First Step Marketing

Workplace listening skills can be important in many different ways. For example, listening and understanding your initial instructions about how to do your job is critical. Good listeners work actively at the listening process. Their eyes and ears are attending and receiving information and their minds are working at understanding what is being communicated. Questions such as, Is this important? If so, how? should be continually considered during important meetings and conferences. Workplace messages could be straightforward instructions, or they could be more complicated types of communication, such as an obtuse interaction between several people. No matter what the content, if you want to communicate well, you must master the listening process. Here are a few pointers about how to listen better.

• When it is important to listen closely, work actively at the process. Clear other matters from your mind so that you can give the speaker your full and undivided attention.
• Observe carefully the signs and signals of the speaker. Note carefully the speaker’s body language—eye movements; facial expressions; gestures; and postural shifts.
• If there is background noise or other distractions, suggest that you move to a more suitable location.
• If you don’t have sufficient time to complete the discussion, arrange a time and place for a further meeting. Feeling rushed can be a significant distractor to effective listening.
• In order to ensure that you have understood what has been said, periodically summarise the essence of the discussion.
• When confusion occurs during the interaction, clarify the matter as soon as possible so that further listening is not compromised.
• When listening to complicated discussions, consider making notes in a notebook to ensure that you get the critical details.
• At the end of an important meeting, mentally summarise the important points. If you think you might confuse some of the points, jot them down in a notebook.

Courtesy and tact

Courtesy and tact are communication skills which are other-ororiented. That is, your words and behaviour are geared around the feelings and sensitivities of those with whom you are speaking.

Take for example answering the telephone. We all are familiar with the alienating feeling when a telephonist blurts out, ‘Jones & Smith’ when answering the company’s telephone. The mellifluous responses, ‘Good morning, Jones & Smith’, and ‘One moment please’ are all too frequently omitted. Pleasantly voiced ‘please’ and `thankyou’ take virtually no time, cost nothing to the company or telephonist, but can create a warm and welcoming feeling to the caller. Given that first impressions are very important, courtesy and tactfulness on the telephone and at the reception desk are critical.

The basic principle in enhancing courtesy and tactfulness is to think, If I were the other person, how would I feel if this were said to me? In essence, you put yourself in the other person’s position and test your feelings.

Another communication situation, which can often be upsetting, is handling a confrontation. Too often in these interchanges, personal emotions fly forwards and backwards and nothing constructive is accomplished. Even though confrontations can be quite complex interactions, there are several steps which can help to resolve the situation constructively. Step one: keep as calm and composed as possible. Step two: take into account the feelings of the other person. Look at the predicament from the other person’s perspective. Step three: carefully choose your words and your approach (be tactful) so that the other person’s feelings are not threatened. Step four: try to find a solution to the immediate situation which will accommodate both parties’ needs for the time being. Arrange a subsequent meeting to discuss the issue at greater length.

Why should I be courteous and tactful? you might ask. Chiefly because these communication qualities can make you feel better about your relationships with your workmates. Courtesy and tact at the workplace mean that your work can progress more smoothly and productively. These positive communication skills can also open up new job possibilities for you. Glance through the employment ads and you will find ‘must be a good communicator’ quoted frequently in the requirements for many positions. Courtesy and tact are generally not specified, but they would certainly be esteemed qualities in the minds of most employers. If you want further information about these critical communication skills, ask the librarian at your local library for books on communication skills, etiquette, and interpersonal relationships.

Communication problems

While communication problems can abound in any workplace, there are two specific problems which I wish to address here: shyness at work and public speaking anxiety. Both problems are surprisingly common and can be veritable anchors on the heels of capable employees who wish to progress in their work.

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Workplace Listening Skills

This entry was posted on Monday, July 14th, 2008 at 1:56 am and is filed under Career Management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.