The Communication Equation: Listening Skills in the Workplace

Guest Post by Laura Janusik, Ph.D. 

We live in a “speaking culture.” While speaking is one important part of the communication equation, we don’t put as much emphasis on listening. As I like to say, Communication = Speaking + Listening.  

Why Listening Skills in the Workplace Matter

Strong listening skills in the workplace (and outside) are in short supply. These skills are critical because they allow two or more people to have a conversation where all ideas are represented. Two synonyms for good listening skills are: 

• Basic understanding skills

  The ability, through communication, to make sure the picture in one person’s head closely approximates the picture in another person’s head

• Getting on the same page

  This means both people or all members of a group are shooting in the same direction for the same end target 

The quality of listening determines the quality of a relationship. In the workplace, the strength of a relationship is a major determinant in retaining top-tier employees and getting repeat business from customers.  

Top Three Listening Skills in the Workplace

The three most important listening skills in the workplace for small business owners and managers are: 

• Listen to understand, not respond

  This is my paraphrase of habit No. 5 from Stephen Covey’s book, 7 Habits of Highly Successful People. 
  

  When we are listening, it is not our turn to be speaking. It’s not our turn to be thinking about what we’re going to say next. It’s our turn to try to understand what the other person is saying. This means not interrupting and not rehearsing what we're going to say. 

• Confirm 

  This skill is also called paraphrasing – or putting into your own words what you think you understand based on what the other person has said – and then asking the other person if your understanding is correct. 
  
  This ability, one of the most-researched communication skills, can take the conversation quality a million miles forward. Physicians use it to retain their patients. FBI agents use it to turn around negotiations. 

It lets the people in a discussion know whether they’re on the same page. If they’re not, it provides an opportunity to discuss further, confirm again and make sure there’s alignment before decisions are made or action steps are taken. For small business owners and managers, confirming creates trust with workers, which boosts employee loyalty. 

RELATED: How to Have Difficult Conversations with Employees >>

• Strategic silence

  This advanced skill is knowing when we should keep our mouths shut and why. 

Communication in general is a goal-oriented activity. For instance, a small business owner networking with someone wants to see what that person’s needs are and determine whether they might need the small company’s products or services. 

With employee communication, however, the purpose is sometimes different. There may be times when the goal is simply to listen and allow employees to “ramble their way to wisdom.” Strategic silence includes some open-ended questions that allow employees to figure it out on their own. 

One example of when to use strategic silence is when coaching an employee who recognizes a workplace problem but has not yet been able to think through the solution. An owner or manager who remains strategically silent allows the employee to talk through the problem and come up with their own solution.

This technique lets the employee provide more information by moving from automatic thinking to reflective thinking. Research shows that most people do not say everything they want to say in their first response, so strategic silence allows you to get more of the story the first time around.  

By learning to stay quiet for just a few more seconds and by asking open-ended follow-up questions, managers will gain more information in the first conversation, which will allow them to make better decisions and stave off costly rework. 

RELATED: 7 Active Listening Techniques that Benefit Your Workplace >>

The Role of Speaking 

Effective listening is a great starting point for productive communication that gets everyone on the same page. Clear, accurate and timely speaking is necessary, too.

A recent study of small and medium-sized businesses with an average of 100 employees found that 57% of employees report not being given clear direction by their supervisors, resulting in employees spending approximately 17.5 hours per week – nearly half of a work week – clarifying internal communications. This often happens because they did not listen to understand when the message was first sent.  

This miscommunication is incredibly costly, causing small company losses of up to $420,000 per year. Clear, open communication helps ensure that management and employee understanding lines up and that all communicators will achieve a shared vision the first time around. It mitigates projects going down the wrong path, trust being eroded and employers having to make costly adjustments. 

In business, speaking clearly and practicing attentive listening can no longer be considered soft skills. Social scientific research has proven that these abilities are necessary for business effectiveness – and that they can be learned. 

Importance of Communications Training in the Workplace

All of us have developed habits in the way we speak and listen, often learned implicitly from our primary caregivers growing up. These habits are deeply ingrained, and because people grow up in different environments, the way they communicate with each other in the workplace may differ greatly. 

Companies train their employees to use designated internal processes and technology platforms so everyone operates consistently. It’s equally important to train them to use strong speaking and listening skills so they can communicate similarly, too. 

A trainer who has completed study in these skills can help identify your organization’s specific communication needs and – because old habits don’t change with a single session – determine what training structure will help your team adopt and consistently practice strong communication skills. 

Implementing communications training in the workplace will improve the quality of relationships. That, in turn, will: 

• Create a stronger learning culture, which makes it easier to understand what customers need – and to respond effectively to those needs with the company’s products and services  
  
  
• Build employee and customer trust 
  
  
• Enhance solutions-oriented thinking and creativity 
  
  
• Make teams and their work more cohesive and productive 
  
  
• Elevate the company’s marketplace reputation 
  
  
• Boost employee recruiting and retention 
  
  
• Significantly impact the bottom line because work gets done right the first time 
  
  
• Differentiate the company in the marketplace, setting the stage for greater growth 

About Laura Janusik 

Dr. Laura Janusik is a results-driven communication/listening coach and trainer and a recognized worldwide expert in teaching and training listening. Her Ph.D. in communication with a specialization in listening, as well as her MBA, allow her to see different ways to solve problems through both communication and process systems. She is passionate about developing people’s strengths while improving their weaknesses by using the most current social scientific and brain research.