Leveraging your Listening Skills!

Communication clutter is everywhere. Cell phones, Blackberries, emails, letters, meeting handouts, and on and on! Good communication is
one of the most valued skills in the workplace. Effective listening is crucial to communicating productively inside the organization
and meeting the competitive challenges outside the
organization.

As I talk to business managers looking to improve worker productivity, the one message that comes through loud
and clear is just how often poor listening skills impact their teams. This shows up in conflicts among team members, often resulting in
lost time as well as lost opportunity. Misunderstandings from
not hearing others impacts projects often delaying completion
or worse yet, causing unnecessary re-work. Investing effort in this area can have positive results in a very short time. Here are a few listening pointers that can get you started in the right direction.

1. Listening is a learned skill. Not everyone is good at it. However, you can actively make a decision to work on improving your skills in this area. A little progress shows up BIG!

2. Listening may very well be a more important skill than speaking.  I'm sure that each of you knows what it feels like when you are really heard and understood. Work to ensure that those you are communicating with leave a conversation with you feeling heard - really heard.

3. Hearing and listening are not the same thing.  Hearing is sensory and involuntary while listening requires commitment, an act of the will, and perception.

4. Listening involves more than the ears. You speak and listen with your entire body. Both verbal and nonverbal messages combine to convey to
the other person that you are hearing them and engaged in the conversation. That's why you can always tell when someone is not giving you their full attention. It always shows.

5. Practicing listening skills is not enough. Only by actively working to improve your listening skills can you really make progress that equals
superior listening skills.  It's important to avoid trying to formulate an answer before the other party has finished their thought. To do so means that you must take your attention and ears off what they are saying and focus on yourself. This is one of the biggest mistakes you as the listener, can make. Change this one behavior and become known as the person who really hears what others are saying.

Then sit back and listen for the sweet sound of your career taking off!

About HR Performance Solutions:

With over 20 years of experience in a corporate environment, HR Performance Solutions, LLC offers our clients support  in training and mentoring teams in the public/private sectors, ensuring best HR practices are being followed and providing individuals with the coaching tools to successfully handle career transitions.  HR Performance Solutions' founder Linda Trignano is focused on helping companies more effectively handle their people related functions. We help businesses increase employee value by leveraging our expertise in human resources and communications to ensure that clients incorporate HR "best practices" into their business.  HR Performance Solutions brings a unique approach to its clients. By integrating problem identification, action plan development and employee acceptance into every engagement, we produces results that drive company profits and value.      

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