EFFECTIVE LISTENING

Effective Listening

Effective Listening

Introduction

Effective listening is an active element in the communication process. Communication is not only about speaking or hearing, but adding effectiveness in it. The more important element in the process is listening. It has a direct association with the response of an individual to the sender's message. The better one can understand the meaning of a communication, the better the response can be created. The article discusses the transaction and Johari window model in relation with the communication styles. The importance of effective listening is the core highlight.

Discussion

In the domain of communication, it is necessary to have effectiveness in a communication. The effective and active communication skills enable to build the trust, ideas sharing, and commitment among people. Communication can occur in different mediums, especially when it occurs in a diverse group, the effective communication helps to effectively interchange the communication. When defining communication the listening factor holds more importance than speaking. The reason behind this philosophy is that listening requires more of the brain process attention. In an environment of distraction and information surplus it is difficult to maintain effective listening skills.

Transaction Model

The discussion on active listening and its factors need to be well understood, but before that one needs to consider the structured transaction model of communication. It is the traditional model of communication comprised of some steps. This process includes the message transfer from the sender to the receiver. The main element between the encoding and decoding of these messages is the communication medium.

Johari Window

The Johari Window is a model of human communication based on four factors. These factors are four parts of the window. They are open, blind, hidden and unknown areas which also relate to the personal and group development, enhancing relationships, and self awareness. Communication in today's professional world has gained significance and for this reason organizations are effectively working on trainings (Shenton, 2007, pp 487-496). The first part of the window is 'open' in which both the communicators know about each other. In the second part 'blind', one is not known to self but to others. The third 'hidden' are includes the sharing of information just among an individual. The last part 'unknown' is the information flow among neither of the sides. Today, managers focus on the 'open' part of the Johari Window, as it helps in receiving a feedback. These things also have a link with a person's age (Nair & Naik, 2010, pp. 137-148).

Effective Listening

It is a general perception that listeners are the main receivers of any information. This process is an automatic process. Active listening is not only about hearing the communication, but it is about filtering out the right element to concentrate on the message. The response of the communication received is purely on the understanding of that information. In the context of business the supervisor has the lead role, and is expected to do much more than the actions. The best technique for the supervisors to meet multi dimensional roles is to ...