![]() ![]() Whether you’re doing it consciously or not, you bring your own perceptions and opinions to conversations, which can make it difficult to understand the speaker’s point of view. Most of us are plagued by constant distractions that sabotage our focus. If active listening is so powerful, why don’t more of us do it? There are a number of challenges and roadblocks contributing to the uphill battle: Too many distractionsĮmails, instant messages, random thoughts, a pet in need of attention. That can ease the biases and assumptions we tend to bring into our interactions – and when that happens, everyone wins. But active listening forces you to step outside of yourself and see things from another person’s point of view. It reduces bias: We process information through our own lenses.Research shows that the concentration and sensitivity involved with active listening increase trust and benefits our relationships, amping up the harmony and collaboration on your team. That doesn’t happen when someone gives us only half of their attention. It improves relationships: We all want to feel seen, valued, and understood. ![]() When it’s done correctly, both the sharer and listener have the chance to ask questions, give feedback, and reach a mutual understanding. It boosts understanding: The whole point of active listening is to improve comprehension.It’s tough to overstate the importance of listening skills. Listening to understand, rather than just to hear, requires more of a conscious effort than the passive approach most of us are used to. When your coworker is finished, you quickly summarize the gist of the process as you’ve understood it, and your plan for what you’ll do next. ✅ Active listening: As your colleague breaks down the process, you ask clarifying questions to dig deeper into any confusing steps. There are a few steps that are unclear, but you’ll sort it out later. You follow along quietly and politely (while mentally making your to-do list for the day). ⛔️ Passive listening: A colleague walks you through the steps of a process you’re taking over. You wait until they’re finished before paraphrasing the details of the conflict and asking some follow-up questions. ✅ Active listening: You remove your hands from your computer keyboard, silence your phone, and then turn to fully face your direct report. You listen to their side of the story while clearing out old emails, occasionally butting in to offer some advice and prove that you’re paying attention. ⛔️ Passive listening: Your direct report stops by your desk to vent about an interpersonal conflict. So what does active listening look like in the real world? Compare this attentive listening style to its pesky yet far more common counterpart: passive listening. More than that, we just convey to the speaker that we are seeing things from his point of view.” Active listening examples The term “ active listening” has been around since the 1950s and was first used in an article written by psychologists Carl Rogers and Richard Farson, who wrote, “It requires that we get inside the speaker, that we grasp, from his point of view, just what it is he is communicating to us. Beyond just hearing another person, you’re giving them your full attention. You can think of active listening as the most engaged and committed form of listening to another person (you might also hear it called “attentive listening”). What is active listening?Īctive listening means listening to someone with the intent of hearing them, understanding their message, and retaining what they say. Let’s explore how active listening differs from the more halfhearted hearing most of us have grown accustomed to – and how you can condition your own active listening skills (no treadmill required). But while this communication technique doesn’t actually involve breaking a sweat, it does require you to invest some energy and stretch your comprehension muscles. Get stories like this in your inbox SubscribeĪctive listening might sound like something that happens on a treadmill or an exercise bike. ![]()
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