Active Listening for Managers
Active Listening for Managers
Tips on Active Listening for Managers
Good communication at work has always been important, but it’s especially critical for management to lead the way. For anyone in leadership, active listening in the workplace is an essential skill to develop. When it comes to managing employees, active listening promotes understanding and empathy.
Workplace culture has changed dramatically since the pandemic, and employees are now looking to their managers more than ever for support, communication, and a better work-life balance. Today, we’re more focused on mental health and self-care than ever before--which means the importance of active listening must take a front seat in the corporate world.
Active listening can lend itself to each employee’s overall experience. When you engage in active listening, you let your team know that you have empathy for employees and truly care about their wellbeing. Read on to learn some useful strategies for active listening that you can start incorporating into your leadership right away!
What is Active Listening?
Active listening is a learned skill that you can practice to become a better, more engaged listener. It takes a great deal of self-awareness and the willingness to connect authentically with your employees to effectively practice active listening. Effective active listening leads to stronger workplace relationships, better productivity, and fewer instances of miscommunication.
If you’re wondering about the differences between active vs passive listening, they’re distinct. A passive listener takes in information and likely retains it, but they don’t necessarily engage with it. They tend to be easily sidetracked and don’t fully keep their attention on the subject.
On the other hand, an active listener will let the speaker know, through verbal and nonverbal cues, that they’re listening and following the conversation. They seek clarity and make an effort to give the speaker an appropriate response once they’ve finished speaking. Active listeners display patience, curiosity, and avoid reactive behaviors during an exchange.
Why is Active Listening Important for Managers?
Active listening is important for managers because it’s meant to acquire information. Specifically, this skill helps you to hear someone out and receive as much necessary information as possible before you respond. When incorporated into your everyday functions, active listening shows empathy, fairness, and care for your employees.
Ultimately, active listening helps your team know that you understand what they need and can help them pinpoint solutions to their problems. When they can rely on you for needs-based solutions, that builds their trust in you. And, when you demonstrate active listening for your team, they’re more likely to emulate it. Clearer communication and understanding will lead to greater trust within the team as a whole. That’s the importance of active listening.
Tips for Active Listening for Managers
If you’re ready to start incorporating strategies for active listening into your leadership, we’ve gathered 5 active listening skills you can begin practicing immediately. Let’s jump right in.
1. Remove Distractions
If you truly want to show empathy for employees, your first step is to remove distractions from the area where you’ll be having a conversation. Silence your phone and/or tablet and set them aside, put your computer monitor to sleep, and close your office door if possible. Avoid looking at your electronic devices or letting your attention wander. Your team members will take note if you aren’t fully engaged.
2. Be Open to Learning and Understanding
Try to enter the conversation without preconceived notions or conclusions. Be open to learning where your team members stand, and understanding their position on the issue at hand. Look for common ground, even if you don’t think it’s possible to come to an agreement. The more you attempts to understand, the more likely you are to come away with workable solutions.
3. Be Patient, Don’t Interrupt
Effective active listening demands patience. When your team member is speaking to you, don’t interrupt them to make a point. Instead, hear them out before speaking. This will raise your chances of having a clear understanding of one another.
4. Read Nonverbal Cues and Pay Attention to Your Own Body Language
Body language is an important component of active listening, for both parties. On one hand, you’ll need to pay close attention to your team member’s nonverbal cues. Facial expressions, posture, and gestures can give you a wealth of information about their comfort and emotions, for instance.
Secondly, pay attention to your own nonverbal cues and how they may help or hinder your conversation. Make eye contact with your employee during the exchange, and pay attention to your own posturing when they speak--especially if they’re expressing anger or frustration. You want to reflect calmness back to them, so be careful not to project hostility with your own body language.
5. Give Genuine Feedback
Giving feedback to your team members is a great example of active listening in the workplace, and it shows that you’ve been paying close attention to the conversation. Reflect your understanding to your employees to ensure you’ve correctly understood what they’ve communicated. Additionally, offer helpful feedback or suggestions when appropriate.
Bonus: Thank Them for Their Time and Communication
We often think of saying thank you to our employees in terms of giving them gifts of appreciation and thanking them for a job well done. However, if you want to better demonstrate active vs passive listening, consider thanking them for their time and communication! Addressing issues with a manager can be a nerve-wracking experience, so easing their minds with a thank-you won’t go unnoticed.
Send Branded Gifts to Show Employee Appreciation and Build Relationships
Once you’ve incorporated your strategies for active listening, put icing on the cake with logo-branded employee appreciation gifts! Our Attitude of Gratitude MerchBox is a ready-made gift box of logo-branded swag that you can send directly to their door. If you’re on a budget, we’ve put together a guide to Custom Employee Gifts Under $100.00 to help you out.
Need more reasons to send gifts to your employees, just because? Check out our article, Benefits of Businesses Gifting Their Employees, to learn more.
Contact Us
Now that you know the importance of active listening in the workplace, it’s time to put those skills into practice! Top it off with custom employee appreciation and team-building gifts. Contact us at Merchology to select your merch and get your order started!