Listening Skills

Do you ever think that why we were given two ears but only one mouth? This is because God knew that listening was twice as hard as talking.

People need to practice and acquire skills to be good listeners because a speaker cannot throw you the information in the same manner that a dart player tosses a dart at a passive dartboard. Information is an intangible substance that must be sent by the speaker and received by an active listener.

"Effective Listening is the listening to the words of the words of the speakers and the meaning of the words."

Active Listening is a process in which the listener takes active responsibility to understand the content and feeling of what is being said and then checks with the speakers to see if he\she heard what the speaker intended to communicate.

At times we feel that peoples have not understood us the way we wanted them to. The main reason for this is a failure on the part of the listener to listen effectively. Nonetheless, the importance of effective listening cannot be undermined in the communication process.

At the same time, speaking effectively is quite important. So, we can say that both speaking and listening skills are necessary for communication to serve its purpose.

Much of our activities involve communication, especially in the work environment in banks. So, these two aspects of communication and speaking are particularly essential to us in our workplace, where we have to deal with colleagues, superiors, and, more importantly, our customers. For want top, these two skills, many times problems crop up. These may affect customer relations, which may prove detrimental to the interests of the organization.

Benefits of listening  

> Good listening skills make workers more productive.

> The ability to listen carefully will allow you to:

1. Better understand assignments and what is expected of you.
2. Build rapport with co-workers, bosses, and clients.
3. Answer questions, and find underlying meanings in what others say.

> Effective listening helps in controlling rumors which helps in preventing damage to the reputation of the organization.

> Effective listening will improve the working condition and nurture harmony and unity among the workers and colleagues.