Listening and Effective Workplace Communication

James Humes, a former presidential speech writer, stated that, "the art of communication is the language of leadership" (Leading Thoughts, 2010). Communication is an essential process that is common in the workplace. Everyone in the workplace especially leaders must communicate with others. Ideas, conversations, disagreements, and commitments can all be exchanged through communication. Anyone can communicate but it takes discipline and skills to effectively communicate. These skills can include feedback, presentation, non-verbal communication, and listening. Listening is the most valuable skills to effective workplace communication because it enhances job effectiveness, relationships and responses. Most people equate hearing with listening and they do not take time to improve their listening skills.
To be an effective communicator a person must understand the differences between hearing and listening. Listening is an active process that requires more effort than it takes to hear. “Listening is the conscious desire to determine the meaning of what is heard” (Behera, 2010). Hearing a message rather than listening could cause a person to agree to something that they did not intend to. An active listener participates in the communication process by being focused on the message that is being communicated. The in-depth process of listening will result in a verbal or non-verbal response to let the communicator know that they are engaged in the conversation. An active listener may nod during the conversation to show that they understand or agree. An active listener may also paraphrase the message that was communicated to ensure the comprehension. In the workplace, an employee can hear what their boss is saying but fail to understand the true meaning of the message.
An employee who practices their active listening skills can be effective because they ensure that they understand instructions and the information that this presented. Active listening is especially important for jobs that require shift change. During shift change, employees exchange information needed to complete duties for the next shift. For instance, death could be the result of a nurse failing to be an active listener when the head nurse is giving information about a diabetic patient. A detrimental mistake due to lack of listening skills can negatively affect an employee’s reputation.
Listening is an important communication skill that can strengthen work related relationships. Listening to others in the work environment is important because listening shows others that their message is valued. Leaders, co-workers, and customers will have more respect for an employee who listens to their message. A leader who knows that their employee will listen to their instruction and information will trust their employee with more responsibilities. Listening is also the most important form of effective communication in a customer service work environment. By listening to customers, situations can be avoided and confrontations deescalated. Customers want to know that their concerns, questions, and suggestions are heard. “Listening is presumed to be a critical skill for successful salespeople to build trusting, open relationships with customers” (Ramsey, 2007). Listening to others’ concerns will help an organization improve customer and employee satisfaction.
A person who does not listen can risk the chance of responding prematurely or responding incorrectly. Undeveloped listening skills can cause confusion in the workplace. Supervisors who do not listen to upper management can give the wrong set directions to line level employees. Therefore, incorrect directions could result in a company wasting time, money, and resources on the wrong project. Effective communicators listen, because it helps a person to respond appropriately.
Without listening a person cannot give quality feedback. In the hospitality industry it is important for workers to listen to customer so that they can accurately meet the customer’s needs. If a guest calls down to the front desk and complains about their room the front desk clerk needs to actively listen to know how to respond. A response may include sending up an item that was requested by the guest or escalating the problem to upper management. Intently listening to the message that is presented will help employees and managers respond in an appropriate manner. A response to listening does not always have to verbal. A non-verbal response like smiling or nodding can be an appropriate response. It does not matter if the response is verbal or non-verbal, listening will help to ensure that the response is effective.
People tend to assume that the most important part of the pyramid is the top but they are incorrect. The bottom of the pyramid is the most important part of the pyramid. The bottom of the pyramid is the foundation on which the other blocks stand. If there was a pyramid to represent communication skills, listening would be the foundation or the base for communication. Communication skills build on each other and the skill that is used for the moment in time is the tip of the pyramid. “Truly effective communication involves more than just expressing yourself clearly. It also requires effective listening” (Brown, 2009). Listening helps to strengthen the other communication skills like feedback and presentation. It is hard to present to an audience without understanding the audience’s needs. To understand the needs of an audience, a presenter must listen to their questions and concerns. It is also hard to give quality feedback without listening to the message that was received. These messages can come in different forms that can make it difficult to listen.
Listening is the most effective communication skill in the workplace because it goes beyond face to face conversations. Many work environments engage in conversations with other co-workers, leaders, and clients over the phone. To effectively communicate over the phone, a person must actively listen. During phone conversations people cannot rely on non-verbal communication like facial expressions. To effectively listen it is important that the receiver tries to understand the message that is being relayed in order to respond accordingly. Listening is challenging because there are many barriers that can hinder a person from understanding what is being said.
Barriers can affect the listening process but there are ways to overcome these barriers. Most people find that they are easily distracted when they should be listening. In the work environment, people tend to start thinking about their response before the other person stops speaking. The barrier that formulates in the mind can negatively affect the conversation. The response that was immaturely created could be incorrect because the listener did not take the time to understand the complete message. Loud noises can be a distraction to the listener and a barrier. It is hard to listen to what a person when a person’s words cannot be heard. To overcome the barriers listed above the listener must remain focused. Active listening will help the listener to continue to remain engaged in the conversation by asking questions and giving feedback. People are always talking and everyone feels that their message is important. People miss out on important information because of failure to listen. In the work environment it is very important to listen because instructions and information are continuously being shared. A person who does not listen in the work environment will be out of sync with the rest of the workers. Listening to other builds stronger relationships. People need to know that they are being heard and that the other person is actively engaged in the conversation. Listening will help to bring cohesiveness to the work environment. Customers, co-workers, and leaders will feel more valued because they know that their voice is being heard by others.

References
Behera, A. K. (2010). Listening, an Art?. Language In India, 10(12), 28-32.
Brown, W. K. (2009). Listen Up. Professional Safety, 54(4), 8.
Leading Thoughts. (2010). Quotes on communication. Retrieved from http://www.leadershipnow.com/communicationquotes.html

Ramsey, R. P., & Sohi, R. S. (1997). Listening to Your Customers: The Impact of Perceived Salesperson Listening Behavior on Relationship Outcomes. Journal Of The Academy Of Marketing Science, 25(2), 127.