When we think of communication skills, we often overfocus on speaking or delivering a speech. However, communication is not only about how well you present or deliver but also about how well you listen. What we listen, to will directly reflect on our actions and activities.

Difference between Listening and Hearing Let's set this clear listening and hearing are not the same. Listening is a subset of hearing. We hear many things but the one we acknowledge is what we listen to. In our subconscious mind as we are reading now we are hearing our own voice. Every time we think or read we have a voice playing in our mind. When we are not attentive we might be hearing something but sub-consciously not present in the moment.

How does that impact what we do?

In our workplace, we are regularly connecting with people over the internet. We barely see them in person and only communicate virtually. Hence already losing the visual aid while communicating we should not barely risk our listening skills and utilize the most of it. If we listen well, it positively reflects on our activities and we see decreased work conflicts and a sense of inclusiveness.

Where do we go wrong in listening?

Sometimes when we hear we may be working on another stuff that might be related to the same topic in parallel. Multi-tasking is a myth unless someone has more than one brain. It's human nature that we can focus only on one thing at a time. Hence we should be attentive when we are listening and avoid doing any other activity. If anything is on priority it's always better to inform the person and postpone the conversation.

At times while listening, we are too eager to ask any question or doubt and if we don't get the chance immediately we keep on recalling the question in our mind and eventually become unmindful.

How to be a good listener?

Taking notes is one best practice we can follow. The notes shall not be well-versed sentences, but just small phrases which will help us recall. This will also help to have all the key details in one place and have a detailed bi-directional conversation. We can also note down any doubts and ask them appropriately for further clarification.

Another exercise which we can follow is to utilize the power of imagination. There will be situations where we are not able to take down notes. To connect with the speaker we can use the most powerful computer in the world i.e. our brain. Here we start imagining what we hear and we can see every key detail taken as a note in our mind.

What are the benefits of being a good listener?

This creates a positive work environment. The most basic advantage is you are able to create a connection with the speaker. This not only benefits us but the speaker also imparts confidence in the speaker. It creates a sense of inclusiveness in the workplace and there will be much lesser conflicts. The focus will be on solving the problem rather than resolving any internal conflicts.