Assignment for week one
Listening skills
Often when a misunderstanding occurs on the job, it is attributed to a lack of communication, which most of time implies that whoever was delivering the message did not do an effective job. But what about the other side, the listener? Let me give you an example. Mark, a senior-level manager in a high-technology company, seemed to possess all the skills one might expect from someone who had achieved his level of management. When someone talked to Mark, he generally gave the impression that he really cared about what was said. He would look squarely into the person's eyes, nod his head, and now and then say, yes, uh-hu. There was only one small problem: Joe was not really listening.
The contrast between hearing and really listening can be as different as night and day. And in a business environment, not listening effectively to customers, employees, and peers can mean the difference between success and failure. One of the best ways to begin to improve your listening skills is to have a better understanding of some of the most common behaviours you and others demonstrate when not listening effectively. I have done research on the internet And here are some basic rules and instructions how to improve your listening skills.
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: I'll say, then he'll say, and so on.
Judging Negatively labelling people can be extremely limiting. If you prejudge somebody as incompetent or uninformed, you don't pay much attention to what that person says. A basic rule of listening is that ...