Why Don’t We Listen Better
Thomas M. Gilbertson
COM 200
Richard Bair
May 3rd, 2010
Why Don’t We Listen Better I know how to speak, and I can hear when people talk to me, but why is it that we still consume ineffective listening skills between one another? When we think of effective listening at work or on the job, most of us think of what we actually say or what is said to us. What I am going to cover is the factors and barriers of effective communication, strategies for active, critical and empathic listening and understanding the impact of gender and culture on interpersonal communication. Of course, communication is versatile whether we are at work or in other areas of our lives. At work, however, so much can be at
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So when the major was explaining the situation of why he just came in now and not four months ago I didn’t really care why. There was insincerity during the conversation. I mainly looked at the computer avoided eye contact and nodded my head in acknowledgement. It was an issue I didn’t want to deal with one hour before closing. After about forty-five minutes boredom kicked in. I started viewing my e-mail, answering phone calls, became very impatient with the whole concept. The Major didn’t recognize the nonverbal signals I was giving that I was pretty irritated. There are also other barriers that get in the way of listening. One is language differences or accents, noise, anger and lack of attention span. Communicators who succeed in a diverse workplace must educate themselves about different cultures and co-cultures. Treating people from different cultural backgrounds with respect is essential. Finally, being willing to acknowledge and discuss cultural differences can help communicators understand and appreciate one another. The impact of culture and listening is very important in everyday life. Think about how many times you have had problems understanding someone from a different culture or even a different sub-culture. Now think about how many times someone from a different cultural background may have had problems understanding you. I know realize once that e-mail was
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the movie called “Steel Magnolias” (1989) directed by Herbert Ross.
The Ford Fusion Hybrid uses both electricity and unleaded gasoline but fuel options. If one chose to convert to an alternate fuel vehicle, options are not limited; in fact there are several methods to choose from. The alternative fuel used can be chosen by a couple of factors such as lifestyle, make and model of vehicle and cost to purchase or convert. Biodiesel is the most popular form of alternative fuel with most diesel vehicles already set to use this fuel. It can be made from organic
This book makes presentations of exceptional and rational methods as to, “Why Don’t We Listen Better?” through the expertise of Dr. Jim Petersen. According to Petersen (2007), “Good communication is just as important in business, family, and social life” (p. 17). According to the reading, listening is essential to work effectively with others and to maintain relationships and friendships. Furthermore, good communication can make a difference in casual relationships and more intimate relationships. Moreover, the book presents the importance of understanding and listening to others as a reciprocal beneficial interaction.
In all companies, the understanding of the intercultural issues is really important. In fact, companies have to deals with the culture that they have into.
I. Executive summary (maximum 250 words) Training on cultural competence today is an urgent necessity for many organizations. As institutions expand their relationships and processes around the world, staff and executives themselves find themselves dealing with people from different cultures. Differences in behaviors and expectations arising from differences in cultural backgrounds make dealing in this global environment fraught with many possibilities of misinterpretation and disruption of communication. Practical solutions are to find realistic and ideal ways to preserve a climate and an environment that supports "cultural competence" by promoting respect for and understanding of diverse cultures and individuals.
Those that go into the business world quickly recognize that each work environment they find themselves in can be total different from another. This can especially be said even of environments within the United States, from region to region. There is definitely a disparity of workplace environments from country to country. Not only can culture drive a varied atmosphere, but the diversity of the personnel making up that environment can equally create a challenge that a leader must be prepared to manage. Recognizing that special care needs to be placed on communication and perception skills is crucial in our present professional domain. Managers of today need to employee tools from the psychological and sociological field to be successful. Having a deep understanding in the differences in culture and diversity in the workplace is critical, especially when debating about accepting a position overseas or assigning an employee to an embedded position abroad. With a broad knowledge of cultural differences and diversity, success as a manager and the stability of a positive work environment can be achieved and maintained without unnecessary effort and focus.
Communication culture has changed throughout the world with all the new technological advancements. These advancements in technology have made it easier to get a hold of people all over the world, but we still have to be effective communicators. We still have to get our message across clearly and take in account for other’s cultural differences. Businesses want everyone to get along and things to run smoothly. Therefore, businesses try to make sure every message is given and received clearly. If you do not respect other’s languages, it can cause problems like people not wanting to work with you or formation of cliques in the work place. Every business will tell you that they do not want these problems. Once these problems are present then the business has to fix them to ensure a positive work environment.
We communicate by asking questions, sharing ideas, showing emotions, physically and verbally. On a daily basis communication is very important. Especially if your job involves a lot of team work.
Working in a restaurant was one of the best learning experiences in developing personal and team oriented relationships with individuals of all backgrounds. Eleven years later I still used these gathered skills, now further sharpened, that are essential to my current job as a hair stylist. Aside from working with people of all ages, there are a number of skills that I find were most influencing into how I operate today. One of these skills was the effective quality of listening. One of the biggest problems in the work place today is that people are unaware or decline to effectively listen. Listening to people by vocal communication is one of many forms we translate information. Understanding body language, facial expression, tone of voice are all imperative attributes to effectively communicate. This is a strength that I take in pride in being knowledgeable towards. I’ve realized the priority of patience with many years of working one on one with individuals. One is unable to effectively move forward without understanding the perspectives of the people we communicate
Some cultures speak in a soft tone and others speak loudly or in neutral tones. These voice patterns can be important when becoming more effective in business communications (Brown, 2017). It is important to be aware of all cultural differences this help cut out the divide between people in and out of the workplace. The first step is learning about others and how they do things, live, and work (DuPraw and Axner, 2017). This shows you care and respect their culture, values, and their home country.
In order to be an effective communicator, it is important that people should have a solid understanding of intercultural communication. "The term 'intercultural communication ' is often used to refer to the wide range of communication issues that inevitably arise within an organization composed of individuals from a variety of religious, social, ethnic, and educational backgrounds."(uslegal definition) Whether in study, business or travelling, a good understanding of intercultural communication will help you understand others better.
The importance of understanding cultural, ethnic and gender differences by managers and professionals in a business setting is essential to make the work environment comfortable. In every culture there are basic standards of thinking, and acting and these cultural differences strongly influence workplace values and communication. What may be considered acceptable and natural in the workplace for one person may be unacceptable for another person. People from diverse cultures bring new ways of thinking, creativity and language skills needed to survive in today’s work force. In many
Listening skills play a significant role in evaluating communication capabilities in the workplace throughout the globe. It affects all kinds of interactions and becomes part of problem solving. Thought communication encounters, workers are able to learn why they trust or distrust each
Studies show that forty-three percent of the world population is bilingual. Forty percent of the population is monolingual. People not fluent in multiple languages can have a hard time understanding and working with other co-workers. The members of your organization probably have fewer differences than similarities, (Lee). An appreciation and acceptance of both commonalities and differences are essential to effective working relationships; (Brownlee).Some human resources for companies have even designed strategies to comply cultural competence. That will be discussed later on in this paper. As the population and rise of different cultures grows, more industries will need to be competent. Dealing with equal opportunity is a very serious part of the cultural competency background.
According to Dr. Richard T. Alpert, cultural competence is the most important skill for effective work performance in the 21st century (Alpert, 2015). When dealing with cultural competence it should be known that is the way people effectively interact with different cultures worldwide. This allows tolerant attitudes towards cultural differences as well as cross-culture skills people need to communicate and work with others (Alpert, 2015). In the workplace, people will be working with many cultures, genders, and attitudes so it is important to be prepared for anything. When a manager put you on a job you want to be ready and excel at the job.