Are We Listening Effectively

The accelerated changes and the technological advancement that are taking place around us dictate continuous development of our human capital. In their quest for personal development people often focus on expanding their knowledge in their profession but tend to pay deaf ear to honing their soft skills.

Soft skills are personal attributes that enhance an individual's interactions, job performance and career prospects. Unlike hard skills, which tend to be specific to a certain type of task or activity, soft skills are broadly applicable. They are intrapersonal and interpersonal skills that determine a person's ability to excel or at least fit in a particular social structure, such as a project team  or a company. These skills include competencies in areas such as emotional intelligence, communication, leadership ability, etiquette, conflict resolution, decision making, self-motivation, self-discipline, persuasion, etc.

Since, the Gulf Countries are embracing nationalization policies of their workforce that is giving priorities for employment to their citizens; I think the issue of honing soft skills will give a competitive leverage for young graduates who are exploring the intricacies of the corporate world. This is of course not to say that the benefits of soft skills are limited to lower Jobs categories. Of course soft skills are qualities that recruiters as well as employers pay a paramount importance to.

The list of soft skills includes a wide range of skills that cannot be listed in this context. However, in the days to come we will discuss certain soft skills. Let us share views on effective listening skill.

Listening is a skill that is very essential for all of us particularly when we are communicating with a person. How would we be able to create a good rapport with the person we are talking to if we are not listening? How would a student understand the lesson if he or she is not paying attention to what is being said?  Why were we given two ears but only one mouth?. This is because the process of listening is twice as hard as talking. It is actually difficult and sometimes requires more mental efforts than speaking requires. Such thought provoking questions will certainly lead to brainstorming the issue of listening as a process through which messages are shared and information is exchanged.

Our personal filters, assumptions, judgments, and beliefs can distort what we hear. As a listener, your role is to understand what is being said. Ask questions to clarify certain points.

How many times did you interrupt a speaker before he finishes his talk? Do you think such habit will lead the speaker to think you are interested in his talk will you motivate him to carry on his conversation/? This will not even let you understand the extent of the message and will deprive you a chance to form further questions that can clear your doubts.

So what are the barriers of effective listening? How could we become effective listeners? Why do not we be more conscious about our process of listening so that we can improve our weakness in this area. After all listening takes different shapes and size. It could be between a leader and his subordinates, team members at work, a father and his son , a mother and her daughter or a husband and his wife. Therefore, the quality of your listening will lead to the outcomes.

 Inculcating the skill of being an effective listener is rewarding. Therefore, let us put such a competency as one of our goals.