I never stopped to think of how important listening is in the communication process. It would seem that listening is a natural skill every person possessed (unless medical reasons prohibit). I’ve found that doing so is much more complex than I originally thought!
In the article, The Listening Style Inventory (LSI) as an Instrument for Improving Listening Skill, Lu discusses barriers that prevent us from listening effectively. In my current work setting, it is most difficult for me to listen when I have important tasks on my mind. In these situations I externally show that I am listening (nodding my head and such). Internally however, I am thinking of tasks I need to complete. This surely makes me a poor listener, but not purposely. As the author mentions, daydreaming and mental escape from conversation is often caused because a person speaks 125 words per minute, and listens at 400 words per minute, which allows for “mental gaps”. This is the most important concept I took away from the article. I don’t believe my lack of listening to others during a busy day at work is intentional, but because I believe I am multi-tasking inside my head, I previously felt this was okay. I should actually be providing my full listening attention to the speaker, as I would like others to provide their full attention to me while I am speaking. Now that I am aware of the mental gap allowance, I plan to make better efforts in truly listening to others. Should I continue to take advantage of the ability to daydream while others are speaking, these actions would then be intentional and make me a poor communicator, which is contrast to my career goals within my organization.
Culture is also an important factor in the art of listening. An example provided by the author is the indicators on faucets for hot and cold temperatures. Americans read “H” for hot and “C” for cold. In Spanish however, the word for hot begins with the letter “C” (Caliente) and the term for cold begins with the letter “H” (Helado). I imagine the misinterpretation of these terms could cause a world of confusion, if not communicated properly and the message not received effectively. This is a perfect example of the need to understand that other cultures will not always be similar to our own. It is important to keep this in mind and make efforts to research other cultures in which we will interact as businesses continue to globalize and become interdependent.
In the article Talking Hi-Tech at Work, Grenny mentions that technical communication tools such as email and text messaging also make workplace relationships difficult, and I certainly agree. The enrichment reading, Listening in the 21st Century, provides interesting data where the American worker handles 201 messages in one day via multiple channels of communication. This overload allows us to become increasingly selective to what communication we actually “listen” to. As non-verbal communication is absent in technical communication, encoding and decoding messages may become misinterpreted and create conflict between the speaker and listener.
As I furthered my knowledge of the topic of listening, there wasn’t anything I found disagreeable. All of the authors made valid and facts based points. The reading was useful in revealing that listening is definitely a skill I have taken for granted. Fine-tuning my listening skills will take some work. Here are a few skills I will use to further enhance my listening ability:
- Give the speaker my full attention
- Provide Feedback: Paraphrase the speakers thoughts
- Ask questions for details not clearly understood
In the article, The Listening Style Inventory (LSI) as an Instrument for Improving Listening Skill, Lu discusses barriers that prevent us from listening effectively. In my current work setting, it is most difficult for me to listen when I have important tasks on my mind. In these situations I externally show that I am listening (nodding my head and such). Internally however, I am thinking of tasks I need to complete. This surely makes me a poor listener, but not purposely. As the author mentions, daydreaming and mental escape from conversation is often caused because a person speaks 125 words per minute, and listens at 400 words per minute, which allows for “mental gaps”. This is the most important concept I took away from the article. I don’t believe my lack of listening to others during a busy day at work is intentional, but because I believe I am multi-tasking inside my head, I previously felt this was okay. I should actually be providing my full listening attention to the speaker, as I would like others to provide their full attention to me while I am speaking. Now that I am aware of the mental gap allowance, I plan to make better efforts in truly listening to others. Should I continue to take advantage of the ability to daydream while others are speaking, these actions would then be intentional and make me a poor communicator, which is contrast to my career goals within my organization.
Culture is also an important factor in the art of listening. An example provided by the author is the indicators on faucets for hot and cold temperatures. Americans read “H” for hot and “C” for cold. In Spanish however, the word for hot begins with the letter “C” (Caliente) and the term for cold begins with the letter “H” (Helado). I imagine the misinterpretation of these terms could cause a world of confusion, if not communicated properly and the message not received effectively. This is a perfect example of the need to understand that other cultures will not always be similar to our own. It is important to keep this in mind and make efforts to research other cultures in which we will interact as businesses continue to globalize and become interdependent.
In the article Talking Hi-Tech at Work, Grenny mentions that technical communication tools such as email and text messaging also make workplace relationships difficult, and I certainly agree. The enrichment reading, Listening in the 21st Century, provides interesting data where the American worker handles 201 messages in one day via multiple channels of communication. This overload allows us to become increasingly selective to what communication we actually “listen” to. As non-verbal communication is absent in technical communication, encoding and decoding messages may become misinterpreted and create conflict between the speaker and listener.
As I furthered my knowledge of the topic of listening, there wasn’t anything I found disagreeable. All of the authors made valid and facts based points. The reading was useful in revealing that listening is definitely a skill I have taken for granted. Fine-tuning my listening skills will take some work. Here are a few skills I will use to further enhance my listening ability:
- Give the speaker my full attention
- Provide Feedback: Paraphrase the speakers thoughts
- Ask questions for details not clearly understood
References
Bentley, S. (2000, May). Listening in the 21st Century. International Journal of Listening,14, 129. Retrieved February 21, 2009, from Communication & Mass Media Complete database.
Grenny, J. (2005, November). Talking Hi-Tech at Work. T+D,59 (11),14-14. Retrieved February 16,
2009, from Business Source Complete database.
Lu, Jianying. (2005). The listening style inventory (LSI) as an instrument for improving listening
Lu, Jianying. (2005). The listening style inventory (LSI) as an instrument for improving listening
skill. Sino-US English Teaching, 2 (5), 45-50.
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