When you talk with someone, are you a good listener? Continuing our series on meaningful conversation, today we are giving you tools to sharpen your active listening skills. These can be used when talking to colleagues, supervisors, and employees.
Active listening is about showing you are paying attention. You can show you are paying attention while people are talking by:
- Giving feedback that shows you are paying attention:
- body language like nodding, not being distracted by typing or looking around
- leave room for a response (pause to let your colleague think and then respond)
- respond out loud “Oh, interesting!” or “I’m sorry to hear that”
- Noticing how your colleague is delivering information to you so you can respond appropriately.
- Hear the meaning behind what people are saying. For example, does, “Sure, [pause] that sounds like a good idea,” really reflect what the person meant as they said it?
- Asking questions that show you are paying attention
- However, remember to listen more than you talk
No comments:
Post a Comment