How and why do you practice active listening in the office?

How do you practice active listening at work?

For a company, active listening has the advantage of promoting a climate conducive to a high quality of interpersonal relationships within teams. Indeed, it simplifies communication and improves human relationships.

What is active listening?

Active listening is a concept developed based on the work of the American psychologist Carl Rogers. It consists in listening to your interlocutor with respect, trust and empathy. This is to give the person the freedom to express themselves without fear of pressure or judgment.

It is therefore a lever of great importance in various situations that may arise in a workplace:

Conflicts.
Leadership development.
The positive influence.
Inspiration.
La gratitude.
Etc.

How can active listening be put into practice?

Listening actively means being able to focus on what the other person is saying, so that each word of the message is well transmitted, verbally or non-verbally. To do this, there are a certain number of points to respect in order to make the interlocutor understand that they are being listened to attentively and actively:

Establish a climate of trust by making the person feel at ease, and by adopting the way they communicate. For example, if she prefers to schedule the interview in a formal setting, so be it. Others prefer a less formal discussion during a coffee break or lunch break. Some people are also more visual, and others auditory, while others will be kinesthetic (who will associate memories with sensations rather than with images or sounds). In short, the idea is to adapt to the person in front of you.
Make yourself available to fully listen to your interlocutor. At the same time, we must leave our “preconceived ideas” and prejudices aside for the time of the conversation, so that it takes place in optimal conditions.
To be empathetic, in other words, to know how to put yourself in the other person's shoes. This makes it possible not to bias the quality of the listening. Each person has their own frame of reference, experiences, values and beliefs. It is therefore necessary to understand and accept those of the interlocutor.
Know how to decode non-verbal communication, in other words, behavior and gestures. The fleeing gaze, the legs that cross and cross, the nervous tics... these are all expressions or gestures that you must know how to interpret in order to understand the state of your interlocutor. This is the emotional dimension of active listening.
Rephrase the words of the person you are talking to in your own words. This will have the advantage of reassuring him that we are interested in his words and opinions. This is also an opportunity to clarify certain points, for example.

What are the benefits of using active listening?

Active listening can be applied in a variety of areas, including in professional life. In general, psychologists mainly practice active listening, in the same way as other health professionals. However, this technique is strongly encouraged in environments such as workplaces. Moreover, you can train day after day to improve your listening skills.

There are many benefits that come from active listening. The first is to have a better connection to others, as long as you consider their needs. In other words, you improve your interpersonal relationships. It is also a method for encouraging self-confidence.

The benefits of active listening for those who practice it

Those who practice active listening free their interlocutor from emotional oppression. By feeling listened to, the interlocutor also feels valued.

Of course, active listening also encourages asking questions, or by rephrasing the words of the person you are talking to. This allows us to better understand the situation and to consider it from the perspective of the latter. This is why psychotherapists are the first to use active listening to empathize with their patients.

Thus delivered in his speech, the interlocutor feels confident and can better share his point of view. This is all the more useful in the professional context, where exchanges are strongly encouraged in order to achieve the goals of the company or the team. More information flows between stakeholders in the same conversation or on the same subject.

The benefits of active listening for the interlocutor

A person who benefits from active listening from their interlocutor can express themselves without fear of being judged or influenced. His interlocutor will respect his point of view.

” If a man has two ears and one mouth, it is to listen twice as much as he speaks ”. confucius

Where should active listening be practiced?

The workplace is the ideal place to practice active listening.

From Human Resources to Customer Relationship Management: from prospecting to after-sales service, company agents must remain attentive to customer feedback. This is in order to satisfy them and especially to retain them.

In terms of Human Resources, active listening is very important in personal development. The advantages are multiple: