OACC2-PPD Module 9: Active Listening Skills PDF

PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (OACC2-PPD) 9 “Active Listening Skills” MS. RONITA SONIO-FRIAS  NO. 9 PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Active Listening Skills The students should be able : 1. to know and under...

PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (OACC2-PPD) 9 “Active Listening Skills” MS. RONITA SONIO-FRIAS  NO. 9 PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Active Listening Skills The students should be able : 1. to know and understand about active listening skills 2. to know the importance of active listening skills NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development Active Listening Hear What People Are Really Saying. Listening is one of the most important skills you can have. How well you listen has a major impact on your job effectiveness, and on the quality of your relationships with others.  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development For instance: We listen to obtain information. We listen to understand. We listen for enjoyment. We listen to learn.  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development Given all the listening that we do, you would think we'd be good at it! In fact, most of us are not, and research suggests that we only remember between 25 percent and 50 percent of what we hear, as described by Edgar Dale's Cone of Experience. That means that when you talk to your boss, colleagues, customers, or spouse for 10 minutes, they pay attention to less than half of the conversation.  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development Clearly, listening is a skill that we can all benefit from improving. By becoming a better listener, you can improve your productivity, as well as your ability to influence, persuade and negotiate. What's more, you'll avoid conflict and misunderstandings. All of these are necessary for workplace success.  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development Good communication skills require a high level of self-awareness. Understanding your own personal style of communicating will go a long way toward helping you to create good and lasting impressions with others.  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development Communication skills - are the abilities you use when giving and receiving different kinds of information. Some examples include communicating new ideas, feelings or even an update on your project. Communication skills involve listening, speaking, observing and empathising.  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development Active Listening The way to improve your listening skills is to practice "active listening." This is where you make a conscious effort to hear not only the words that another person is saying but, more importantly, the complete message being communicated.  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development Becoming an Active Listener There are five key active listening techniques you can use to help you become a more effective listener:  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development 1. Pay Attention Give the speaker your undivided attention, and acknowledge the message. Recognize that non-verbal communication also "speaks" loudly. Look at the speaker directly.Put aside distracting thoughts. Avoid being distracted by environmental factors. For example, side conversations. "Listen" to the speaker's body language.  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development 2. Show That You're Listening Use your own body language and gestures to show that you are engaged. Nod occasionally. Smile and use other facial expressions. Make sure that your posture is open and interested. Encourage the speaker to continue with small verbal comments like yes, and "uh huh."  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development 3. Provide Feedback Our personal filters, assumptions, judgments, and beliefs can distort what we hear. As a listener, your role is to understand what is being said. This may require you to reflect on what is being said and to ask questions.  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development 4. Defer Judgment Interrupting is a waste of time. It frustrates the speaker and limits full understanding of the message. Allow the speaker to finish each point before asking questions. Don't interrupt with counter arguments.  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development 5. Respond Appropriately Active listening is designed to encourage respect and understanding. You are gaining information and perspective. You add nothing by attacking the speaker or otherwise putting her down.  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development Importance of listening in workplace  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development 1. Building Trust You and your employees are happy when you meet each other’s respective goals. For an employer, it is the organizational success and for the employees, it is the tasks and objectives they are assigned to complete. It is therefore very vital to have trust in each other for healthy work experience.  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development 2. Productivity Active listening has countless benefits when it comes to employee productivity. In a workplace, when views and ideas of the employees are not heard by the higher management, it fuels employees’ resentment and results in low productivity. Proper feedback and actively considering views and ideas of the employees are vital for a healthy workplace and performance.  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development 3. Resolves Conflicts Conflicts and mishaps are inevitable in any workplace. The reasons for this can vary from a minor misunderstanding or a major debacle.  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development 4. Strong Work Relationship It is important to form healthy work relationships in the workplace for healthy work experience. A study conducted by Faye Doell in 2003 showed that there are two types of listening: ‘listening to understand’ and ‘listening to respond’.  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development 5. Self Empowerment Self-empowerment helps you build your confidence and let go of your agendas. When you practice active listening and understand what is beneficial for you in the workplace, you expand your perspective in that direction and empower yourself.  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development 6. Acceptance Every company has its own company culture and each member adds value to it. The root of this culture starts with acceptance. Yes! Acceptance of its values and vision by all its members.  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development 6. Acceptance Every company has its own company culture and each member adds value to it. The root of this culture starts with acceptance. Yes! Acceptance of its values and vision by all its members.  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development Examples of Active Listening Techniques  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development There are plenty of active listening techniques that will improve the impression you can make at a job interview. Active listening techniques include:  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development - Building trust and establishing rapport - Demonstrating concern - Paraphrasing to show understanding - Using nonverbal cues which show understanding such as nodding, eye contact, and leaning forward  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development - Brief verbal affirmations like “I see,” “I know,” “Sure,” “Thank you,” or “I understand” - Asking open-ended questions - Asking specific questions to seek clarification - Waiting to disclose your opinion - Disclosing similar experiences to show understanding  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development Examples of Active Listening Responses It’s often easier to learn by reading examples. Here are some examples of statements and questions employed with active listening:  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development Building trust and establishing rapport: “Tell me what I can do to help.” “I was really impressed to read on your website how you donate 5% of each sale to charity.” Demonstrating concern: “I'm eager to help; I know you're going through some tough challenges.” “I know how hard a corporate restructuring can be. How is staff morale at this point?”  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development Paraphrasing: “So, you're saying that the uncertainty about who will be your new supervisor is creating stress for you.” “So, you think that we need to build up our social media marketing efforts.” Brief verbal affirmation: “I understand that you'd like more frequent feedback about your performance.” “Thank you. I appreciate your time in speaking to me.”  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development Asking open-ended questions: “I can see that John's criticism was very upsetting to you. Which aspect of his critique was most disturbing?” “It’s clear that the current situation is intolerable for you. What changes would you like to see?” Asking specific questions: “How long do you expect your hiring process to last?” “What is your average rate of staff turnover?”  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development Waiting to disclose your opinion: “Tell me more about your proposal to reorganize the department.” “Can you please provide some history for me regarding your relationship with your former business partner?” Disclosing similar situations: “I was also conflicted about returning to work after the birth of my son.” “I had the responsibility of terminating some of my personnel, due to downsizing, over the last two years. Even if it’s necessary, it never gets easier.”  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development More Active Listening Skills - Validation - Problem Sensitivity - Emotional intelligence - Courtesy - Professionalism - Non verbal communication - Transparency  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development - Integrity - Humility - Proactivity - Accepting Constructive Criticism - Creating and Managing Expectations - Confidence - Empathy - Compassion  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development - Understanding - Observation - Attention to Detail - Vocal Tone - Sensitivity to Religious and Ethnic Diversity - Self-Awareness - Situational Awareness  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development - Interpretation - Identify and Manage Emotions - Understanding Hidden Needs of Others - Body Language - Facilitating Group Discussion - Reaching Consensus - Collaboration  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development By employing these active listening techniques, you will impress your interviewer as a thoughtful, analytical, highly desirable candidate for the position. Think about possible situations that may occur during an interview and come up with strategies to allow you to listen actively.  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development Improving Your Skills Never underestimate the power of soft skills (also known as people skills) like active listening. Your CV or resume may look great, with a strong array of professional experience and training, but employers are also looking for people who have the ability to communicate and to team well with others. Important soft skills (besides active listening) include problem-solving, flexibility, self-motivation, leadership, and teamwork—all of which need to be highlighted both on your resume and during a personal interview. Especially for young, first-time job candidates with limited work experience, these people skills often are the deciding factor in whether an employer will be willing to take the risk in hiring someone young over others who may have more experience (but possibly weaker interpersonal communications talents) NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development M.9.1-1 “ACTIVE LISTENING SKILLS” Pen & Paper none  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development M.9.1-1 Answer the following questions : 1. Why is active listening important ? 2. How do you develop active listening skills? 3. What are communications skills?  NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development M.9.1-1 For Flexible Distance Learning: Screenshot of hand written answer on bondpaper and uploaded at Edmodo Apps For Modular Distance Learning: Handwritten bondpaper and submitted at AISAT Campus Five days after the discussion. NO. 9 Personal and Professional Development “