Improving listening skills for the effectiveness of communication
I believe that listening is an important part of the working process and our personal life. In this respect, poor listening skills can discourage a person from communicating with people because they misunderstand him/her all the time. My drawback in listening is that I can be carried away with my point of view and fail to listen to another person’s opinion on the issue. As we learn from listening (Wood, 2007, pp. 146-147), I should learn to take a break and listen to the views of my interlocutors. This improvement can improve listening skills for both the workplace and personal life because understanding is important in both fields.
The Case of Alan O’Connor, Manager
The signs that Alan is not an active listener
The interaction shows that Alan does not listen attentively because he fails to realize that his interlocutors are people that have a personal life and certain problems may occur besides the workplace. Alan did not listen carefully in the case with the woman because he did not offer any assistance or ask her about the reasons for working that slow. The only thing he did was that he asked her to work quicker. In the case of the man, Alan was not attentive either; he emphasized the problem but did not try to help to solve it. He was not mindful while listening which is the first step to effective listening (Wood, 2007, p. 147).
Alan’s view of his job and its influence on the work atmosphere
Alan’s perception of his work and his professional duties as a supervisor fosters a negative work atmosphere with his employees. He treats his performance interviews of people who work directly under his supervision because he thinks that they misinterpret his evaluation and do not appreciate it at all. Besides, he thinks that it is inappropriate when employees bring up personal issues and do not know how to react in such cases. It is necessary to treat employees about their multifaceted identities as they have personal lives besides the work and can encounter certain difficulties related to childcare or older care. In this respect, Alan should change his perception of people and try to approach the performance problems with another perspective taking into account people’s issues and offering some ideas to improve their performance.
The signs that Alan is not an effective listener
Alan did not listen effectively to Gretchen because she told about the quality and did not want to work faster and less effective. However, Alan replied that he did not want to lose her which was perceived as a threat to her job by Gretchen. In this respect, he could have offered a few options to plan her work more thoroughly and help her in improving her work pace by analyzing certain difficulties that can cause slow performance.
Another interview did not demonstrate Alan’s effective listening either; he tried to start less bluntly with the male employee and found out that the reason for frequent lateness was the family issues related to the health of the employee’s son. However, Alan replied that he did not want to bring up family issues and would rather focus on the work. In this respect, Alan failed to realize the initial cause of ineffective performance.
How to provide employees with critical feedback about performance and to establish a supportive climate
Being mindful and listening actively would be the most appropriate guidelines applicable to Alan’s situation (Wood, 2007, pp. 164-165). If Alan thinks more about the outcomes of the interview and the awkwardness of the situation when people share their issues, he would never succeed in effectively interviewing the people that work directly under his supervision. However, he can adapt such listening skills as mindfulness and active listening.
Mindful listening presupposes that Alan realizes that certain problems in the personal sphere can affect performance in the workplace. Active listening includes offers and attempts to help to solve the problem which is the core reason for ineffective performance. In Alan’s case, it is necessary to be open to people and help them improve their performance by identifying the gaps and introducing alternative options.
How to start interviews in ways that establish a supportive environment for interaction
A supportive environment for interaction can be created with the help of appraising the efforts of an employee and telling about the positive aspects of his/her work. Also, it is necessary to remember that every person can have certain problems besides the work and they can be the main reason for ineffective performance. Analysis of drawbacks can be carried out less bluntly so that employees do not feel as if they have been measured and assessed already. So, Alan can ask a leading question and make an employee recognize his/her failures. Finally, Alan can make suggestions on improving the performance instead of passing a sentence.
Reference
Wood, J. T. (2007). Interpersonal communication: Everyday encounters (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Thompson.