- Active Listening Builds Trust and Strong Relationships
- Active Listening Can Help You to Resolve Conflict
- Active Listening Prevents You from Missing Important Information
- Active Listening Enables You to Identify or Anticipate Problems
- Active Listening Helps You to Build More Knowledge
- Active Listening Empowers You as a Leader
- Active Communication Real-Life Scenario
- Work Cited
Active Listening Builds Trust and Strong Relationships
In this regard, active listening can be used as a tool to improve the quality of relationships among team members. For example, a leader that is characterized by the ability to pay attention to employees’ concerns is generally perceived as a more reliable person (Hoppe 13). Therefore, an individual can benefit from this skill when meeting new people or improving relationships with current partners and team members.
Active Listening Can Help You to Resolve Conflict
For example, a leader with strong active listening skills can benefit from this ability by using it to get feedback about a service or product and learn new information from the client’s feedback. This approach emphasizes focusing on another person’s perspective and aiming to understand it better. As a result of reflective thinking, one can specify what exactly should be changed to resolve the conflict and satisfy customers’ needs.
Active Listening Prevents You from Missing Important Information
For instance, when a person practices active listening, they make sure to confirm if their understanding of the situation is correct by paraphrasing what was said and asking confirmation questions. In doing so, an individual can often get additional explanations from the speaker, which is helpful in getting a comprehensive view of the problem and grasping different aspects of the information better.
Active Listening Enables You to Identify or Anticipate Problems
For example, a person with well-developed active listening skills is usually good at critical thinking and analysis. These qualities are crucial when trying to determine or anticipate a problem or risk. As a result of thoughtful reflection and active listening, one can easily notice different details that prove critical to the underlying issue.
Active Listening Helps You to Build More Knowledge
In this regard, a relevant example is a leader with developed active listening skills, whose ability helps them collect and use valuable data regarding a particular business project. For instance, by actively listening to different people involved in the project, the leader can discover new information, gain insights, and eventually identify an efficient business strategy.
Active Listening Empowers You as a Leader
For example, an individual that is confident in their abilities tends to be more successful in various aspects of their work. Active listening can provide a person with important knowledge and insight, which in turn can inspire them as a leader.
To conclude, active listening is an essential skill focused on understanding the perspective of the person involved in the conversation. This ability does not imply merely hearing what the speaker says and offering feedback. The active listening skill involves listening to the person and making an effort to understand their message by reflecting on their words. In this regard, the listener demonstrates their concern about the situation by focusing on what is happening around them rather than themselves. Such an ability allows individuals to empathize with other people’s emotions, feelings, and behaviors. Furthermore, active listening provides such benefits as trustful and strong relationships, more effective conflict resolution, and improved understanding of the information. This essential skill can be helpful in determining and predicting problems, accumulating knowledge, and being a confident leader. Overall, active listening is crucial in a business setting as well as in other scenarios.
Active Communication Real-Life Scenario
Waiter: Good evening, I will be your waiter tonight. Can I start you off with a drink?
Customer: Yeah, I’ll have some water, please.
Waiter: Still or sparkling?
Customer: Still.
Waiter: Sure, I will be right back with that.
Waiter: Here is your water. Are you ready to order your food?
Customer: Yes, I am. I will get a beef burger. On the burger, I will have no tomatoes and onions, please.
Waiter: Just to make sure I got it right, a beef burger, no tomatoes and onions?
Customer: You got it.
Waiter: Alright, would you like fries or a baked potato with your burger?
Customer: Fries, please.
Waiter: Sure, I will be back with your order in a few minutes.
A few moments later…
Waiter: Okay, here is your burger with no tomatoes and onions and fries. Enjoy your meal.
A few moments later…
Waiter: Just to make sure, is everything alright? Would you like anything else?
Customer: Umm, actually, my burger is not so good. The sauce you guys put on here is terribly spicy, and my burger is overcooked.
Waiter: I am so sorry to hear that. You said the sauce was too spicy, and your burger was overcooked?
Customer: Yes, that’s right.
Waiter: I will write that down and let the chief know. We are really sorry that you were not satisfied with your food. Can I offer you a new meal on the house?
Customer: I just want to say I am disappointed that you guys would serve such a bad meal. It has ruined my entire evening. I am not even sure if I want to take you up on your offer for a new meal. Sighs…
Waiter: Again, sir, I am truly sorry, you must feel so frustrated about this incident, so the least we can do is make you a new meal on the house. I know this isn’t an excuse, but the chief is new to the job, and this is the first meal he has messed up, so he will be truly sorry about serving an overcooked meal.
Customer: You said the chief is new?
Waiter: Yes, although like I said it is no excuse.
Customer: You know I apologize I may have overreacted a little, I will take you up on your offer about that new meal as everyone deserves a second chance.
Waiter: Please don’t apologize, you did nothing wrong. Would you like another burger or do you need a couple minutes to choose something else from the menu?
Customer: I’ll just have another burger.
Waiter: Sure. Once again, no onions, tomatoes, or sauce on your burger, is that right?
Customer: That is correct.
A few moments later…
Waiter: Okay, so here is your new burger. Again, apologies for the first meal. I hope you will enjoy this one.
Customer: Like I said, everyone deserves a second chance, and this bite will determine if that is true.
Waiter: We appreciate your decision to give us a second chance.
A few moments later…
Waiter: So, how is everything?
Customer: Fantastic, you can tell the chief that this is the best burger I have ever tasted. Thank you very much, it was worth accepting your offer.
Waiter: I am glad to hear that. Enjoy the rest of your meal!
Work Cited
Hoppe, Michael H. Active Listening: Improve Your Ability to Listen and Lead. Center for Creative Leadership, 2018.