What is the art of listening?
"You’ve heard me but you’re not listening!”
How many times have you heard that?
Hearing is a passive activity, it’s just a sound.
Listening is an active process, both mind and body are involved in gaining an understanding of what you are hearing.
For many it’s an automatic process but there are actually 5 stages of listening.
1. Receiving
Are we listening to what’s being said, focusing on what’s not being said or just waiting to speak?
Effective reception of a message consists of receiving what is said as well as what is not said. When talking to a member on the phone it is particularly important to:
Without both of the above, you’ll miss what they’re saying!
2. Understanding
When receiving a message you need to process it and extract the meaning. Try to appreciate the message from the caller’s point of view and ask questions to confirm your understanding.
Putting the message into your own words gives the caller the opportunity to clarify any misunderstandings.
Repeat your understanding of the message periodically to ensure not only that you have understood correctly, but also to assure the caller that you have understood his or her requirements.
ALBERT EINSTEIN: "If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough”.
3. Remembering
When receiving information we first use our short term memory which has very limited capacity. It is good practice to write down key points and actions.
4. Evaluating
When you’re listening to the message don’t evaluate or label something as being inconsequential until you’ve heard everything. Jumping to conclusions too early can taint the remainder of the message.
Distinguish facts from opinions or personal interpretations.
It is also important to recognise deceptive forms of reasoning. For example, does the member believe something because his friends or family do or because he has read it in the newspaper?
You should ask politely from where a caller received information but never dismiss it as incorrect, it may have been taken out of context from a document supplied by the employer or the pension provider.
5. Responding
It is important to support the member throughout their conversation. Face to face this us easily done by nodding, if you’re on the phone then an "I see” or "mm-hmm” are verbal nods.
When answering you should take responsibility for what you are saying, rather than answering for others.
Focus on the member, avoid multi-tasking – you can’t be responsive whilst answering emails!
Are you a thought-completing listener? i.e. do you listen to some of the message and then finish off their sentence?
Apart from being annoying for many people as it can give the message that nothing important is going to be said ("I already know it” syndrome); the member may have a stutter or word finding difficulties.
Give the member time to complete their delivery.
