Active Listening In The Workplace

Since the function of Active Listening is to focus on the speaker for further understanding and connection, it would be safe so say that workers who are good listeners should be just as beneficial to an organization as a receptive manager. Given that the normal flow of communication in a workplace is typified by a supervisor giving instructions or tasks to subordinates, the ability of an employee to listen would appear natural. Unfortunately, many of the same problems associated with listening that challenge leaders can impact workers as well. Keyser (2013) notes research that in general, people only remember 20 to 50 percent of what they hear, and within 48 hours only 25 percent of that is retained. Since that research applied to all people, it stands to reason that employees …show more content…
Depending on the hierarchy level of the organization, the supervisor himself is following guidelines passed down to them in much the same way. The ability of a subordinate to listen actively, to participate, take ownership and provide constructive feedback has a tremendous impact. Stephen Warrilow (2015) further emphasizes this idea of active subordinate listening in his article Toxic Leadership – How To Spot It and How to Avoid It: “I have always found that a factual, practical and supportive response makes it easier and (more likely) for them to make the “right” decisions (2015).” He stresses that it may seem counter-intuitive to act supportively, especially if there is a bad supervisor involved, but by listening and responding rationally and factually you can get to the bottom of any toxic behaviors. Two critical aspects of leaders-subordinate relationships outlined in Army FM 6-22 (2015) involve empowering subordinates and soliciting feedback. If subordinate employees engage active listening to provide feedback, seek or take ownership of their circumstances and effectively express their concerns to their management they can take a considerable bite out of toxic leaders or