Download How Well Do You Listen?

How Well Do You Listen?
• What are you thinking about when
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someone is speaking to you?
If you frequently interrupt the speaker,
what are the consequences for you?
How could you improve your listening
skills?
Communication
• Effective communication can be measured by
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the response you get from other people.
You condition people to communicate with you in
a certain way by the way you communicate.
Most of us hear, not listen and talk, not
communicate.
Effective communication is planned with an
outcome.
The manager must have the capacity to put
one’s self in another’s place and respond
accordingly.
Active Listening
1. LISTEN WITH FULL ATTENTION. Assume an
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open posture, establish rapport.
DON’T INTERRUPT, ESPECIALLY WITHOUT
APOLOGY. This can mean blatantly, such as
breaking someone’s concentration or finishing
a sentence for them, or subtly, such as offering
unsolicited advice.
LISTEN FOR BOTH CONTENT AND
FEELINGS. Reflect your understanding before
you respond – particularly if the comment is
inflammatory.
Active Listening, cont.
4. WALK IN YOUR SPEAKER’S SHOES. Listen
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from his or her perspective.
AVOID RESPONSES THAT SHUT DOWN
THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS. Reflect
instead.
1. Comment: Boy, that patient gave me a hard time. I
can’t believe it.
2. Derailing response: I had one just like that
yesterday. Let me tell you what she said.
3. Discounting response: I don’t know why you worry
about it. Some people you just can’t please.
4. Advising response: I think when a patient tries to
give you a hard time, the best thing to do is...
5. Reflecting response: Sounds like a particularly
tough case. What happened?
Active Listening, cont.
6. CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING.
NEVER ASSUME. Instead, ask clarifying
questions.
1. Speaker: I just don’t see how I can get ready
to leave for vacation by Friday afternoon.
2. Listener: Are you saying you would like to
reschedule your vacation?
3. Speaker: Yes, if that’s OK with you. OR
4. Speaker: No, but I sure could use some help
getting this payroll out.
Active Listening, cont.
7. LISTEN FOR IDEAS, NOT JUST
FACTS. Listen for the central theme. Try
to get the “big picture”.
8. JUDGE CONTENT, NOT DELIVERY.
Tolerate bad speaker’s habits.
9. EVALUATE, BUT DON’T DEBATE.
10.LISTENING IS WORK. WORK AT IT!
Listening With the Whole Body
(Non-verbal)
L ean towards the speaker
I nvolved posture (arms unfolded, legs uncrossed)
S mile appropriately
T erritory (space, distance, physical barriers)
E ye contact (have good eye contact 60% of the time)
N on-distracting movements (nodding, move as the
speaker moves) (Some distracting movements are
jingling change, tapping your fingernails, tapping
your leg)
Top Ten Communication Barriers
1. Resistance to change
2. Tendency not to listen
3. Lack of feedback
4. Too many gatekeepers
5. Lack of trust
6. Either-or thinking
7. Defensiveness
8. Hostile attitude
9. Know-it-all attitude
10. Emotional reactions
Resistance to Change
In any health care organization, supervisors must
constantly change to meet the varying needs of
the organization and its employees. Supervisors
must be extremely cautious of how change
affects their employees. Frequently, changes are
met with employee resistance because these
changes threaten to disrupt the employees’
routine behaviors. The supervisors should
communicate the changes positively in order to
reduce employee anxiety. Supervisors need to
explain clearly why the changes were made and
how the changes are going to affect the
employees individually.
Tendency Not to Listen
Poor listening skills have been cited as a major
communication barrier across several
professions. The health care industry is no
exception. Supervisors need to listen attentively,
carefully, objectively, and empathetically to their
employees. Supervisors must listen to
understand and develop a climate that
encourages employees to be open with their
feelings. Effective supervisors can never listen
too much.
Lack of Feedback
For supervisors to understand whether they are
meeting the needs of their employees, they must
receive feedback from employees. Also,
supervisors need to know whether their
messages are understood completely by
employees. Questioning the employees with
sincerity about their understanding of a message
helps promote effective communication.
Supervisors must develop a policy that
encourages and supports good employee
communication.
Too Many Gatekeepers
Generally, the more transfer stations or gatekeepers
between the subordinate and supervisor, the more likely
the information can become distorted. Obviously, the
supervisor needs to reduce the number of gatekeepers.
If multiple channels must be followed for the sake of the
chain of command, then the message should be as
explicit as possible. Messages sent orally should be
followed by written messages to ensure preservation of
content throughout the channeling process. Also,
supervisors should make themselves more accessible to
subordinates. This will reduce employee frustration and
encourage a more cooperative attitude.
Either-Or Thinking
The working world, as with life itself, is filled with
many differences between people and
differences in how these people go about
performing work. The same goal often can be
reached by different methods. As in football,
where touchdowns can be scored via the run or
the pass, it is usually possible at work to
accomplish tasks by using different methods.
People who take the rigid “either-or” approach
unnecessarily restrict their options by ruling out
all other possibilities.
Either-Or Thinking, cont.
Especially with complex problems, talking with
several different individuals is more desirable
than making a unilateral decision. Of course,
talking with several different individuals usually
results in a variety of opinions. The supervisor
must then make a selection from among options.
Such an approach takes more effort but often
results in a better decision. Also, by using the
communication device of seeking the opinions of
others, the health care supervisor begins to
develop the reputation of a participative
manager. Participation is considered a highly
desirable management characteristic.
Defensiveness
Some people are seldom approachable and some
are unapproachable at certain times. This state
of not being approachable is defensive in that
people place priority in mounting protective
devices to shield themselves in their relations
with other people. These individuals are fearful
that they will be vulnerable to verbal attack, and
thus take defensive measures, such as being
unwilling to consider points of view other than
their own. When people show signs of
defensiveness, others find difficulty in
communicating. In fact, other people often do
not even try because experience indicates that
the defensive shell cannot be penetrated.
Hostile Attitude
Rather than taking a defensive posture to protect
themselves, as is the case with defensiveness, some
people attack others to protect themselves. This is
evident when a hostile attitude is displayed. People who
exhibit this characteristic are belligerent and show hatred
in their aggressiveness. They often are angry and
antagonistic. Subordinates and coworkers do not feel
comfortable trying to communicate with the person who
exhibits a hostile attitude. The problem with this and
other barriers is that necessary communication that
influences the organization’s effectiveness doesn’t occur.
People will hesitate to communicate in this environment
because battles so often develop.
Know-it-All Attitude
A bothersome barrier, even if not as discomfiting
as defensiveness and hostility, is the person who
gives the impression of knowing everything.
Relatively few people are bothered by an
individual with acknowledged expertise in a
certain subject even if that person is somewhat
obnoxious. However, the person who pretends
to know everything about every subject that
emerges usually is held in low regard. Others
are turned off by this behavior and therefore
often do not want to even enter the
communication network.
Emotional Reactions
Most people will react emotionally to stimuli that
deeply affect them. In general, such behavior is
considered normal and most others understand
that infrequent emotional response goes with the
human condition. However, the frequency and
degree of emotion shown are important
considerations. For example, a person who gets
upset nearly every time a change is suggested
becomes difficult to work with in a complex
health organization where change seems to be
endemic to the environment. People who allow
their emotions to override rational behavior are
troublesome individuals to communicate with.
Others often shy away from communicating with
people who cry or displace anger easily.