6. Improving Listening Skills
Listening- one of the most important skills in
workplace
“Effective Listening” equals-
Strong “Organizational Relationship”
“Enhanced Product Delivery”
Alerting the organization to “Innovation
Opportunities”
Managing the diverse workforce and customer base
effectively
Provides “Competitive Edge”
7. Improving Listening Skills
Example:
Carol Kobuke Nelson became president and CEO of
Seattle based Cascade Bank as she was a good listener
The way to win people over is to listen to their
problems
8. Various Types of Listening
• People listen in variety of ways
• To be a good listener, one needs to adapt the way
he/she listens to suit the situation
• Major types of listening-
1. Content Listening
2. Critical Listening
3. Empathic Listening
4. Active Listening
9. Various Types of Listening
Content Listening-
The primary goal is to understand and retain the
speaker’s message
Emphasis on information and understanding-
• By asking questions to clarify materials
• Probing for details
Focusing on the information; ignoring the speaker’s
limitation
10. Various Types of Listening
• Content Listening (Continued)-
• Example:
CEO Gen-Probe Pharmaceuticals relies on content
listening to gather information from the scientists as he
has a business background
11. Various Types of Listening
Critical Listening-
• The goal is to understand and evaluate the meaning
of the speaker’s message on several levels-
Logic of the Argument
Strength of the Evidence
Validity of the Conclusion
Implication of the message delivered
Speaker’s intentions and motives
Omission of important or relevant points
Looking out for bias
Being careful to separate opinions from facts
12. Various Types of Listening
Critical Listening (Continued)-
Be critical; and ask questions to explore the speaker’s
point of view and credibility
13. Various Types of Listening
Empathic Listening-
The goal is to understand the speaker’s feelings, needs,
and wants to appreciate the speaker’s point of view
regardless of whether the listener share the perspective
The way to Empathic Listening-
14. Various Types of Listening
Empathic Listening (Continued)-
During empathic listening one must pay attention to
feelings, needs and wants-not just the spoken words
15. Various Types of Listening
Active Listening-
• Making a conscious effort to turn of filters and biases to
truly hear and understand what the other party is saying
• Active listeners ask questions and encourage speakers
16. Various Types of Listening
Active Listening (Continued)-
Continuous flow of feedback is necessary
18. Understanding the Listening Process
Receiving-
• Involves physically hearing the message and
acknowledging it
• Physical Reception can be blocked by-
Noise, impaired hearing, or inattention
• Non-verbal message also a part of this stage
Decoding-
• Assigning meaning to sounds according to personal-
Values, beliefs, ideas, expectations, roles, needs and
personal history
19. Understanding the Listening Process
Remembering-
• Storing information for future processing
• First being captured in short term memory; then
transferred to long term memory
Evaluating-
• Evaluating message using critical thinking skills
• Separating fact from opinion
• Evaluating the quality of evidence
20. Understanding the Listening Process
Responding-
• Reaction to message-
Verbal feedback as general initial response in one on
one situation
Applause, laughter or silence as general initial response
while part of an audience
21. Overcoming Barriers to Effective
Listening
• Effective Listeners versus Ineffective Listeners
Effective Listeners Ineffective Listeners
Listen actively Listen passively
Take careful and complete notes Take no notes or ineffective notes
Depending on culture, frequent eye contact Make little or no eye contact
with the speaker
Stay focused on the speaker and the content Allow their mind to wander
Mentally paraphrasing key points to maintain Fail to paraphrase
attention level and ensure comprehension
Adjust listening style to the situation Listen with the same style regardless of the
situation
Give the speakers nonverbal cues Fail to give speaker nonverbal feedback
Save questions until an appropriate time Interrupt whenever disagree
Overlook stylistic differences and focus on the Judgmental and influenced by stylistic
22. Overcoming Barriers to Effective
Listening
Selective Listening-
Mind can process information much faster than most
speakers
Listeners can process up to 500 words per minute,
most speakers talk 120 words per minute
Lots of free time for brain resulted in inattention
Listeners stay tuned out until hearing an attention
grabbing word or phrase
By that time, the listener remembers “what he or she
thinks the speaker says” other than “what the speaker
actually said”
23. Overcoming Barriers to Effective
Listening
Overcoming Selective Listening-
Making of conscious effort to focus on the speaker
Using extra time to analyze the message or preparing
questions to ask
24. Overcoming Barriers to Effective
Listening
Defensive Listening-
Tuning out anything that contradicts the listeners’ view
of themselves
Lack of common ground- language or experience
Making up of mind before fully hearing the message
25. Overcoming Barriers to Effective
Listening
Overcoming Defensive Listening
Giving speaker the chance to confirm the message or
correct any misinterpretation
26. Overcoming Barriers to Effective
Listening
Memory Barriers-
When information is crucial, don’t count on memory
and record it
If information needs memorizing-
One can hold information in short term memory by
repeating it silently
Or organizing one long list of items into several short
ones
27. Overcoming Barriers to Effective
Listening
Overcoming Memory Barriers-
Four techniques to store information in long term
memory:
1. Associating new information with something closely
related
2. Categorizing new information into logical groups
3. Visualizing words and ideas as pictures
4. Creating mnemonics such as acronyms and rhymes
28. Nonverbal Communication Skill
Nonverbal Communication-
• The interpersonal process of sending and receiving
information, both intentionally and unintentionally,
without using written or spoken language
• Nonverbal cues helps to ascertain the truth of spoken
information
29. Nonverbal Communication Skill
Three important roles of nonverbal
communication:
1. Complementing verbal language-
When nonverbal signal
Match words- strengthens message
Don’t match words- weakens message
1. Revealing the truth
Recognizing deception from nonverbal signs
1. Conveying information efficiently
Can convey both nuance and rich information in a
single instant
33. Using Nonverbal Communication
Effectively
Paying attention to nonverbal cues-
What is the signal the speaker is sending?
A person can not be read like a book
Matching nonverbal cues to the tone of the
situation
The clothes one wear, the way one sit, the way one
walk also reveal the level of seriousness
Asking the speaker honest and respectful question
always works
42. Characteristics of An Effective Team
Clear objective
Sense of purpose
Open communication
Shared decision making
Creative thinking
Conflict resolution
43. Factors of Group Dynamics
Team Roles
Development of a Team
Resolving Conflict
Overcoming Resistance
50. Sources of Team Conflict
Scarce resources
Task responsibilities
Incompatible ideas
Poor communication
Attitudes and values
Power struggles
Conflicting goals
51. Types of Team Conflict
Constructive Destructive
Win-Win Solution Win-Lose or Lose-Lose Outcome
Exposes Issues Diverts Energy
Boosts Involvement Destroys morale
Generates Ideas Divides The Team
61. Grooming:
Pay attention to the cleanliness.
Shampoo frequently, keep hands and nails neatly
manicured, use mouth washes and deodorant and
regularly trip to hair.
62. Grooming:
• Avoid products with powerful
scents, such as highly
perfumed soaps, Colognes,
Shampoos, After-shave
lotions.( Allergic/ Nauseous)
65. Phone Skills:
• General Tips:
Use frequent responses( ‘Oh yes’, ‘I see’, ‘That’s right’
etc).
Increase volume just slightly to convey your confidence.
Vary pitch and inflections so that you are seemed
interested.
Slow down when conversing with non-native speaker.
66. When placing calls then please remember-
• Be ready before you call so that you don’t waste the
other person’s time.
• Avoid noise.
• Identify yourself and your organization.
• Be sure that you have called at just time.
• Don’t take too much time.
• Close friendly and in positive manner and double check
all vital information.
67. When receiving call then please remember-
Answer with smile so that you seem to be positive and
friendly.
Identify yourself and your organization.
Establish the need by asking “How may I help you?”
If you can, answer promptly and efficiently, if you can’t,
tell them what you can do for them.
If you need to forward a call, then verify that the person
is available and introduce the caller first.
If you take a message, be complete and accurate
including caller’s name, number, organization etc.
69. Etiquette in Social settings
Etiquettes in Social Settings
Greetings Etiquette Introducing Etiquette Dining Etiquette
70. Greetings Etiquette
Treat based on Culture.
e.g. Japanese show a North American Show a firm
respectful bow during hand-shake.
greeting.
71. Greetings Etiquette
• Men and Women should
shake hands on equal terms.
• Always stand when you are
shaking somebody’s hand.
72. Introducing:
Include your brief description of your role in organization.
When introducing two other people, speak both of their
first and last name clearly and try to add some
information about them.
When you are introduced to someone, repeat the
person’s name as soon as possible.
73. Dining Etiquette
• Choose foods that are easy to eat.
• If drink is appropriate, save it for the end of the meal.
• Leave business papers under your chair or beside
properly.
• Don’t stir up emotions with politics, religions, deep
personal questions or any other topics such as jokes that
may bother some people.
75. Collaborative Writing Guidelines:
• Select collaborators.
• Agree on project goal before you start.
• Give your team time to bond before diving in.
• Clarify individual responsibilities.
• Establish clear processes.
• Avoid writing as a group.
• Make sure tools and techniques are ready and
compatible across the team.
• Check to see how things are going along the way.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80. • Common Features
• Add new materials
• Edit existing materials
• Blogs are more suitable
for personal use or for
a small group
• CMS is used for data
storage and retrieval
• Wiki is the best option
for collaborative writing
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
87. A
We will meet on Sunday.
B C
We willmeet on Sunday.
meet on Friday.
We willCONFLICT
We will meet on Monday.
D E