#5 Practice Active Listening - okay and maybe teach it too!

Active Listening is NOT a new concept . . . it has been around for a long time actually.  And really it is kind of funny to even talk about - people think that listening is passive (which mainly it is), but there is so much more to it!

The idea is simple:

1. Listen to what is being said.  This is more than just hearing the words, but actually paying attention.  If at all possible - using your other senses too - what body language is being used?  Are there any other clues to the meaning?

2. Show that you are listening.  This is the positive feedback to the speaker - a nod, a "yes" are even simple questions - not to interrupt, but to show that you are still a part of the communication.  This is also a time that you can be internalizing the information and working on retention.

3. Respond/Provide Feedback.  Sometimes this is summarizing what the person has just said: "what I am hearing is . .  ." but the main point is to have a very specific follow up that indicates you have listened to the words and the meaning of what was being said.

The main idea of active listening is not just to be polite and show someone that you were listening to them (although that is a bonus) - it really is about being a part of the communication and paying attention.

As educators we need to really be intentional about what we do - including listening to what is being said to us.  Many times I see people that are so focused on getting through their lesson plan that they don't actually hear what the students are saying.

************

In a related experience just yesterday - I had a person come to me with a trouble shooting need.  They had been working with the IT department for quite a while, and finally out of frustration the IT department told them to come to me.  The person was saying "I want to do a mail merge" - this person had done a mail merge but it was very maintenance heavy and they had to spend several hours each month on something that was seemingly pretty simple to do.  This was for sure a case where technology was NOT helping.  Meanwhile - the history of the problem was that two years prior the IT department has said to try a different solution, the person had spent hours and hours working on that solution - to only have their work lost or damaged; so they were a little burnt out on the whole thing.

In frustration, on both sides, the person ended up in my office.  They asked to know more about mail merges - and as I am putting together some training materials on this topic, I just started asking "why" and "what have you done previous" - basically to get a starting point for my training.  As the person was talking I realized that there was more to it - so I nodded and kept asking simple questions - "why did you try that" and "what were you trying to do first"

Finally, FINALLY - I realized there was a simple solution to the problem.  Seriously - it was a matter of three clicks on a key board that could solve their issue.  This was a two year problem that so far had several hours of work a month and numerous people that had been frustrated.  I am NOT saying I am a magician - I simply listened - that't it - I listened to what the REAL problem was (it had nothing to do with mail merges, by the way) but once I really heard what the problem was - I could see a very simple solution!

************

If you want more info on Active Listening - just Google it - there is a TON of information out there . . . but remember it is really important to listen during communication too!