My Leadership Solutions

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Leadership and Listening Part 4: Really Listen to Your Employees

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 If you’re a manager or leader who feels too busy to listen to your employees, it may be time to re-assess your priorities.  Perhaps the reason you’re so overwhelmed is because you haven’t been listening enough to people on your team.

Listening to your employees not only helps you develop trust and build relationships, but it makes you the type of leader who people seek out if they have concerns or contributions.  Your employees are directly involved in the work they’re doing and they also talk to others in the company.  They have a good pulse on what’s going on and you can benefit from listening to them.  It’s harder to find out important information if employees are unwilling to share with you.

Studies have shown that employees are more likely to be engaged in their work if they feel as if their ideas and contributions matter.  What good does employee engagement do?  Engaged employees are more productive and more efficient, which means better results.  By listening to their ideas, you’re increasing productivity and creating better results, so it’s a win-win for you, your team, and the company.  And it’s not going to cost you a dime.

Simple Ways to Really Listen to Your Employees

1)      Set up consistent one-on-one meetings.  Let your employees set the agenda for these meetings.  Obviously if there’s something you need to share during these employees, feel free to do so, but it’s important that they be able to share what’s on their minds.

2)      When employees do contribute ideas or concerns, thank them and follow up with regarding what action was taken as a result of their idea.  Even if nothing could be done, let them know the reason behind it and encourage them to continue sharing ideas and concerns with you.

3)      Make yourself visible by talking to your employees and sharing information that will affect them and their work.  Don’t just sit in your office and send e-mails.  Go and see your employees.   If you’re managing them from another location, then have regular phone conversations and use video (if possible).   If your employees don’t get to know you and trust you, they’re not going to be as likely to share information with you.

4)      You can set up a system such as “office hours.”  Office hours are set up in universities by professors and refer to a block of time when you can see the professor for one-on-one time for any questions you have.  Of course, you should encourage your employees to bring concerns to you at any time, but by setting up office hours, you give them the message that you set aside a certain amount of time where you’re devoted to listening to them.   You’re not likely to have the same time free every week, so send out an e-mail in advance and let them know the office hours for that week.

5)      Employees may come to you when experience personal problems that are affecting their work.  When they come to see you, give them your full attention.  Let them know that you’re here to listen, but be careful about giving advice.

They may just want to share and let you know what’s going on.  If the problem is of a more serious nature and they may need to take time off, give them information about the company employee assistance program (if there is one) or refer them to the Human Resources / Benefits department to discuss FML (Family Medical Leave) or other options.

Be creative coming up with other ways to listen to your employees!

 

This article is part of a series of listening articles.   Access the other articles in this series by clicking on the links below.

Listening and Leadership Part 1:  Why Should You Listen?

Listening and Leadership Part 2:  Stop Faking and Really Listen

Listening and Leadership Part 3:  Really Listen to Your Clients

 

Leadership and Listening Part 3: Really Listen to Clients

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Most people say that their clients are of the highest importance and that they do whatever they can to meet their needs.  But are you really listening to your clients?

In order to truly understand what another person is saying, it’s not enough to just listen to the words.  You should also listen for the   emotion behind the words.

Imagine if you asked someone to help you with Excel, and the person said, “Sure I”d love to!”  You would be able to tell based on the tone and body language if the person really wanted to help you or not.  If the tone was sarcastic and the person refused to look at you, it would be an indication that, for some reason, she doesn’t mean what she just said.  By listening to the tone and watching the body language, you can ask questions such as, “Is there a time that would work better for you?”

When we fail to truly listen, we may hear the words, but miss the emotion behind the words.  The emotion behind the words reveal more than the words themselves.  By listening to your client’s tone and the emotion behind what they’re saying, you can ask follow-up questions to really get at their needs, which can help translate to better client relationships and more sales.

How to Really Listen to Clients:

  1. Choose a location where there is little or no chance of distraction.  Put your phone on silent or vibrate.
  2. Choose a time when you’re better able to give your full attention.  If you’re grumpy in the early morning, don’t schedule a meeting during that time.
  3. If you notice that the tone and body language don’t match what the person is saying, ask questions to better understand how the person is feeling.  If the words say, “We can do that,” but the body language is fidgety, then ask questions that delve deeper such as, “Are their obstacles standing in your way?”  or “Are you comfortable with doing that?  Why or why not?”  or “What can I do to help make you more comfortable with it?”
  4. Take notes.  If you have any questions while the person is speaking, write them down so you can ask later.  That way, you won’t interrupt the person in that moment to ask the question or tune out the person because you’re trying to remember your question.
  5. Don’t jump in to fill a pause.  Before moving to another topic, ask if the person is ready to do so.
  6. Focus only on the person and the conversation at hand.  Don’t distract yourself by thinking of everything else that you have going on.
  7. Show your clients that you are listening and understanding what they’re telling you by paraphrasing and following up with relevant questions.
  8. Listening should be followed up with action.  After listening to a client’s problems, do what you can to help solve those problems.

Leadership and Listening Part 2: Stop Faking and Really Listen

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Are you faking?  Fake listening, that is.  It happens more than we’d like to admit.  Think back to the people who talked to you today.  How many times did you tune them out, multi-task while they were speaking, or think about something else entirely?

We’re bombarded with so many messages on a daily basis that we’ve come to figure out ways to tune out all the noise.  By becoming so adept at tuning out messages, we may have shortened our patience and attention span for the important messages.  Truly listening and understanding someone’s needs takes time.  It takes effort to schedule the conversation, be fully present when having the conversation, and really listen to what the person is saying.

By fake listening, you may hear the person’s words, but you miss the tone or emotion behind the words.  You miss the opportunity to ask questions to delve deeper into what the person is saying.  People notice when you’re not really listening to them.  Think back to the last time you were talking to someone and senses that they weren’t really listening.  How did it make you feel?

If you get actual face-to-face time with a person, take advantage of it by being fully engaged in the conversation.  It’ll help you build the relationship.

Business moves fast.  Technology moves fast.  People move fast.  You may be thinking, “It costs me too much time to sit down and listen.  I just want to get the message and move on.”

Instead of thinking it’ll cost you too much time to listen, think about what it’s costing you to not listen.  What’s it costing in terms of valuable relationships with co-workers, employees, and clients?  What’s it costing your company in terms of mistakes, misunderstanding, and inefficiencies?

Most people can’t afford to not listen.  It’s a valuable tool that you can have at your disposal, if you’re willing to take the time and put in the effort.

 

I’ll be posting a series of listening articles.  Stay tuned!

 

 

Leadership and Listening Part 1: Why Should You Listen?

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Why listen when you can talk instead?  After all, isn’t talking the way that you get your point across and you get noticed?

Actually, it’s going to save you time and effort if you listen before you talk.  People want to know how you can help them meet their needs.  By listening to them, you’re increasing the chances that what you’re saying is worthwhile to your audience.

No matter what your position, real listening is a leadership quality that you can benefit from in your work and personal life.  Many of us are good at pretending to listen.  We continue to work on our computer while our co-worker is talking to us.  We think about our own pitch while the client is talking about his or her needs.  We’re busy preparing a response to an e-mail while we’re on the phone with someone.   It’s easy to come up with an excuse for not listening such as “ I don’t have enough time.”  However, not listening can actually be costing you time, efficiency, productivity, relationships, and ultimately, MONEY.

Real listening isn’t easy, especially if you’re accustomed to pretend listening.  But it’s well-worth it to develop this skill.

Advantages of Real Listening:

  • Improves relationships
  • Increases trust
  • Helps you better address client needs
  • Saves time
  • Allows you to provide better service no matter what your industry
  • Better collaboration with your team
  • Reduces mistakes due to misunderstanding
  • Increases results
  • Increase sales

Some of my favorite tips for Real Listening:

  • Choose a time and place that allows you to really listen.  If it’s a private conversation, don’t have it in the sea of cubicles or in a place where you can be easily interrupted.
  • Give the person your full attention.  Put down your phone.  Turn away from your computer.
  • Use body language to show the person that you’re engaged in the conversation.  Turn your body toward the person.  Make eye contact.  Nod to acknowledge what the person is saying.
  • Paraphrase what was said to show understanding.  Showing understanding doesn’t necessarily imply agreement.  You can fully listen and show understanding without agreeing with what was said.
  • Don’t jump in immediately when the person pauses.  Certain personalities need more time to think about how to articulate their thoughts and ideas.

Listening, just like any skill, requires practice.  You’ll see gradual changes as you get better at it.  So go out there and listen!

I’ll be posting a series of listening articles.  Stay tuned!