Listen Up: The Power of Effective Listening in Communication - Essay Sample

Introduction

Generally, listening can be defined as an individual's ability to receive and interpret messages accurately. This process is just as important as speaking in communication. This skill enables one to understand and make sense of whatever is being spoken to them. Without listening, therefore, messages would be misunderstood, leading to a breakdown in communication between the sender and the recipient (Lakshmi, 2017). Resultantly, irritation, and frustration from both parties occur. Due to this importance, therefore, listening skills are categorized among the critical skills required for people to get into the workforce. Employers are also increasingly offering listening skills training programs for their employees. Different business leaders, such as Sir Richard Branson, have also cited listening as one of the major contributors to their success (Bruijl & Gerard, 2018).

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In the workplace, good listening skills have been shown to improve the productivity of the employees. The skill also helps improve the relationships between employees and strengthens teamwork. Good listening skills also bear various benefits for one's personal lives. They enable them to create friendships and boost their self-esteem. Also, some studies have shown that while speaking may increase one's blood pressure, listening can help bring it back to normal (Rajeh et al., 2016). Similarly, in institutions of higher learning, listening is critical in the building and maintenance of healthy relationships. As such, higher education students need to hone this skill before joining the workforce.

A 2011 study emphasized that listening should be differentiated from hearing (Al-Omari & Al-Mahasneh, 2011). While hearing is the physical ability to hear, listening refers to a skill that allows one to understand and make sense of what is being spoken to them. Hearing, therefore, can be taken to mean the sounds that get into one's ears and is purely a physical process. Unless one has hearing challenges, this process occurs automatically. Listening, however, requires more than the sounds.

One is required to be attentive on both a mental and physical level. Other than paying attention to whatever is being told, listening also requires one to focus on how the message is being conveyed, the language and voice being used, as well as other non-verbal cues that the sender of the message employs. The level of one's listening ability depends on the extent to which they perceive, as well as understand all these aspects of communication. It must also be noted that the process of listening is not passive (Friston et al., 2020). For communication to be effective, the listener must be engaged, just like the speaker. This process is known as active listening. Studies have established that active listening is an important management tool (Jonsdottir & Fridriksdottir, 2019). Experts hold that active listening proves one's respect and their focused attention. It also delays attention disengagement as well as saccadic eye movements, factors that can negatively affect communication, as will be discussed in the subsequent sections (Lester & Vecera, 2018).

Active listening consists of three elements. First, there is the nonverbal involvement of the listener, which indicates their full attention. Second, there is the listener's reflection of the message received, and finally, the listener can question the speaker to encourage further elaboration (Spataro & Bloch, 2018). Generally, active listening seeks to achieve empathy and understanding. Silence is also an essential element of active listening. Remaining silent while the speaker speaks does not only help one get the message being passed but is also a sign of respect. However, the listener should ask questions when further elaboration is needed (Spataro & Bloch, 2018). Active listening can also be divided into the receiving, understanding, evaluation, responding, and responding stages.

The Receiving Stage

It is usually the first stage of active listening. It involves hearing, which is the psychological process of receiving and registering the sound waves. It is among the most important phases of active listening since its disruption affects all the subsequent stages. Other than hearing, attending is also crucial in this stage. Attending refers to the process of identification and interpretation of the sounds that one hears (Gilakjani & Sabouri, 2016). As will be discussed later, distractions are among the major barriers in this stage.

The Understanding Stage

In this stage, a shared meaning between the speaker and the listener is reached. The listener understands the meaning and context of the words spoken, a step that is critical in understanding the message of the speaker. After understanding the speaker's main point, the listener then starts sorting out the rest of the information to determine where it falls in their mental outline. Asking questions can enhance one's understanding (Bingol, 2017).

The Evaluating Stage

This stage involves the qualitative and quantitative assessment of the information that has been received. Evaluation helps the listener form an opinion regarding the information they have heard, and hence develop a response. This stage is successful when the listener fully understands the message first (Bingol, 2017).

The Responding Stage

In this stage, the listener provides a response, verbal or non-verbal, based on their short or long-term memory. A verbal response can involve asking a question or changing the conversation. Nonverbal responses may be voluntary or involuntary and mostly serve to show the listener's interest in the message being passed. Responding makes the listening process more active. It also determines whether the speaker continues with the delivery or adjusts it.

The Remembering Stage

This stage involves the categorization and retention of the information received for future access. It occurs both during and after the delivery. Other than this stage, memory is important in the entire listening process (Peelle, 2018). It helps one fill in the missing information as the speaker speaks. Remembering past information is also critical in moving the conversation forward.

For higher education students, the listening process is longer and more complex. It is usually a circular process and not the basic stimulus and response interaction seen in other forms of communication. First, the students must receive the message and understand the context. They must also evaluate the message and remember it. Lastly, they might be required to respond to the speaker for communication to be complete (Al-Omari & Al-Mahasneh, 2011). Listening also encompasses the ability of the student to understand the speaker's non-verbal communication.

Listening can also be taken to represent a psychological phenomenon that occurs at a cognitive level within people's minds. Moreover, it is a social phenomenon that guides the interaction between people and their environment. As such, listening is a complex skill that needs to be understood to be taught. Unfortunately, despite the great importance of listening skills, as shown above, the curriculum does not prepare teachers to pass this skill to the students (Al-Omari & Al-Mahasneh, 2011). Likewise, very few lecturers systematically teach their students the skill of listening, regardless of the fact that more than 50% of class time is spent listening (Al-Omari & Al-Mahasneh, 2011). Research has also shown that many teachers are not aware of any meaningful listening instructions to use in class (Al-Omari & Al-Mahasneh, 2011). Also, the development of listening skills in some higher education courses, such as accounting, is uncommon (Stone et al., 2013).

Other than active listening, empathic listening is also another important skill in effective communication among higher education students. Empathy is the ability to understand another's feelings and emotions. In interactions between students, especially out of the classroom, empathy is important (Horn, 2019). It helps students understand each other's situations and hence improve their relationships. Though it is difficult for the lecturer to empathize with the viewpoints of the students in the classroom, a willingness to understand the feelings of the students supports effective communication. Empathic listening reduces hostility between the teacher and students, hence building trust and confidence. It also helps keep communication within the classroom, alive and active. Moreover, research has shown that empathic listening plays a big role in motivating and also improving the learning ability of the students (Horn, 2019).

Though some people are not good at listening, the skill can be learned and improved with practice. For instance, maintaining eye contact with the speaker does not only show that one is listening, but it also improves one's perception and understanding. Avoiding interrupting the speaker can also help one enhance their listening skills. In the previous section, the language barrier was identified as one of the hindrances to effective communication among higher education students. Other than reading materials on the language that one is learning, listening has been shown to enhance one's mastery of a new language. Regarding this, past studies have established that international students tend to listen more than speak in the classroom (Wright & Schartner, 2013).

Listening as a Soft Skill. Educators and employers define soft skills as a combination of social and interpersonal attributes. One shows these skills in their language, personality traits, social interactions, non-verbal communication, cultural awareness, teamwork capacity, conflict management, as well as creativity (Matteson et al., 2016). Unlike the hard skills that are acquired through education, certifications, and other training programs and can also be easily quantified, soft skills are difficult to define and evaluate. Employers are more concerned with soft skills nowadays since hard skills can be easily taught. In institutions of higher learning, soft skills are also important in enhancing the lecturers' interactions, their job performance, as well as their career viewpoints (Tang, 2018). Teaching is a social activity that requires continuous interaction between the students and the lecturers. Resultantly, a lack of adequate soft skills among lecturers has been shown to lead to poor quality. Effective communication is one of the most important soft skills required by lecturers. With effective communication skills, lecturers can identify the strengths and weaknesses of the students, as well as introduce creative solutions to address the problems faced by the students (Tang, 2018). As already discussed, listening is one of the most important skills in communication. This section will show why listening is a soft skill.

For most people, including students, speaking is seen as the most important element of becoming a good communicator. However, it is important to correct this belief and show that listening plays an equally important role in the communication process. Listening is categorized as a soft skill for various reasons. First, listening is a trait or an ability of behavior and attitude. As such, listening is not an ability of aptitude or knowledge. Also, just like all other soft s...