listening process v

7/28/2019 Listening Process V

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Cultivarea competenei de ascultare n comunicarea de afaceri

A. Madhukar, R.K. (2009).Business Communication. 6th edition. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House.

Listening processMore than an act, listening is a process. It is a lot more than hearing. It starts with hearing but goes

beyond. Listening involves hearing with attention. Listening is a process that calls for

concentration. Hearing refers to the perception of sound with ear. Hearing is a physical act. One

hear a noise, whether one wants to or not. Listening is done not only with the ear, but also with the

other sense organs. While listening, one should also be observant. In other words, listening has to

do with the ears, as well as with the eyes and the mind. Hearing is physical, while listening is

intellectual, involving both the body and the mind.

Listening is to be understood as the total process that involves hearing with attention, being

observant and making interpretations.

Listening calls for participation and involvement. It is necessary for the listener to be interested and

also show or make it abundantly clear that one is intersted in knowing what the other person has to

say. Good listeners put the speaker at ease. The listener can and should help the speaker in

establishing a wavelength which communication traverses smoothly.Listening cluster: hearing, decoding, sensing, understanding, comprehending, filtering, absorbing,

assimilating, empathizing, remembering and responding.

The process of listening involves:

1. hearing

2. decoding

3. comprehending

4. remembering

5. responding

HEARING

Research has shown that the human mind can process words at the rate of about 500 per minute,

whereas a speaker speaks at the rate of about 150 words a minute.Be aware and make every effort to retain the attention of the audience. The listener should also be

careful not to let his mind wander.

DECODING

Decoding involves sensing and filtering of the verbal messages. Decoding takes place as a

conscious exercise. Listening also involves filtering, whereby the massage received is classified as

wanted or unwanted, useful or otherwise. That which is considered useless or unwanted is

discarded. This filtering process is subjective in nature and a person chooses to retain only that

which makes sense to him.

COMPREHENDING

The filtered message assumes a meaning. This activity can be also described as absorbing, grasping

or assimilating. The message received has been heard, sensed, filtered and interpreted. In doing so,the listener has brought into play the listeners own knowledge, experience, perception and

cognitive power.

REMEMBERING

Messages received are meant not just for immediate consideration and action, but also for future

use. Remembering relates to a process whereby the assimilated message is stored in memory to

facilitate future recall.

RESPONDING

This may take the form of prodding, promting or reassuring that the message is being well received.

Types of listeningPASSIVE LISTENING

It refers to inert or indifferent listening. There is no conscious effort to receive and absorb the

message. The message is not absorbed and the passive listener will not be in a position to remember

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and recall the message at a future date. Passive listening takes place when the listener or receiver is

constrained by various physiological and psychological factors.

SELECTIVE LISTENING

People listen to only that which they want to listen to. Attention is not focused. The listener lets the

mind wander and the message is not thoroughly processed.

ACTIVE LISTENING

In this case, the listener makes conscious effort to listen attentively, decode the message and absorbit through a participative process. When one listens actively, one not only comprehends the

message, but is also in a position to remember and recall the same as and when required.

Barriers to listeningPHYSICAL BARRIERS: low audibility level, extraneous noises and sounds, malfunctioning of the

microphone and other mechanical devices and frequent interruptions.

PEOPLE-RELATED BARRIERS

People-related barriers can be both physiological and psychological.

Physiological barriers arise when the listener suffers from ill health, fatigue, sleeplessness or

hearing problems which come in the way of good listening. It may also arise due to the accent and

pronunciation shortcomings of the speaker.

Psychological barriers cover the value system and the behavioural aspects. It may also be onaccount of hierarchical differences. They may relate to bias against the speaker or the message, lack

of credence about the source of communication, underestimation of the speaker and the speakers

ability and past experience.

Ten commandments of listening1. Stop talking

2. Put the speaker at ease

3. Show you want to listen

4. Remove distractions

5. Empathize with the speaker

6. Be patient

7. Hold your temper

8. Refrain from argumentation and criticism

9. Ask questions and elicit more

10. Stop talking again

Importance of listening skills in businessThere is a growing concern in every business to offer value added services. This means that people

at the counters, the sales force, the people who make customer contacts and everyone concerned

with understanding customer needs should actively and sincerely listen to the customer.

Organizations which make a conscious effort in this regard are described as listening organizations.

Behavioural skills and attitudes that focus on attending to the customer are far more relevant today

than in the past.Good listening skills are particularly relevant in dealing with customer complaints and employee

grievances, in hearing the voice of dissent and while seeking suggestions from customers and

employees. Suggestions will be more forthcoming when people in authority lend a patient ear. The

customers of today seek reassurance that they are being heard.

Be it a request, or a complaint, or a suggestion or a piece of advice, listening to the customer is a

must.

B. James, S. Ode I. i Soola, E. O. (1990). Introduction to Communication for Business a Organizations.

Ibadan: Spectrum Books.

Introduction

Its a pity that Raman didnt receive the promotion he wanted, but he has one big fault: he doesntknow how to listen. This remark was made by a department head in a manufacturing firm.

Listening is a skill, an art necessary for success in life and work. Do you know that we devote about

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40 to 45 per cent of our working hours to listening? And do you know that, if you have not taken

steps to improve this skill, you listen at only 25 per cent efficiency? For a long time most persons

assumed that listening was a natural trait, but practically, not all people are good listeners. Evidence

indicates that many persons do not know how to listen - that listening is a skill that must be

developed. In Shakespeares Julius Caesar, Marc Antony realizes that persons dont listen readily,

for he begins his famous oration by saying, Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. As

you will learn in the following pages, listening effectively is hard work. It involves far more thansitting passively and absorbing others words. It occurs far more frequently than speaking, reading,

or writing and is just as demanding and important.

What Listening isJohnson defines listening as the ability to understand and respond effectively to oral

communication. Thus, we can state at the outset that hearing is not listening. Listening requires

more than hearing; it requires understanding of the communication received. Davis states it this

way: Hearing is with the ears, but listening is with the mind.

Common Faults of ListeningResearch studies shows that our listening efficiency is no better than 25 to 30 per cent. That means

the considerable information is lost in the listening process. Why? Some reasons follow:

1.Prejudice against the speaker. At times we have conflict in our mind as to the speaker. Whateverhe speaks seems to be colored and we practically dont listen what he says.

2. Rehearsing. Your whole attention is on designing and preparing your next comment. You look

interested, but your mind is going a mile a minute because you are thinking about what to say next.

Some people rehearse whole chains of responses: Ill say, then hell say, and so on.

3. Judging negatively. Labeling people can be extremely limiting. If you prejudge somebody as

incompetent or uninformed, you dont pay much attention to what that person says. A basic rule of

listening is that judgments should only be made after you have heard and evaluated the content of

the message.

4.Identifying. When using this block, you take everything people tell you and refer it back to your

own experience. They want to tell you about a toothache, but that reminds you of your oral surgery

for receding gums. You launch into your story before they can finish theirs.

5. Advising. You are the great problem solver. You dont have to hear more than a few sentences

before you begin searching for the right advice. However, while you are coming up with

suggestions and convincing someone to just try it, you may miss what is most important.

6. Sparring. This block has you arguing and debating with people who never feel heard because you

are so quick to disagree. In fact, your main focus is on finding things to disagree with.

7.Being Right. Being right means you will go to great lengths (twist the facts, start shouting, make

excuses or accusations, call up past sins) to -avoid being wrong. You cant listen to criticism, you

cant be corrected, and you cant take suggestions to change.

8. Derailing. This listening block involves suddenly changing the subject. You derail the train of

conversation when you get uncomfortable or bored with a topic. Another way of derailing is byjoking.

9.Placating. Right Absolutely I know Of course you areIncredible... Really? You want to

be nice, pleasant, supportive. You want people to like you. So you agree with everything.

10.Dreaming. When we dream, we pretend to listen but really tune the other person out while we

drift about in our interior fantasies. Instead of disciplining ourselves to truly concentrate on the

input, we turn the channel to a more entertaining subject.

11. Thinking speed. Most of us speak between 60 to 180 words per minute, and people have

capacity to think at the rate of 500 to 800 words per Minute. The difference leaves us with the great

deal of mental spare time. While it is possible to use this time to explore the speakers ideas, we

most often let our mind wander to other matters - from the unfinished business just mentioned to

romantic fantasies.12.Premature evaluation. It often happens that we interrupt the speakers before they complete their

thought, or finish their sentence, or state their conclusions. Directly as a result of our rapid thinking

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speed, we race ahead of what we feel is the conclusion. We anticipate. We arrive at the concluding

thought quickly although often that is quite different from what the speaker intended.

13. Semantic stereotypes. As certain kind of people bother us, so too do certain words. When these

words are repeated time and again, they cause annoyance in the mind and effective listening is

impaired.

14. Delivery. A monotonous delivery by the speaker can put listeners to sleep or cause them to

loose interest.15. External distractions. The entire physical environment effects the listen-ing. Among the

negative factors are noisy fans, poor or glaring lights, distracting background music, overheated or

cold rooms, a conversation going on nearby, and so on.

How to Improve Listening Skill1.Realize that listening is hard work. You must appreciate the art of listening, and make conscious

effort to listen others.

2. Prepare to listen. To receive the message clearly, the receiver must have the correct mental

attitude. In your daily communications, establish a permissive environment for each communicator.

3.Have positive attitude. If you have to do it, do it with a positive attitude.

4.Resist distractions. Tune out internal and external distractions by facing and maintaining contact

with the speaker. If you experience some negative environment factors, you can sometimes move toanother location in the room. Good listeners adjust quickly to any kind of abnormal.

5. Listen to understand, not refute. Respect the viewpoint of those you disagree with. Try to

understand the points they emphasize and why they have such feelings (training, background, etc.).

Dont allow your personal biases and attitudes to influence your listening to the message.

6.Keep an open mind. A good listener doesnt feel threatened or insulted, or need to resist messages

that contradict his beliefs, attitudes, ideas, or personal values. Try to identify and rationalize the

words or phrases most upsetting to your means.

7.Find an area of interest. Good listeners are interested and attentive. They find ways to make the

message relevant to themselves and/ or their jobs. Make your listening efficient by asking yourself

what is he saying that I can use? Does he have any worthwhile ideas? Is he conveying any

workable approaches or solutions? G. K Chesterton once said, There is no such-thing as an

uninteresting subject; there are only uninteresting people.

8. Concentrate on the context. Search out main ideas. Construct a mental outline of where speaker

is going. Listen for transition and progression of ideas. If need be, you may reinforce the mental

outline by physically taking down the notes.

9. Capitalize on thought-speed. Most of us think at about four times faster than the communicator

speaks. It is almost impossible to slow down our thinking speed. What do you do with the excess

thinking time while someone is speaking? The good listener uses thought-speed to advantage by

applying spare thinking time to what is being said. Your greatest handicap may be not capitalizing

on converted into your greatest asset.

10. Combine verbal delivery with nonverbal cues. F. S. Pearls, author of Gestalt Theory Vibration,said Dont listen to the words_ just listen to what the voice tells you, what the movements tell you,

what the posture tells you what the image tells you.

11. Show some empathy. Empathy means placing yourself in the shoes of speaker and try

understand his viewpoint from there. If we show some empathy, we create a climate that

encourages others to communicate honestly and openly. Therefore, try to see the communicators

point of view.

12. Hold your fire. Be patient. Dont interrupt. Dont become over-stimulated, too excited, or

excited too soon, by what the speaker says. Be sure you understand what the speaker means; that is,

withhold your evaluation until your comprehension is complete. Mentally arguing with a communi-

cator is one of the principal reasons so little listening takes place in some discussions. Dont argue.

If you win, you lose.13. Listen critically and delay judgment. Good listeners delay making a judgment about the

communicators personality, the principal points of the message, and the response. Ask questions

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and listen critically to the answers. Then, at the appropriate time, judgment can be passed in an

enlightened manner.

Approaches to ListeningJust as a carpenter or a chef uses different tools to tackle a job, listeners can take advantage of

several skills for listening and responding to messages at work. Different approaches to listening are

discussed below:

PASSIVE LISTENING. Sometimes the best approach to listening is to stay out of the way andencourage the speaker to keep going: Uh-huh, really, Tell me more, and so on. Non-verbal

cues like eye contact, attentive posture, and appropriate facial expressions are an important part of

the passive listening. Generally this approach is used when there is one to one conversation or the

speaker is giving a formal presentation.

QUESTIONING. Sincere questions are genuine request for information: when did you find that

fuel was leaking from the barrel?, When did you inform your manager?, and the like. These

questions may be used to gather facts and details, clarify meanings, and encourage a speaker to

elaborate.

PARAPHRASING. Paraphrasing occurs when a listener restate the speakers ideas in his own

words in order to ensure that he has understood them correctly. This is often preceded by phrases

such as, Let me make sure I understand what you are saying..., or in other words you aresaying... and the like. We often think that we understand other person but we may be wrong at

times. Paraphrasing is a practical technique that can highlight misunderstandings.

Points to ponderHere are some hints and tips to make you a better listener:

1. Listen carefully to what the speaker says. Pick out the key words in any information. Its easier to

remember one or two important words than a whole sentence. If youre taking a message for

someone its easier to write down key words to help you remember the message than it is to try to

write everything out. You can add to your message after youve finished listening to the

information.

2. Give each new stage in a set of instructions a number, it will help you remember them later.

3. Repeat the instructions or the information youve been given back to the person who gave them

to you. If youve got anything wrong the person will correct you and the repetition will help you to

remember.

4. Ask questions about anything that you are unsure of, or replay the recorded message.

5. Go through the complete sequence in your mind so that it is clear. If youre taking a message for

someone else you might want to rewrite it using complete sentences so that it will make sense to the

reader.

6. If you are with someone you need to do some extra things while you are listening, because you

are part of a two-way process and you want to encourage the other person. Look interested in what

they are saying Maintain eye contact If the person is giving you directions, pay attention to the

direction they are pointing. Gesture can be very important and can often make the speakersmeaning much clearer.

A Poor Listener May1. Not focus on the speaker (e.g. look around the room)

2. Interrupt when another speaker is taking their turn, or before

the person has finished

3. Talk about themselves only

4. Maintain a blank face

5. Show no interest in the topic or not understand the points

being made (e.g. lack background in the topic)

6. Not ask questions about what has been said

7. Aggressively disagree with the points being made (althoughthis may be because the listener is appalled by the ideas being

presented!)

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Poor Listener Effective Listener

tends to "wool-gather" with slow speakers thinks and mentally summarizes, weighs the

evidence, listens between the lines to tones of voice

and evidence

subject is dry so tunes out speaker finds what's in it for me

distracted easily fights distractions, sees past bad communication

habits, knows how to concentrate

takes intensive notes, but the more notes taken, the

less value; has only one way to take notes

has 2-3 ways to take notes and organize important

information

is overstimulated, tends to seek and enter into

arguments

doesn't judge until comprehension is complete

inexperienced in listening to difficult material; has

usually sought light, recreational materials

uses "heavier" materials to regularly exercise the

mind

lets deaf spots or blind words catch his or her

attention

interpret color words, and doesn't get hung up on

them

shows no energy output holds eye contact and helps speaker along by

showing an active body state

judges delivery -- tunes out judges content, skips over delivery errors

listens for facts listens for central ideas

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listening process v

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