Nowadays, when people are too busy, and communication is too fast, the ability to listen is a fundamental part of any dialogue. This means not only listening to what the other is saying, but paying close attention to their thoughts, feelings and purposes, allowing them to finish speaking without interrupting. Listening is an act of empathy and patience which permits us to establish confidence in our relations and to enhance our communicative skills. It also helps us to listen actively and respond adequately to the messages received.
You start by removing distractions, like turning off your phone or selecting a noise-free space, to show you are fully engaged. Nonverbal cues like head nods, eye contact, and uncrossed arms can be employed to send that same message. Repeating back what you heard means you will likely understand the message better and it will encourage the speaker to share more, maybe even more than they would have originally wanted. By using that mirroring technique you can prevent miscommunication and let the other person know that you value their opinion, making it a more equal conversation. The more you do this the better you will get at it.
This can be problematic when your biases and assumptions get in the way, when you hear everything through the prism of your own worldview, and you don’t leave room for the other person to simply tell their story. It’s important to become aware of when this is happening, and make an effort to set aside your assumptions. Listening in this way is also important in multicultural settings, where people from different backgrounds may have different communication patterns. Listening actively helps us to communicate across cultural divides, and avoid misunderstandings that can lead to conflict. I also think that this kind of listening helps you learn and grow as a person, because you consider opinions and viewpoints you might not have considered otherwise.
In a workplace, active listening is a must have skill for managers and teams to come up with creative ideas and innovative decisions. By doing this, team members will be encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas. The manager will be able to resolve issues before it blows out of proportion and commands respect. In a negotiation or mediation, when the listener actively listens to the other party, the issue can be resolved amicably. An enemy can turn into a friend. In today’s digital world where most of us work from home or follow the hybrid method of working, listening actively will help to understand better than when we are physically present.
The rewards of a daily practice of active listening are vast and can be life-changing. From developing better relationships, becoming a more emotionally intelligent person, and simply learning to talk less and let others do more of the talking so that both you and they might learn something, I encourage everyone to keep practicing active listening as it is one of the most underrated superpowers we have in a world where information is everywhere.