something of interest or value is likely to reward his attention to even a least promising topic Preparation- Any background information helps in making a person a better listener. Silence- It is necessary to maintain silence while listening to someone

Listening to the message- We have to learn to concentrate on the message and refuse to be distracted by the speaker’s voice, idiosyncrasies or clumsy use of visual aid. Allow the person to finish- We generally don’t hear the speaker talking, because we are already planning our replies. Avoid prejudice- Having a prior opinion about what is being said can close our minds to the speaker’s arguments

Time and place- Planned interview time makes for better listening, and the planning should include appropriate surroundings and also removal of interruptions Integrity- A good listener is one who respects confidence and helps maintain the trust which is very essential.

Types Informational listening Evaluative listening Emphatic listening

Informational listening This is the most common type of listening. We use informational listening to accurately understand a wide variety of message. For e.g.-a caller’s phone number, a supervisor’s instruction, a customer’s need etc. Strategies to improve informational listening: With hold judgment- A common mistake we all make is to confuse informational listening with evaluative listening, forgetting that your original goal was to learn not to criticize. Be opportunistic- Sometimes the ideas of the speaker are highly boring or irrelevant ,in a situation like this we must use our ability of being able to think 3 times faster than the speaker talks to ask questions.

Look for the main and supporting points- Your ability to listen will improve if you can identify the reason behind the speaker’s thesis. Ask questions and paraphrase- Questions are one of the best ways of building understanding. Paraphrasing is a valuable tool too. You can paraphrase by periodically describing in our own words what you understand the speaker to be saying.

Take notes- Taking notes is a valuable tool to remember all the important details that were discussed. Repeat what you heard- When taking notes is not possible, repeating what is said is affective

Evaluative listening A good listener does not jump to conclusions based on a bias or incomplete information. A careful listener will weigh and analyze the evidence before reaching a decision. Pointers for effective evaluative listening— Seek information before evaluating- As obvious as this seems, it is tempting to begin judging an idea before we know enough.

Examine the speaker’s supporting data— As an evaluative listener, you need to ask yourself several questions about the evidence a speaker gives you to support his or her statements. You must make sure that the evidence given is valid. Consider the speaker's motives— An argument carries more weight when the speaker doesn’t have a personal stake in the outcome of our decision.

Consider the speaker’s credentials— A statement when made by a qualified person has more value than the statement made by someone else.. Competence is not universal: a person can be an expert in one area and less qualified in others. Examine emotional appeals— Sometimes emotional reactions are a valid basis for action. In some cases though, emotional appeals can obscure important logical considerations that might dissuade you from accepting a proposal.

Emphatic listening The primary goal of emphatic listening is to help the speaker in some way or another. Sometimes the help is personal and at other times, the help meets organizational goals. Various categories of emphatic listening are— Advising— Sometimes advice is appropriate, especially on technical matters.

Analyzing— Analysis is especially helpful when you have more experience or insight than the listener. Questioning— The right questions can help you analyze a problem and offer good advice and help the other person recognize important facts that were previously buried.

Supporting— Support can sometimes provide a moral boost, giving someone added strength to face a tough situation. Paraphrasing— Paraphrasing is restating the speaker’s message in your own words. Here, however, the restatement should include both the speaker’s thoughts and the listener’s feelings.

Reasons for Poor Listening Message overload— It is hard to listen carefully when the phone rings every few minutes, people keep dropping in to give you quick messages, and you’re trying to organize your notes for a quick presentation. Coping with a deluge of information is like juggling, you can only keep a few things going at one time. Preoccupation— Business and personal concerns make it difficult to keep your mind on the subject at hand.

Rapid thought— Listeners can process information at a much faster rate than the speaker delivers. This difference leaves a great deal of mental spare time which often led the mind to wander. Physical distractions— A stuffy room, noisy machinery, the cold you feel coming on are only a few of the distractions that can make listening difficult.

Hearing problems— Some people suffer from hearing deficiencies and the biggest problems come up when a hearing problem goes undetected. Faulty assumptions— One common, though mistaken, belief is that the responsibility for successful communication lists with the sender. Even the most thoughtful, well expressed idea is wasted if the intended receiver fails to listen thus both the speaker and the listener share the burden of reaching and understanding

Barriers Avoiding difficult listening situations— Many of us watch television programmes that take no effort to absorb, rather than watching debates, documentaries etc. Tolerating distractions— We often this practice this habit unaware that distractions for most speakers and listeners alike, decrease the quality of our communication.

Faking attention— We have learned to fake attention as our educational process has conditioned us to look as if we are listening. Criticizing speaking style— Everybody has a different speaking style. We cant afford to let mannerisms keep us from getting important points from the message. We must focus on listening

Majoring in minors— At times we make an effort to remember only those facts that stand out and miss out on the speaker's main point. Thus we may fall into the habit of picking and choosing only selected tidbits to process. Wasting the thinking-speaking time differential.— Most speakers can use upto 150 words in a minute but we can listen at a much faster rate. If a person speaks too slowly then we may get into the habit of daydreaming, thus wasting precious time.

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