Poor Listening Skills - A Major Barrier To Effective Communication

An article by Dharmagadda Sreedhar also available at http://ezinearticles.com/?Poor-Listening-Skills---A-Major-Barrier-To-Effective-Communication&id=950245 It is not possible to do the job or a routine work with out listening. Listening skills play an important role in overall communication process and are essentially important for sales personnel who directly communicate with customers. Not only the sales personnel but many people are poor listeners in their everyday life. Listening is often confused and interchangeably used with hearing. There is a major difference between listening and hearing. Hearing is a physical act while listening is the act of hearing while also retaining and comprehending the information. Listening is active while hearing is passive. Though everyone knows the importance of listening skills when communicating to each other but very few pay attention to their listening skill and this often becomes a major barrier to effective communication. It is revealed by several studies that adults typically listen at only 25% efficiency level and experts agree that poor listening skills are the biggest contributors to poor communication. It is not just listening but skillful listening is what is needed in this competitive world. Skillful listening generally involves ability to evaluate ideas, recognize the difference between fact and opinion, use questioning and feedback to clarify communication, recognize loaded language, and recognize common listening barriers. Listening may fall into any of the categories mentioned below: Active listening: Active listening is a way of listening and responding to another person that improves mutual understanding. You listen closely to content and intent. You try to block out barriers to listening. Most importantly, you are non-judgmental and empathetic. Inactive listening: The definition of this is the old adage, "In one ear and out the other." Inactive listening is simply being present when someone is speaking, but not absorbing what is being said. You hear the words, but your mind is wandering and no communication is taking place. Selective listening: Selective listening is hearing what you want to hear or what you expect to hear instead of what is being said. You hear some of the message and immediately begin to formulate your reply or second guess the speaker without waiting for the speaker to finish. Reflective Listening: This is one of the most complex types of listening. It involves actively listening, interpreting what is being said and observing how it is being said. You work to clarify what the speaker is saying and make sure there is mutual understanding. When one is involved in the communication process he may be engaged with any of the above listening skills or may some times combination of all. Poor listening usually occur due to lack of control over the speed at which speakers speak, not being able to get things repeated, the listener's limited vocabulary, failure to recognize the "signals", problems of interpretation, inability to concentrate, and even may be due to some established learning habits. A 10 Step Formula which will help to listen better. 1) Face the speaker and keep an eye contact 2) Keep an open mind 3) Listen to ideas/concepts and not just words 4) Don't interrupt the speaker 5) Wait for pause for questions 6) Ask questions 7) Be attentive 8) Feel speaker's feelings (empathize with speaker) 9) Give feedback 10) Pay attention to what is not said. Although it is tough to be a good listener consistently the 10 step formula would always help one to improve their listening skills.

Ten Key Facts About Dealing With Difficult People

An article by Martin Hawort also available at http://ezinearticles.com/?Ten-Key-Facts-About-Dealing-With-Difficult-People-You-Must-Know&id=819627 Tricky stuff, dealing with difficult people. So we avoid doing it, in the short-term, it's way easier than confrontation. Want some examples of evasiveness? - Leave it till the end of the day. - Make sympathetic noises with what other people are experiencing at the hands of the person - but do little. - Only see what they are very good at and 'park' the rest. - Promote them out of your team. - Think it's you, not them! ...etc., etc., etc. From their point of view, and we know there can be some real stinkers out there, they often don't realise that their behaviour is unacceptable. This is a do-able issue - be brave at first and it will always be with you. Some have cracked the code and the best at Dealing with Difficult People... Communicate Well They listen well and let the other party do a lot of the talking. They ask open questions and allowing a lot of space. This is a space for the difficult person. Act Normally When working with a 'difficult person', those who handle it will treat them very normally. They don't avoid them, nor do they behave differently than they would with anyone else. Seek to Understand The best exponents of this skill appreciate the 'difficult person's' point of view. They recognise that issues are real to them and honour that. Behaviour is not Personal They make sure that they treat the issue as unacceptable behaviour, not a 'bad' person. The 'difficult person' does not have a personal issue usually with those who deal with them, they are difficult with everyone! Understand Fear 'Difficult people' behave the way they do usually out of some sort of fear. Through building a better relationship with them the best at Dealing with Difficult People are able to get closer to the source and hence move towards resolution. Small Things Sometimes they are able to find simple and easy clues to what is irritating the 'difficult person'. And then they fairly and reasonably fix the problems - they are even able sometimes to create a champion out of a 'difficult person'!. Build Trust Those best at Dealing with Difficult People develop a sense of trust with their 'difficult person'. Often the behaviour of others will have tainted their experiences and cause serious mistrust. This can be changed. Find a Solution When you are very capable of Dealing with Difficult People it is sometimes the simple acts which have the most effect. Just asking them what it is they want can often be an easy solution. It's just that no-one ever asked before! Help Them And often all these difficult people want is to be loved, to feel wanted, to be a part of the team again. It's a natural emotion which works in the favour of those exponents who do a great job here. They know that emotional buy-in is a great way forward. Recognise Qualities Every employee is a valuable asset, whatever they are like. Sometimes the most irritating and vociferous are the best to have on the team - they are energised. And the very, very best in Dealing with Difficult People are able to turn their people around and enlist them as a strong advocate of their organisation. Instead of fighting inside they take on the competition!