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How important is listening in business communication?
Home » Information Technology » Intro to Business Communication » How important is listening in business communication?Listening is an extremely important skill that must be cultivated in a business in order for the business to reach its full potential. According to the Encarta dictionary, listening is defined as making a conscious effort to hear or pay attention. There are many types of workplace listening such as listening to employees, customers, and superiors. A person’s specific job in the company will dictate how much time they will spend listening and to whom they will listen. For example, if you are a manager you will more than likely spend a large portion of your time listening to your employees.
In order to have a healthy communication climate in a business, sincere listening must be practiced by all. Most people have developed poor listening habits, but listed below are a few suggestions to help enhance workplace listening: become actively involved in the listening process, don’t interrupt, ask clarifying questions, try to control internal and external distractions, keep an open mind, be conscious of gender differences and paraphrase the speaker’s main points, distinguish between facts and opinions, use memory devices, stop talking (Guffy, Business Communication 4th edition, 2003).
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