Be an effective listener

This post came out from The Straits Times (8 June 2012)
Title - Be an effective listener - Increase workplace productivity by lending an ear to your employees

Some pointers that I've got are:
1. Benefits
2. An active process

On Benefits

• Creating a trusting environment - Managers who listen effectively make people feel valued and encourage the sharing of ideas and thoughts. 
• Objective decision making - Through effective listening, managers get more information and feedback from their staff. This allows issues to be understood and examined with greater depth and basically support the making of careful, informed decisions.
• Resolving workplace conflicts - Volatile emotions can be diffused when people feel they are being listened to. The feeling of not being heard is a major reason for workplace aggression and rudeness. Managers who practice effective listening are better able to anticipate and reduce inter-personal conflicts and seek resolution through win-win solutions.
• Playing multiple roles -  Effective listening also helps managers play other important roles in the organisation as mentors, coaches and counsellors.

On An active process

• Objective - Must be to truly listen to what the speaker is saying and to fully understand the meaning, ideas and concepts being presented. This involves a deliberate effort to concentrate entirely on the conversation.
• Focus - Involves focusing entirely on the speaker, maintaining appropriate eye contact and playing careful attention to the spoken words and speaker's body language. The listener must concurrently avoid emotional, physical and cultural distractions like wandering thoughts, background noise, speaker's way of dressing, his accent or choice of vocabulary.
• Emotional detachment - Must remain attentive to the content and context of the conversation by detaching himself from personal prejudices and unproductive emotional triggers such as anger, fear and shame. This helps to keep situations from spiralling out of control and is especially important when cultural assumptions and biases can become serious barrier to the listening process.
• Encouragement - Give encouragement to the speaker without interrupting by deferring judgement and counter arguments. Also, show the speaker that you are listening through appropriate body language, facial expressions and gestures. 
• Evaluation - Come to a clearer understanding of the speaker's message without jumping to conclusion based on emotional filters and incomplete information.
• Acknowledgement - Respond appropriately and respectfully by summarising what the speaker has said, to make sure that the message has been understood. Ask questions, make comments and assert your opinions with sensitivity. This helps to convey to the speaker that you have been listening but are not necessarily agreeing with everything that has been said. 

Yours,
Something Small Thinking Big