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Are
You Listening?
By
Anita Ryan, Family Business Success, LLC.
This
article originally appeared in “Talking Business”, a chamber
publication written for a general business audience. In family-owned
businesses, the need to develop deep listening skills may be even more
crucial than in other settings. Any business characterized by poor
listening increases its risks for reduced profitability and productivity.
This risk is magnified for the family-owned business by a second, added
risk: jeopardizing the integrity of the family system and
relationships. While it may be a difficult setback for anyone to
deal with poor business performance, it would be devastating to loose
one’s family in the process. The concept of “deep listening”
discussed here is a viable, readily available tool for any family business
interested in boosting productivity and preventing eroding family
relationships.
Each of us
has a deep and innate desire to be listened to. It is a need so
fundamental that if consistently denied in adults or children it can lead
to mental illness. Conversely, when our desire to be heard and
understood is fulfilled, we are energized, uplifted, highly creative and
significantly more productive. It is logical to conclude that
employees who are listened to, and who listen to one another, can
contribute directly and indirectly to higher profitability and overall
corporate success.
Although
listening is a skill, it is one that is innate rather than learned.
People who wish to improve listening in their organizations should focus
on removing blocks to understanding, rather than spending large amounts of
time memorizing listening techniques. The most common blocks are
often embedded within company culture. This can make their removal
troublesome, but it is worth the effort in the long run.
Speed
In this age
of instant communication, “just-in-time” business operations and
decreasing attention spans, there are few managers or employees not
feeling the discomfort of time compression and work acceleration.
Within this framework, listening appears difficult. Slowing down to
listen may seem to fly in the face of all common sense.
Solution:
Slow down anyway! Alter your pace within the context of improving
business. Build in planning and implementation time throughout the
company for refining and enhancing business processes. It helps if
the initial focus is on ideas to save time or eliminate steps and, at the
same time, maintain quality and improve service. The very nature of
this type of planning encourages members to listen to one another.
Reactivity
Instant
reactions are essential to surviving crisis situations, but too often
employees habitually act first, discuss second and fix the inevitable
mistakes last.
Solution:
Encourage the reordering and altering of the above steps. First,
stop and reflect. Reflection means taking the time to listen to
one’s self and view the big picture. Second, listen
non-judgmentally to pertinent input from others. Third, quietly
reflect again. Last, make a decision and act on it.
Skewed
reward systems
When managers
and employees are continuously rewarded for overly assertive and
internally competitive behavior, reflective thinking and high quality
listening are frequent casualties. In this environment, the only
person being listened to is whoever is providing the most tangible
rewards.
Solution: Consistently
and visibly reward employees and managers exhibiting implementation
behavior demonstrating attentive listening, reflective thinking and solid
judgment. Include listening in professional reviews. Promote
employees who are able to both understand and be understood. In
addition, pay attention to how well a candidate listens to you during the
hiring process. Ask for examples of demonstrated deep listening when
checking references.
Individual
differences
While it may
be true that human beings share many similarities, our unique experiences
and singular gene makeup create striking differences. When companies
concentrate too intensely on developing a common culture, there is a
tendency to tune out different, yet valuable, insights. If this
happens often enough, employees stop communicating, even if someone is
listening.
Solution:
Play to the strengths of the differences within the corporation.
Promote common goals, emphasizing the need to be open to new methods for
achieving them. Support cross-functional teams. The varied
outlooks of team members frequently create products of higher quality than
those developed by a homogeneous group. Incorporate an appreciation
for positive conflict into company culture. Develop safe and
effective conflict resolution strategies to handle negative interactions.
These approaches make it safe to be different. Safety allows the
listener to hear.
Finally, it
is important to note that improved listening is one cultural change that
can be started at any and all levels in business. Listening builds
such intrinsic motivation that managers who are listened to by line
employees are as positively impacted as the line employees who are
listened to by their supervisor. It becomes a win-win,
good-for-business experience.
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