Are you listening to understand, or are you listening just to respond?
Often, when we’re in conversation with our teams, we are more concerned with our responses than what is being communicated to us. You need to exercise active listening skills to be an effective, engaged supervisor.
During the latest Supervisors in Government Community of Practice, GovLoop employees Emily Jarvis, Senior Online Events Editor, and John Monroe, Content Director, offered their insights as supervisors on the importance of active listening and validating your employees’ concerns to build a psychologically safe work environment.
Below are a few key takeaways from that session, and you can also watch the CoP in its entirety.
- What’s the purpose of active listening? Monroe explained that the idea behind this concept is helping a person express themselves more clearly and process a problem. He emphasized that it was important for you to minimize distractions, give the person your full attention and set aside your own opinions to effectively be an active listener.
Jarvis added that it’s a skill that takes practice, as it’s natural to want to jump ahead in your mind to the next thing versus staying present. “In a world of distractions like your phone and emails, actually focusing is incredibly difficult, but more important than ever,” she said. - How do you know if you’ve achieved active listening? Monroe said that a successful active listening session will leave a formerly emotionally charged person feeling heard, validated and with a sense of clarity about the issue they came to you with.
- Why is active listening a critical workplace skill? Jarvis said that the more supervisors understand the people who work for them and the problems they’re having, the easier it becomes for you to present these issues to senior leadership and explain what’s not resonating to get clarity and prevent future problems down the road.
Don’t forget to join us for the March Supervisors CoP session, Fostering Creativity on Your Team, on Monday, March 24 from 4-4:30 p.m.ET/1-1:30 p.m. PT to hear from a management expert about why creativity should be a focus on your team.