Listening Narrative
Listening is considered as a critical skill, and yet is often anundervalued one. This is the case for me, since I have never put a lot offocus on developing this skill. To begin the process of skill development,I decided to make changes to how I listen and to test these out by applyingthem to a meeting with the manager of another department. This manager andI each manage a department that impacts on the other, and this oftenresults in conflicts that need to be resolved. In the past, these meetingshave not gone particularly well and I hope that concentrating on listeningskills may be a means of improving our communication. The first step Itook was to consider how my listening skills could be improved and todecide what I would change. I then applied these changes to the meeting.Finally, I considered how the changes made a difference and how I cancontinue to improve my listening skills in the future. The first step I took in planning to listen was to consider my ownlistening habits. I reflected back on some past meetings and consideredhow I listened in those meetings. After this consideration, I was able torecognize the major listening habits I have that damage my ability to
I specificallyrecall a previous meeting where I was so sure about what a senior managerwas communicating, that I barely listened. This will help assure him that I am listening, while alsoallowing him to reinforce what he is saying. Heresponded by confirming that I did understand the problem and he alsoseemed very relieved that I understood. I noticed thathe was focused on me, whereas in previous conversations, he often seems tobe speaking at me and not to me. Based on my previous meetings, I realize that I considerwhat is said not based on the actual content, but based on how I thinkpeople perceive me. Overall then, I have taken a considered approach to listening anddetermined actions I can take to improve listening. I will focuson considering the situation from the other manager's perspective and withthis approach, I will be able to see that he is simply trying to ensurethat I understand what is being said. Basedon this, I approached the other manager and asked if the meeting could takeplace in one of the company's meeting rooms. I decided that I had three problems. This will result in the continual development of mylistening skills. For example, if the other department manager goes intolong explanations about how we should handle an issue, I respond byassuming that he must think I don't know how to manage my own departmenteffectively. As hediscussed these, I tried to remember not to take it personally. This has included past meetings where I have had things tosay, but have chosen not to speak because I wanted the meeting to end. " In doing this, I will ensure that I don't reinforce to thepoint where I speak too much.
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Acceptance Essays
