The Power of Listening at Work

Everyone in the world is focused on telling, replying and a comeback (unfortunately it is applauded and encouraged). Less than 5% of the world population is interested in engaging with others via a dialogue, a to and from, a give and take or ask and listen. The ramification of such acts at work and otherwise is disastrous, which are not noticed at the onset of such occurrences. It is about time organizations leverage the power of listening.  

Giving feedback to a direct report or a subordinate is considered one of the most solemn ways to improve their performance, create better relationships with them and encourage comradery. Yet, a study showed that telling people what they did wrong, or correcting them is considered a hindrance to performance and employee motivation. This also happens when the employees receive positive feedback too, surprisingly, as it comes out as being judgmental. 

Therefore, one of the tried and tested ways to provide a solution to this dilemma is to create an atmosphere of constructive dialogue between the two parties. It could be a boss and an employee, or a husband and wife or two friends. The idea is to make the other person feel comfortable and assure them that they are not being judged rather they are understood in an empathetic  manner.  

Hindrance in the power of listening

The world is growing rapidly in all spheres of human life and existence. From plans to visit Mars, the use of electric cars, to other technological advances like AI and machine learning, the world has witnessed productivity and achievement like never before. Yet, human beings are still struggling with basic challenges of their nature, for example, inability and unwillingness to listen. This is the greatest skill that one can have and which beats the others mentioned here, on any day. 

Every invention has its repercussion and so does technological advance. With the advent of the social media burst or bubble, everyone is distracted by endless, meaningless content that keeps flowing and one tends to simply swipe up and consume as much as possible. Some people have shared that it is no longer in their capacity to stop such distraction, once they start at it. 

Managers and leaders are distracted too as speakers and mentors of their teams. Employees, on the other hand, are equally distracted as listeners and this has a long-lasting effect on the overall team performance and synergy between individuals bonded by the same goals in the organizations. Eventually, one-on-one gets affected, so does trust and communication. In either way, the speakers feel insecure whether they have been understood or not and the employees look at their mentors with eyes of suspicion. 

Intentional Barriers to Listening

As if listening as an art is already difficult, most managers contribute to this predicament by intentionally not listening to their employees with a neutral mindset. For example, they do not let go of their preconceived notions about the employee when they do their one-on-one or casual feedback on work. They fear that active and real listening with make them learn valuable insights about their employees which may fiddle with their notions and disturb their judgement. 

Mostly, when managers are talking to their direct reports, they tend to be at the edge of their guns, with hands-on the trigger. In short, they are waiting to tell the employees whatever is brooding for the week over a one-time spill to inflict pain on their employees. Alternatively, the team members hide their true-selves or learn to tell the managers what they want to hear, rather than participating in a meaningful dialogue. 

Listening is like EMIs – emotional monthly instalments. It requires patience and payment of a gamut of other emotions and skills to earn a badge called “listening” that is considered proactive and meaningful. Most managers and employees have no bandwidth, due to their ill work culture, to have patience and learn the art of listening. By doing this they get a sense of loss of power at the discussion tables hence they prefer “poker faces”. 

The Power of Listening and Leadership

Both the alphabets, Leadership and Listening begin with the common initial L. For a current or an aspiring leader, there is no escape from authentic listening. This is the single most important skill in the world for a leader to have ass employees can see through their bosses and mentors as soon as they interact with them for the first time! In short, coming across genuine requires one to be genuine and there are no short-cuts. 

When leaders practice active listening in front of their teams, they create a sense of mindfulness not only about them but the room is filled with compassion and true benevolence. By practicing an empathetic view of others, leaders learn more about their strengths and weaknesses, thereby, can understand what their employees want or need to succeed. 

A most popular saying is that leaders lead by example and it cannot be truer about listening as a skill. When employees watch their bosses or mentors or leaders practicing mindfulness, active listening, they learn and pass it on to their direct reports or their colleagues. Therefore, a synergetic team that works together achieves together and there is no scope for any black dots on the team banner. 

Tips

One of the best ways to listen is to be prepared to listen, literally. De-cluttering of the office cabin or the desk, keeping the phone away on silent mode and blocking specific time with the team members can work wonders. Maintaining eye contact with the sub-ordinate and repeating what they say as an affirmation are ways to encourage listening. 

Interrupting the direct reports when they talk, for example, on a point of disagreement, kills the listening process. The urge to interrupt with a comeback and show authority can ruin not only the session but also any possibilities for a future dialogue between the mentor and the mentee. Leaders should spend at least 5 minutes a day to at least try to listen to their employees as a practice session.  

Asking relevant and meaningful questions allow the subordinate to open up and share their experiences, ideas, thoughts and opinions more confidently. Also, the leaders should aspire to have the sub-ordinates present a solution to their problem. That way, there is no leader’s bias and judgement involved.  

Conclusion

As one of the most under-rated and overshadowed skill, listening requires discipline, dedication, training, persistence, effort and a willingness to listen to the direct reports or colleagues. This solution is relevant and applicable outside the confines of the office too. Organizations should ensure that they have sessions on this skill and make people practice the skill in pairs. 

If organizations and leaders want a robust revenue-generating team then a culture of openness, vulnerability and communication should be encouraged and practiced. This kind of culture is only possible if people are open to activate their power of listening to each other rather than just hearing some random noise at work. Otherwise, employees will simply learn to get by the day and stay under the radar, thereby hindering the possibilities for the organization to reach newer heights.