Your Listening Limitations
In what ways do you limit your listening?
You can limit your listening by talking too much
Given my position, improving my listening skill is crucial. When directing a group of 22 representatives and they are all pulling different ways, the pitfalls of active listening are many. Listening to facts, impatience, I’ve heard it before, past history are all situations that arise and need to be controlled. It usually takes stopping the task at hand, asking others to wait their turn, and focusing on the conversation to maximize accurate listening and finding the right solution.
I completely agree. Sometimes when I am speaking and holding a conversation with a student my main focus is to get them enrolled with our program instead of listening to exactly what they have to say.
As a receptionist,listening is very important. This is my first time working at a school, so doing things in a professional manner is vital.I have noticed that I sometimes limit my listening over the phone because I am so quick to try to direct the call to the appropriate party to prevent the caller from having to wait. When a caller seems frustrated because I have asked them to state the nature of the call or to repeat what was just said, I sometimes get flustered and just want to pass the call to the appropriate party. I'm working on slowing down and taking the time to deeply listen to the caller's requests to avoid any misinterpretation.
A lack of discipline to stay away from the listening traps and resorting to personality selling. Gradually your interviews become less successful. It takes more effort up front but makes life easier in the long run.
Listening for facts sometimes hinders my ability to fully consider some the nuances in a conversation. I also find myself impatiently listening to members of my staff at times when multi-tasking.
Awesome, Eric! It sounds like you realize your limitations and are taking steps to improve your listening skills. Keep up the good work!
Elizabeth Wheeler
Thank you for your honest response, Shawn! I'm curious, what specifically did you do to work on this aspect of your communication?
Elizabeth Wheeler
My listening limitations often surround the urge to rush to judgment of any given situation, so that I can asses and resolve any potential obstacle. The biggest impact for the student, is the chance that I may only address a surface level concern and not actually hear about a primary concern until it has impacted their ability to start their courses. Because problem solving for me is instinctual, it does take a very intentional process of clarifying concerns to assist me in staying on track and uncovering all possible concerns.
The biggest problem I have with listening is feeling like I always have to have an immediate answer to what they are saying. I have found that if I relax that need and am okay myself with responding with "tell me more about that" or "I appreciate what you are saying" it calms that frantic part of my brain and allows me to just listen.
I can be an impatient person at times. Over the years i've actually had to work on my lsitening skills as I would tend to try to answer their concerns or jump in with a response before they were done speaking. I do this in all my communication whether it is personal or professional.
Russell,
Excellent! We're also big fans of RRR!
Dr. Jean Norris
A lot of the time I am listening to the words and not the meaning behind them. Many times I'm afraid that I won't understand their question or be able to answer so I will try to answer what I think they are asking.
However, I do practice the repeat, rephrase and reflect principle. That helps a lot! That's where I really find out if I have answered their question to their satisfaction or not.
It's common to think we don't have time to listen, Marialys. However, without the listening component we may not get to the point of enrolling the right students. Taking the time to listen creates a win-win situation for you and the student.
Elizabeth Wheeler
I think I limit listening because of a time restraint. I'm most often busy and not able to spend a lot of time in conversations. Also because of the language differences and the difficulty in understanding unfamiliar accents.
Sylvia, Great insights! We agree; being present doesn't just mean being in the same room.
Elizabeth Wheeler
I try not to limit my listening, although I am sure I must at times. I truly believe though that if the person genuinely feels I am listening to everything, they will be more comfortable and know I care about what they are talking about.
Some of the ways a person can limit their listening abilities is by not being present in the conversation. This means the supposed listener has their own thoughts roaming through their head at the moment they should be actively paying attention to the words, body language, and tone that the speaker is saying/using. Another way a person can limit their listening abilities is to assume they already know the answer prior to the speaker finishing their sentence. Finally, a person can limit their listening ability by interrupting the speaker as they speak.
Sadie, This is a great insight. What do you think is the important of getting to know someone/learn more about them before you start sharing your opinion on what program you think is best for them?
Dr. Jean Norris
