Hearing vs. Listening

Listening is one of the most vital concepts that one could pick up in life in general. The fact listening would be considered to be vital is especially one that is true in the business world. Every single day vital information is communicated from employer to employee and from employees to other employees. This is a key element of the team work process. Solid listening skills will facilitate success and will allow a person to catch information that will allow advancement. On the other hand, inadequate listening skills will be be a handicap and will lead to people on the outside looking in, while other people just stepped over them.

There are people who confuse “hearing” with “listening”. Hearing is but the smallest component of the listening process. Everyone hears vital information but it does not stick. Only a small percentage of what we actually hear is going to stick, when we are truly not listening. We are only a step above a solid brick wall, as people just sit their, rallying off information. Our mind tends to wander and at times, stock phrases tend to find their way, like “I agree” or “I understand.” Often times those conveying the information will just allow you to dig your own grave, not asking for any further clarification. It is a technique that many teams use to weed out the more lackluster and weaker portions of their team from the onset.

Many people state that they are listening when they are rather hearing.To properly listen there is a formula that should be observed. There are three parts to the listening formula.

The listening formula is hearing+engagement+feedback=listening. Let us break down each individual part of the formula one step at a time.

1. Hearing

As it has been previously established, most people do hear what is being said. That is but the smallest element of the listening formula. Still a working set of ears is important most times for listening.

2. Engagement

Our full and absolute attention needs to be on the matter at hand. To properly listen, we need to really have our full attention on the speaker. There any number of things that the speaker can do to facilitate better engagement with their listeners but that is beyond the scope of this article. Rather the listener needs to listen to everything. If they feel as if they need to take any notes, then as long as it helps them retain any information, so much the better.

3. Feedback

Communication must be as clear as day. Therefore feedback must be given, to communicate to the speaker about elements of the information that were not as clear as they could be. That way all questions will be answered. Remember the only question that is is stupid is the one that remains unasked. Something might make perfect sense to one person but another would be completely confused. That is more than acceptable. Questions even if they are just asking for a clarification on certain points are a vital point in listening.

In summary, listening is a vital skill of life. One skill more people tend to rather struggle with fine tuning. With the three part listening formula, hearing+engagement+feedback=listening, you’d be one step of the way towards a more solid success.