1. Communicating for Results, 10th edition
Chapter 4
Effective Listening
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

2. Communicating for Results, 10th edition
Chapter 4 Objectives
List two practical tips for improving your listening skills
Identify and describe the signs of poor listening
Distinguish among the main barriers to poor listening
Discuss several guidelines for improving listening
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

3. Communicating for Results, 10th edition
Effective Listening
Why is listening so important?
Because we do so much of it
Because the business world has observed it firsthand
Most working professionals recognize that listening is a skill that can and should be improved
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

4. Effective Listening in the Workplace
In the working world, most of us will need to listen to four groups of people:
Customers
Employees
Supervisors
Coworkers
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

5. Listening to Customers
By listening to customers, companies learn objective information about their products and services, learn how they relate to the competition, and learn what customers want
The “customer” has radically changed along with changes in technology
When customers perceive a salesperson or company is listening to them, they are more likely to trust, are more satisfied with, and more likely to do future business with that salesperson or company
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

6. Listening to Employees
Management can’t afford not to listen to employees
Listening to employees is way of showing support
If you are a supervisor, check your responses against list of nonacceptance responses
Employees in organizations that have been downsized, merged, or reengineered are likely to be insecure and feel that their ideas don’t matter
It is important to know that management will be open with them
Listening is key to communicating and understanding employees
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

7. Listening to Supervisors
Many employees are unaware of how important it is to show that they are listening
Can show they are sensing what the speaker is saying by maintaining good eye contact
Can show interest by other nonverbal behaviors
Too often when managers give instructions, they must guess whether employee is processing the information
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

8. Listening to Supervisors
Effective listening can help you improve your relationship with your boss:
Listen to know your supervisors and their instructions
Use that knowledge to guide your general interactions with your supervisors
Develop the expertise your supervisors value
Be wary of giving advice
Build off your supervisors’ ideas
Know how to praise appropriately
Don’t criticize your supervisors
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

9. Listening to Coworkers
Businesses depend on strong interpersonal relationships among coworkers
Relationship development depends on careful listening to coworkers
You may find yourself part of a cross-functional or virtual team where “listening” is made more difficult and stressful
Technology can improve communication
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

10. Listening to Coworkers
You may find the following global tips helpful:
Use humor as a morale booster
Learn to tolerate ambiguity
Explain your ideas completely and explicitly when members have few shared experiences
Show you are “listening”
Concentrate more on information gathering and sharing rather than persuasion
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

11. Signs of Poor Listening
There are signs that can alert you to poor listening skills on the job:
Breaking the chain of command
Learning about events too late
Always putting out fires
Information must be repeated
Tasks given to others
Increase in written communication
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

12. Increase in Poor Listening Habits
Poor listening habits include:
Calling the topic boring
Criticizing the speaker’s delivery
Orally or mentally interrupting to disagree
Listening only for facts
Takes detailed notes of everything
Pretending to listen
Tolerating or creating distractions
Avoiding difficult material
Reacting emotionally and tuning out speaker
Daydreaming during longer presentations
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

13. Barriers to Good Listening
Physical barriers
Most are not directly under our control
Personal barriers
Our physical well-being affects the listening process
Psychological distractions are another type of personal barrier
Attitudinal barriers against the speaker are still another barrier to listening
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

14. Communicating for Results, 10th edition
Gender Barriers
Gender differences can cause gender barriers to listening
Gender
Traditional masculine and feminine characteristics and behaviors influenced by culture and society
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

15. Communicating for Results, 10th edition
Gender Barriers
Women better at decoding nonverbal cues in messages
Women view communication as a cooperative tool
Women work harder to maintain discussions by initiating topics and by making supportive responses
Men talk more often and longer
Men view communication as a competitive tool
Men tend to interrupt more often
Men give minimal response cues during conversation
Men are less likely to ask questions
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

16. Communicating for Results, 10th edition
Gender Barriers
Both men and women tend to use tag questions at the end of comments
Women tend to be more tentative when the topic is masculine
Men are more tentative when the topic is feminine
Little difference appears when topics are gender neutral
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

17. Communicating for Results, 10th edition
Gender Barriers
Men are seen as more task oriented
Women are seen as more supportive
Perhaps business communicator of future will be more androgynous
Androgynous people generally more successful
Many gender differences will likely disappear as more women move up and women managers become commonplace
The most effective listeners of both sexes will be those who understand communication principles and apply them in a considerate and flexible manner
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

18. Communicating for Results, 10th edition
Semantic Barriers
Semantic refers to meaning of words
Semantic barriers can be frustrating because the problem stems from oddities of language, not from listeners’ lack of effort
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

19. Communicating for Results, 10th edition
Technology Barriers
Face-to-face listening has decreased since use of technology has expanded so rapidly
We are still listening, just a different type of listening
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

20. Communicating for Results, 10th edition
Technology Barriers
Does constant “listening” to technology affect our face-to-face listening?
Constantly checking and being exposed to “deluge of data” creates condition where we crave stimulation and feel lost without it
This need for constant stimulation “can cause us to become more impatient, impulsive, forgetful, and even more narcissistic”
Being surrounded by devices limits “our true engagement with other people”
Using technology while listening to a lecture decreases what we remember of its content
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

21. Understanding the Stages of Listening
Sensing stage
Listeners select or ignore stimuli from multitude of stimuli that bombard us
We pay attention to things that are important to us or of interest to us, the other things we tune out
Sensing abilities are affected by gender, age, cultural background, bias, emotion, and environmental distractions
For communication to be effective, you need to be concerned with what is being communicated
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

22. Understanding the Stages of Listening
Interpreting stage
Listeners assign meaning to messages that they have seen, heard, and felt in the sensing stage
They attempt to decode what the speaker really means
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

23. Understanding the Stages of Listening
Interpreting stage
Some of the most serious problems occur in the interpreting stage
Many problems explained by attribution theory
Sometimes problems occur because of semantic barriers
Sometimes they occur because listeners assume they understand
Sometimes problems result from jumping to conclusions or from fatigue or from overload
Many problems arise because speakers and listeners believe in communication fallacy that 100% understanding is possible
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

24. Understanding the Stages of Listening
Evaluating stage
Listeners “think about the message, make more extensive inferences, evaluate and judge speaker and message”
Listeners decide whether speaker is qualified, information and evidence are accurate, and comments are relevant and worth the time
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

25. Understanding the Stages of Listening
Evaluating stage
Listeners’ evaluations are often affected by their attitude toward speaker
When speaking to others, remember they are evaluating your message based not only on words you use, but on quality of your speaking voice and your appearance, gestures, and visual aids
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

26. Understanding the Stages of Listening
Responding stage
Listener response can take many forms
Listeners will verbally indicate their understanding
Will watch for nonverbal facial expressions
Listeners sometimes fake attention
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

27. Understanding the Stages of Listening
Memory stage
Listeners decide what parts, if any, of your message to retain and then attempt to store them in memory
Most of us will only remember 10-25% of a presentation the next day, week, or month
Much of this problem occurs because listeners fail to transfer what they have just heard from short-term memory into long-term memory
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

28. Understanding the Stages of Listening
Memory stage
Short-term memory holds only about seven “bits” of information, plus or minus two
Listeners are more likely to remember information that is organized, effectively delivered, repeated, related to their backgrounds and interests, and accompanied by professionally-looking visual aids
Retention and comprehension are increased when visual and verbal communication channels are properly teamed
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

29. Improving Your Listening
Identify speaker's main points with a key word or phrase
Take brief notes while you listen
Constantly summarize speaker’s previous points by repeating key words in your mind
Listen for facts, as well as, feelings behind facts
Relate information to current policies and procedures
Avoid prejudice
Communicating for Results, 10th edition

30. Payoffs of Effective Listening
Effective listeners discover values, needs, expectations, and goals of those with whom they work
Better management-employee relations develop
Better decisions are made in emergency situations
We learn from others’ experience
Communicating for Results, 10th edition