Active Listening

Active Listening Article by: Carl R. Rogers Richard E. Farson Ch. 9 page 241 Presentation by: Rebecca Green

Funny Clips Office Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=HCxKb0xz7eQ Active Listening Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO-a-Yz4xA8

“ Listening, whether done by individuals or by companies and government, is a signal of respect. When people don’t feel listened to, they don’t feel respected. And when they don’t feel respected, they feel anger and resentment. This resentment is exacerbated if people think you’re pretending to listen but aren’t.” -Hugo Powell

Authors’ Background Carl R. Rogers Ph.D. (1902-1987) -One of the founders of the humanistic psychology movement. -Thought to be one of the most influential psychologists in American history -Has written 16 books and over 200 articles -Won Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award of the American Psychological Association

Authors’ Background -Psychologist , Author, and President of Western Behavorial Sciences Institute -Received B.S. and M.S. from University of Minnesota, Occidental College; UCLA for psychology graduate study;and a Ph.D. from University of Chicago in 1955 -Met Carl Rogers at Occidental College in 1949and became his research assistant then intern and counselor at “The Counseling Center”

What is Active Listening? • Active Listening is a responsibility of the manager that will help the employees gain a clearer understanding of their situations, take responsibility, and cooperate with each other. • Key Factors to Active Listening: • Understand the speaker’s facts and feelings by listening • By understanding the facts and feelings, you can help the speaker to work out the problem.

In-Class Example • 2 volunteers selected will read aloud from scripts given to them. Pay attention because we will discuss afterwards. • Textbook: pgs 241-242 ENJOY THE SHOW!

Differences between 2 examples • Main difference: The supervisor in the second example was being an ACTIVE LISTENER! • He was listening to what Kelly had to say, and he was responding to Kelly’s emotions. • He responded so that Kelly knew that what was being said was being heard and that his supervisor cared about the situation Kelly was in.

Active Listening • Does this mean that you have to have a therapy license to be an Active Listener? • NO!!!!!!! • However, it is a better way to effectively handle problems and challenges.

Active Listening • Active listening can help you in places other than the workforce. • Personal Examples from the class? • Other examples: • When your best friend calls because his/her girlfriend/boyfriend is breaking up with them. • When there has been a death • When someone has had a terrible day Solution: LISTEN!!!!! Just be there for them by LISTENING.

What Active Listening Does • It brings about changes in people. They become more emotionally mature, more open to experiences, less defensive, more democratic, and less authoritarian. • WHY? • Research shows that sensitive listening is the most effective agent for individual personality change and group development. • Listening brings about changes in: • People’s attitude toward themselves and others • Basic values and personal philosophy

How Individual Personality Develops • Important to understand in order to know HOW to effectively listen. • We create “self-pictures” of what we dream of ourselves being. EX: An older person may dream of being young and energetic or an awkward teenager may dream of being the star athlete • This “self-picture” becomes how that individual sees himself/herself, regardless of external influences. • Therefore, attempting to change the individual or self-picture is threatening because the individual must fight for what they think is true, but they know is not true.

How Individual Personality Develops • What does personality have to do with self-listening? • Actively listening does not present a threat to the individual’s self-picture. • Therefore, the individual does not have to defend his self-picture. He can explore it, and decide for himself how realistic that picture is to him. • THEN he can change his self-picture as he sees fit.

Article: “Active Listening”: Research by University of Colorado “When people talk to each other, they don’t listen attentively. They are often distracted, half listening, half thinking about something else. When people are engaged in conflict, they are often busy formulating a response to what is being said. They assume that they have heard what their opponent is saying many times before, so rather than paying attention, they focus on how they can respond to win the argument.” Sound familiar???

How to Actively Listen What to Avoid: 1. Avoid making the individual see things in the perspective that YOU see them. When you do this, you’re subconsciously responding to YOUR OWN NEEDS. • Instead, be open to the “risk” of seeing the world from the speaker’s eyes so that you have an open mind while listening to the speaker. 2. Don’t pass judgment because the speaker will notice and no longer feel comfortable expressing himself. 3. Positive evaluations are sometimes as blocking as negative evaluations.

How to Actively Listen What to do to successfully be an Active Listener: • Take a NEUTRAL STANCE. Don’t agree or disagree with what the individual is saying. • Recognize the question/problem the employee is facing, but LEAVE AN OPENING for the employee to say what’s really on his mind. A.K.A. Think withthe employee, not for or about them. • Convey to speaker you’re seeing things from his point of view.

What to Do When Actively Listening 1. Listen for Total Meaning 2. Respond to Feelings 3. Note All Cues After listening: test yourself by reflecting, in your own words, what the speaker is implying by his words/actions

What We Communicate by Listening You’re telling the speaker that: • You’re interested in them as a person • What the speaker is saying is important • You respect the speaker’s thoughts, even if you disagree • You know the speaker is making a contribution • You’re not trying to change or judge the speaker • You just want to understand the speaker • You think the speaker’s thoughts are worth listening to • *You want the speaker to know that you’re the kind of person he/she can talk to about problems or challenges

Nonverbal Communication According to “Active Listening, the no. 1 Skill for Project Managers”: Things a Manager Should Always Notice: • Facial Expressions • Eye Contact from Speaker to Listener • Body Gestures • Tone of Voice • Checking the Time

Listening and Productivity • There is no exact answer as to if Listening and Productivity in the workplace are positively correlated. There are many factors that result in job satisfaction. • “People are more effectively motivated when they are given some degree of freedom…They do better when some degree of decision-making about their jobs is possible than when all decisions are made for them. They respond more adequately when they are treated as personalities than as cogs in a machine.”

Conclusion • It’s a personal decision as to whether or not the manager chooses to actively listening to his employees. • However, a manager becoming an active listener could only positively impact the company. • It improves employee morale and motivates the workers to do their job to their fullest potential since they know their thoughts, concerns, and opinions are being heard by the managers and acted upon in the best way.

SO… Were YOU Listening????

References • "About Carl Rogers." Curtis Graf and The Person-Centered Approach. Web. 27 Sept. 2011. <http://www.person-centered.org/carl.html>. • "Active Listening." University of Colorado Boulder. Conflict Research Consortium, 1998. Web. 01 Oct. 2011. <http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/treatment/activel.htm>. • "I'm Listening! Wait, What Did You Say? - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 02 Oct. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO-a-Yz4xA8>. • Osland, Joyce S., and Marlene E. Turner. The Organizational Behavior Reader. 9th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2011. Print. • "Richard Farson - Full Biography." Western Behavioral Sciences Institute - Welcome to WBSI. Web. 26 Sept. 2011. <http://www.wbsi.org/farson/biography_long.htm>. • Rogers, Carl R., and Richard E. Farson. "Active Listening." University of Chicago Industrial Relations Center (1957). Abstract. Print. • Sweeney, Jo Ann. "Active Listening." CommsAbilities - Course. 29 June 2010. Web. 01 Oct. 2011. <http://www.commsabilities.com/blog.asp?blogid=48>. • "YouTube - Broadcast Yourself." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 02 Oct. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1>.

Active Listening