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What Gets in the Way of Effective Listening?

Listening is a key skill for leading in an empathic way which supports employee wellbeing but there are many things that get in the way of listening effectively. Explore 7 of them in this video . . .

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Listening is a key skill for leading in an empathic way which supports employee wellbeing, but there are many things that get in the way of effective listening and in this video we'll briefly explore 7 of them. You can explore effective listening in more detail by searching 'listening' in your Wellbeing toolkit, or by exploring the 'Effective Listening' course which you can find on your 'my courses' page.

So, what things commonly get in the way of effective listening?
1. Having your own purpose or agenda for the conversation.
When you enter a conversation with your own purpose or view of how the conversation will go and what the outcome will be, you will be focused on achieving these aims, rather than listening effectively to what the other person is saying.
2. Background noises, which can make it difficult to hear the people you are talking to, and they can also lead to...
3. Distractions can severely impact our ability to listen, as they take our focus away from the conversation. Distractions can be both external, for example another member of staff coming to speak with you, or a pupil urgently needing something, or internal - for example self-talk or being focused on the next thing you have to do. We will explore the impact of distractions in more detail in the next section of this course.
4. Trying to do another task at the same time.
School staff are often expert multitaskers, but trying to do another task alongside listening will impact your ability to take an active role in a conversation.
5. Thinking of your next question.
Being focused on finding the 'perfect' next question can mean you aren't paying attention to what is currently being said - and this may mean the next question isn't relevant after all!.
6. Waiting for the other person to stop so you can have your say.
Conversations can be viewed as a 'tennis match', with each person patiently waiting their 'turn' to speak. However, this is likely to impact your ability to listen, as you are focused solely on when you can speak next and what you will say, rather than what the other person is saying.
7. Feeling tired, hungry or thirsty or simply needing to use the bathroom can all be distracting and reduce your attention on listening and the conversation.

Why not explore some ways to combat these challenges in the 'Effective Listneing' course?

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