Active Listening in the workplace (and the rest of life) does not come naturally for many--myself included, and I lead this group! Those who master this skill build better relationships, find more meaningful clarity, achieve goals, maximize potential, and develop superior problem-solving skills. For these reasons alone, and there are several more, we as leaders must enhance our listening skills.
"Those who master this skill build better relationships, find more meaningful clarity, achieve goals, maximize potential, and develop superior problem-solving skills."
- Jeff Rogers, CPMBC
Why is active listening so important in the workplace
Active Listening is just that Listening. Listening to understand better and find clarity. Not to respond… A big point here. To Actively Listen, one must use and implement all of one's senses. How does it sound? How does it look? And most importantly, how does it feel?
The fundamental Active Listening behaviors are universally agreed upon in the leadership community. Here we will explore those essential listening behaviors at a high level.
6 Fundamental Active Listening Behaviors
- Pay attention and acknowledge
- Appropriately respond in a measured fashion
- Provide relevant feedback
- Demonstrate you are listening
- Suspend judgement
- Summarize and recap
From this framework, I will expand on other Active Listening deliverables all leaders must
engage in to be successful.
Active Listening in the Workplace Essentials
For many leaders, including myself, to take action, solve problems, and move on is our norm. After all, that's what we do.
But can you take a moment to pause? This, too, is an essential part of active listening. After we truly listen, gather all the necessary information, ensure clarity for others, and fully engage, only then we can move forward.
Here is a breakdown of how to implement active listening to comprehend:
1. Pay attention and Acknowledge
Focusing on the moment and engaging with a speaker or communicator ensures success. It is
difficult sometimes to focus in busy disruptive environments when listening. Often, shiny
objects and "squirrels" get in the way. To focus on the moment requires a mindset of focusing
and removing all distractions during the engagement.
2. Appropriately Respond in a measured fashion
Response and reaction do not always align with what is being communicated. As leaders, we
must be in alignment, which is sometimes tricky when emotions are involved. Active Listening
demands your response be aligned intellectually and emotionally with not only the topic but
the tone in which it is delivered. Difficult for many.
3. Provide relevant feedback
Providing feedback is critical for communication engagement, no doubt. Appropriate, relevant
feedback is essential. Did you land at the main point of the interaction? If not, everyone loses. If
you do, now we are on to something. This requires complete focus and attention, listening to all
your senses, and caring about the engagement. How does it sound, look, and feel?
4. Demonstrate you are listening
A simple facial expression, good eye contact, a nod, or a touch on the hand, demonstrates your
engagement. A stoic face, stiff body language, and eyeball distance reflect and communicate a
lack of listening, which is significant.
5. Suspend Judgement
To suspend judgment is key, and can be difficult for many listeners. Active Listening demands
you not judge the inbound information or the individual communicating, especially if the
information is critical personally, professionally, or organizationally.
6. Summarize and Recap
Lastly, you perform a simple recap to demonstrate your engagement, understanding, and
interpretation of the information. Eliminating this step is problematic. Many do. The summary is
just that, a recap to internally land the idea, externally to demonstrate clarity and
understanding. There is no need yet for action. Here is where many fail. Listen to listen. The
action comes later. Allow the communicator to simply be heard.
So, Why is Active Listening in the Workplace Essential?
To slow it down is actually to do better. This concept is problematic in this fast-paced,
multi-tasking universe we lead today, and I maintain that here is where the magic is found. Here
lie the little details that make a significant difference.
I am often asked, "How do people achieve so much with the same 24 hours in the day that I have?" There is a lot to this answer. But the one item to me that stands out is, "The great leaders actively listen at a higher level, and they engage better, in turn earning superior results!"
You know what to do.
