Do You Hear That?

I read a report in the Toronto Star stated that 70% of workplace errors happen because of communication breakdown and that many of them directly relate to a lack of listening skills.

The challenge is most people filter out sounds, noises and people talking as much as they filter out most of the things their eyes see.

On one level, this is important. You would go crazy if you processed everything that you heard and you would never be able to have a conversation with a person in a crowded room. However, we get in this habit so much of the time that we literately filter out things that are important to us.

Another challenge is that we can hear 5 to 10 times faster than we can talk, so our brains start to think of other things rather than focusing on understanding what is being said. In addition, there are many types of listeners and most people don't even realize which they are.

I have heard about many team projects that had disastrous results where the people involved "heard" something different and had a different view of the outcome.

I have a photo "of what someone heard", of a plane in a hanger and what subsequently surrounds the plane. When the supervisor was leaving he said, "Don, turn off the suds machine" Don thought he heard, don't turn off the suds machine, and thought ok? The next morning the hanger was filled with suds and the only parts left showing was the tail of the airplane.

It shows how, what we heard is our interpretation of what we think they said, after it has gone through our brain filtering system. I have seen many people hold grudges days, over what they believed was said, and not what the person actually said.

This saying sums it up nicely.

I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant." ?Unknown

The benefits that come from improving your listening skills can mean the difference between moving ahead in your career, knowledge and skills or falling behind and wondering why.

Some of the benefits are:

Resolves Conflict - You are able to understand the other person better which leads to resolutions.
Increases performance ? When everyone is working on the same goal, you can perform like a well-oiled machine and everyone wins in the end.
Increases your knowledge - Chances are you will learn important information and ideas that will help you.

There are many ways to improve your listening.

Some of them are:

Make sure you are not talking
Remove distractions i.e. TV, radio, other people
Check your emotions
Watch for non-verbal clues

There are people who have said that they know they interrupt a lot, but are afraid of forgetting what they want to say. However, it is hard to reply to something when you haven't been listening to them in the first place. You are guessing at what they mean.

There are several things you can do to assist yourself, such as a note pad to jot down a word or two to help trigger your memory.

Sadly though, many people only listen to reply and not to understand. These people often don't realize the many benefits they are leaving behind.

"It is the province of knowledge to speak and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

All the Best!
Maria Boomhower
The Master Communicator
To sign up for a free report on
"The 7 Secrets to Communication Mastery"
go to: http://www.falconfreedom.com
Master Communicator Blog

P.S. If you like what you're reading in this ezine,
you'll love the book, "Overcoming Barriers to Communication"
Answer the questions;
Why doesn't anyone understand me?
Why do I have such a hard time getting my message across?
go to:Overcoming Barriers to Communication

---

Can A Business Still Be Profitable When People Skills Are Absent?

In our current world of rapid and amazing technological advances,... Read More

The Paradox of Job Enrichment

Ellen was a clerk working for a large insurance company.... Read More

5 Steps to Continuous Process Improvement

Part One of Creating Well-Defined Processes SeriesWhat if your sales... Read More

Difficult Employees-Poor Performance - 10 Tips for Dealing with it in the Workplace

I personally struggle with the term 'managing people' - because... Read More

Creativity and Innovation Management ? Motivation and Management Layers

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Resistance - How to Handle It

Do you ever meet with resistance from other people -... Read More

Tales From the Corporate Frontlines: An Unexpected Benefit

This article relates to the Compensation and Benefits competency, commonly... Read More

Leadership Styles - the Ten Top Qualities the Best Leaders Show

Top leaders...Are Visionary Top leaders have a very clear understanding... Read More

Why You Should Hold One More Meeting

If you are completely happy with where you and your... Read More

Project Management - I Want It ALL

The knee-jerk response to prioritizing requirements is to mark everything... Read More

How to Say No

Rejection hurts. No one likes to give it or to... Read More

Action Learning: Its More Than OJT

For centuries companies have used on-the-job training (OJT). OJT works... Read More

Interviewing: How to Stay Out of legal Hot Water

Some interviewers ask great questions; others ask dumb questions; and,... Read More

Inventory Management 101

Inventory management may seem complicated to some, but if one... Read More

Get Out Of The Stone Age: Give Leadership Talks

160 years ago, the newly invented electric telegraph carried the... Read More

Creative People, Innovative People

The title implies that some people are and others not.This... Read More

What One Thing?

A few weeks ago I asked my readers what the... Read More

This Old Business

Not long ago I was asked to come out and... Read More

How to Manage Your People Well: Tips for Managers of Training

As a training manager, there are two important aspects to... Read More

Micromanagement and Delegation

Micro-Management and Delegation ... Read More

Four Ways To Make the Case For Outsourcing

How do you convert outsourcing leads into clients? You may... Read More

No Time to Focus on the Big Picture? Try Focus Management

E-mail, voicemail, "got a minute?" interruptions, multiple projects... Read More

Delegate or Die!

You Can't Do It All - Learning To DelegateThere is... Read More

Productive Meetings: How to Make Your Meetings More Productive

There's one simple secret to effective meetings: set an agenda... Read More

Planning a Productive Retreat

What value is there in leadership or team-building retreats? Just... Read More

Organizing The Information

Putting a piece of paper in a file folder is... Read More

Make a Difference - Sweat the Small Stuff First

My background is in retail management - yes, running stores,... Read More

Develop Your People and Make More Money

What is the no. 1 asset in your business beside... Read More

Are You the Culprit?

Are you a business, non-profit or association manager who pretty... Read More

Phone Sex is Bad for Business

On August 3rd/2005, Reuters reported that a German man had... Read More

Why Good Enough... Isnt

About a year ago, I had an opportunity to have... Read More

The 5 Obsessions of a Passionate Employee

A recent report entitled "How Google Grows?and Grows?and Grows" stated... Read More

Classifying Motivational Needs

While there exist several useful definitions of motivation, for our... Read More