We’ve explored the importance of listening in this series, and now it’s time to talk about some simple and practical strategies for honing your listening skills. It’s especially important for leaders, who have employees to manage and guide. Because simply standing in the room while someone talks is not enough.
Listening is critical to your workday and poor listening skills can ruin it. Top executives for a Chicago manufacturing plant were asked to survey the role of listening in their plant. After hearing a seminar on listening, Ralph G. Nichols and Leonard A. Stevens explain in their Harvard Business Review article, that one of the most common responses was:
“Frankly, I had never thought of listening as an important subject by itself. But now that I am aware of it, I think that perhaps 80 percent of my work depends on my listening to someone, or on someone else listening to me.”
This is true for nearly anyone who works with other people. Having good listening skills is critical to avoiding miscommunication and staying connected with other team members and managers.
Effective listening is a critical part of communicating—you can’t have one without the other. No matter where your position lies in the chain of command. Both managers and entry level employees alike need to hear feedback, take direction and understand the needs of the people around them.
Inappropriate behavior can happen in any company. As a boss or manager, it falls under your jurisdiction to manage such situations, and fast. When left unchecked, unsuitable actions can have serious impact on other employee’s performance as well as the office environment as a whole.
To speak up in a meeting is considered public speaking, and according to Psychology Today, there are many reasons some people are afraid to do it:
However, speaking up in meetings is important for personal and professional reasons. When you share ideas or questions, you take part in the conversation, provide value, and show that you’re trying to be an active participant in the workplace. All of this can lead to being seen by upper management, which can be critical for moving ahead in your career.
A great company or team culture – one that’s productive, positive and growth-oriented – starts with a great leader.
Becoming a leader that your team members want to follow is not just a simple prescriptive or formulaic check of the box. This will require you to focus on your team, be reliable to show up, intentional with your actions, and consistent in being present.
Customers are the lifeblood of any business – and keeping them happy ensures they stay loyal to your company. This is why great customer experience is crucial. In fact, an estimated 52 percent of Americans have switched their allegiance from one brand of retailer, cable provider, bank or other establishment because of poor customer services.
High-quality customer experience must be prioritized to thrive in our consumer-driven world. However, the success of your customer service approach is only as effective as the health of your internal communication.
Research at Stanford University found that those collaborating on a certain assignment will tend to persist with the task 64 percent longer than solo workers. This outcome, the study suggests, also leads to more enthusiasm, commitment and intrinsic motivation. And all of these have a notable impact on the success of the organization.
The purpose of collaboration is to unite a group of people to complete a common objective or goal, in addition to sharing the workload. As such, collaboration is beneficial for employees and managers alike. Learn more about why your team should be collaborating more often and how you can harness these benefits in order to be more productive.
The frequency of remote work options have grown exponentially in the past decade, with an estimated 3.6 million Americans working from home in at least some capacity, based on State of the Remote Job Marketplace.
The remote work trend has notable perks for both employees and employers – no commute, time flexibility and minimal office costs. What’s more, a study of 500 employees from Stanford University reports that working from home can lead to a boost in productivity. For example, traditional office workers in the study lost time due to traffic on their commutes, periodic water-cooler breaks and other daily interruptions, while remote employees did not.
If you’re like most people, chances are you have some sort of clutter in your life. Whether it’s a messy basement, an overstuffed closet, or an office desk that’s littered with papers, we all have something that could use some tidying up and decluttering.
