Be a Listener

I read through an old college communications textbook, Business Communication: Process and Product, 4th Edition by Mary Ellen Guffey, over the weekend to learn and re-iterate good communications practices, and discuss the case studies to look for consquences of these practices. Its chapter on listening struck a particularly strong chord and I'd like to share a few items on the topic.

Listening is not merely hearing; it describes a manner of taking in information given by the communicator in an objective manner. To listen means to detract from any mental barriers that are often encountered: inattention, prejudgement, frame of reference, close mindedness, pseudolistening. Instead, one must give full attention to the communicator, fend off any assumptions or opinions on what the communicator might have to say, pay attention to the communicator's context and content instead of what your opinion may be, remain open-minded about what the person has to say and to listen fully -- no automatic reactions such as "uh-huh" and "okay" are needed, as they show that you're not listening.

Guffey uses the pneumonic device "PIE-A" to diagram listening as a process:
Perception describes the listener's first steps in action. The listener perceives that someone is trying to communicate with him or her.
Interpretation is the "decoding" moment. What is the speaker trying to communicate? This is where listening for content, and not detail, is important.
Evaluation emphasizes the importance of taking a moment to digest and anlyze the content just described and to form a succinct and rational answer.
Action is your response to what has just been communicated to you.

Guffey's step-by-step approach to listening makes it easy to understand what makes listening effective in the workplace (and, more importantly, life in general):
Stop talking.
Control external and internal distractions.
Become actively involved.
Separate facts from opinions.
Identify important facts.
Ask clarifying questions.
Paraphrase to increase understanding.
Capitalize on lag time.
Take notes to ensure retention.

Listening isn't easy. It's a learned behavior that must be actively practiced and, in the long run, will improve vastly your practice of communication. Listening is a mental behavior that, when honed, can help a person understand both verbal and nonverbal signals, and form effective responses to them. The underlying theme of listening is that a person must be completely devoted to the content of a message, and this will help all parties involved.