Case Study Of Active Listening

In today’s business, environments where individuals are more concerned with the level of multitasking and listening becomes necessary only when someone requests. However, one does not have to be a manager of the organization to understand the importance of listening. Perhaps even in a family one could attest that listening is perhaps one of the most difficult aspects of making decisions effectively (Scanlan, 2011).

At its core, listening is primarily how leaders demonstrate respect and appreciation of others (Russell and Stone, 2002). In his book, James Hunter mentions, “listening is one of the most important skills a leader can choose to develop,” (Hunter, 1998, p. 25). Traditionally, leaders are expected to participate in active listening, an interactive approach that enhances communication clarity (Russell and Stone, 2002). However the servant leader must take listening to another level altogether and listen with intent (Spears, 2010). Listening with intent encompasses listening to what is said and/or unsaid while also including time for reflection (Spears, 2010).

* active listening helps improve mutual understanding and sorting out problems – open up and say what they really mean

Alan’s attitude generates a tense relationship between him and his employees. In the future, they are not going to tell him what difficulties they are having which can decrease productivity. Also, if Alan practice good listening skills, he will be able to have a good communication with his employees to avoid misunderstandings and confusions in the different tasks assigned. In conclusion, Alan’s listening skills can produce a negative environment that can affect not only job performance, but also emotions between his employees.

A leader must listen to its followers and vice versa. Both Gardner and Wooden in their books provide examples that both ineffective and effective communication can affect a group or organization—for better or worse. However, through positive open communication that is produced from the group can lead to positive and effective improvement (Wooden, 2005, p.198-201; Gardner,1990, p.86) for the work environment and respectability between leader and follower.

Active listening is also an integral part in the receipt of a message. Part of a listener’s responsibility is to provide feedback, making communication a two-person affair, and as important, senders must seek out and attend to the feedback that is offered by their receivers (Cheesebro, O’Connor, Rios, 2010). By actively listening to the sender, we can translate and respond to the message appropriately. Through active listening, we can develop respect and trust with the sender, increase productivity, maintain a “cooler head”, increased confidence and remembering the important information that the sender is trying to convey to us (Cheesebro, O’Connor, Rios, 2010). It is believed that we only take in 50% of what we are listening to at any given time so it is crucial that in communication, we extend to each other the same courtesy as the sender as we do as the receiver. Active listening is more than just hearing what the sender is

Let´s focus on communication, specifically listening. , As employees each of you have a leadership role based on your positions. In these positions you are required to take instructions, present guidance, make decisions, and implement policy. If you cannot listen effectively, you will miss critical instructions, mislead guidance, make less informed decisions, and hopefully never implement the wrong policies.

A vital aspect of interpersonal communication is the style in which one listens. While every individual possesses their own preferred method of listening in communication, it can be enlightening to analyze our own strengths and weaknesses so as to maximize effectual communication. Within the confines of four main listening style categories, I have chosen those which best describe my own personal listening style.

Listening skill is a vital skill that everyone must obtain in order to succeed in any career field. According to Elmhost (2013), “Talking instead of listening can lead professionals to miss important information. One analysis of physician–patient interviews revealed that the more doctors talked, the more they got off track and failed to address concerns raised by the patients.” (p.61). All the listening styles in the textbook are all valuable and all of them are essential for developing and improving listening ability. There two types of listening styles that are very functional at a working environment which are critical listening and task-oriented listening and most people are using these styles every day at work. Critical listening is when

As mentioned by Marty Blalock in the Wisconsin Business Alumni website, “communication in a business organization provides the critical link between core functions” and that makes ineffective communication very expensive for any business”.

Given that listening accounts for 45 per cent of time spent on communication (Eunson 2012:310), argue the importance of listening skills in the workplace. Your analysis should identify three specific listening behaviors and provide examples to demonstrate how these skills promote communication and understanding. Support your analysis with relevant communication theory and evidence from appropriate academic sources.

Active listening includes a variety of behaviors which communicate to the other that they are heard and understood, that the feelings which underlie the words are appreciated and accepted, and that regardless of what the individual says, thinks or feels, they are accepted as a person by the listener. Active listening demands that the receiver of the message put aside the belief that listening is easy and that it happens naturally and realize that effective listening is hard work. Good listening encourages the speaker, promotes trust and respect, improves relationships, and makes resolution of problems more likely. Good listeners are prepared to listen, show interest, keep an open mind, listen critically, resist distractions,

Many believe listening skills are a necessity to being successful. It’s said that god gave us two ears so we can listen twice as much as we talk, and leaders should follow this saying so they do not miss any important information (Rai).

Communication is essential in all facets of an organization. It can aid in decision making, planning and conflict resolution. The ability to effectively communicate allows facilitation of relationships between superiors and subordinates; essentially this creates higher job satisfaction (Dogra, A., 2012). Open communication where employees have opportunity to voice their ideas and concerns, corelates to employees feeling a sense of value within the organization, which creates motivation (Dogra, A., 2012). Furthermore, in conjunction with these ideas, a sense of partnership and loyalty begin to develop between subordinates and superiors. The responses to this are typically seen in greater responsibility being given to the subordinate.

Research shows that interpersonal communication can have a profound effect in the workplace in both positive and negative manners. Successful communication can ease conflicts and create open channels in conflict management situations. Consequently, choosing the right medium of communicating is key to conveying the intended message; at the same time, active listening also plays a factor in how the intended message is received. “Communication is a topic frequently linked to leadership; however, the linkage often is