To have good listening skills and build effective work relationships, you need to know when to turn on your active listening skills. In prior articles, I have written about delaying giving advice unless someone is new to their job or task. Normally, listening is the best first step.

Managers and leaders have complained that the listening skills I train them to use will take too much time. I reply that every time you learn something new including advance listening skills, you will be slow with it. Over time you get faster until it is quick and easy to use the skill. That said, what are some situations that warrant taking the time to listen carefully? Here are 4:

1. If a situation is very important. If you are asking someone to take on a difficult task, you will need to listen carefully to their views about it. Much rework and waste comes from managers delegating a task and then walking away. The manager needs to feel the person out about how they view the task and will implement it. Misunderstandings frequently come to light. Listening will help you spot them before much damage occurs.

2. If creativity is needed. Two heads are better than one. If you can listen well, you can encourage a collaborative effort that will lead to more creativity. If you just want to delegate the task, you can still spark some creativity at the beginning by listening and brainstorming possible solutions.

3. If you view your job of leadership as providing a service. Robert Greenleaf, a manager at AT&T, coined the term of servant leadership and spent years promoting it. He came to the conclusion that listening is the number one skill needed to implement servant leadership. You put yourself at the bottom of an inverted pyramid as your informal organization chart. Then you seek to serve all those “above” you. You will ask them what they need. How can you help? Then listen.

4. If your goal is to develop leaders and others. Your listening encourages the other person to grow. Advice has its place, especially with new people, but listening goes further in stimulating people to take the initiative and grow professionally. I have known several managers to say, “I think my way is better than what Joe wants to do, but Joe is very determined to make his way work. So I listened carefully to Joe and decided his commitment to his way is what counts here. He will probably pull it off better than if I force him to do it my way.”

Good listening pays off. If you want to be effective in the above 4 situations, listen actively.

Listening skills is a full Module of my
Self-Study Program, and my Virtual Workshop Series,
Leadership Communication™. My individual and group executive coaching enhance listening skills for better performance. Please see my home page, EagleAlliance.com