Module 1: Group Work Theories
PART III: Listening Skills
“When we are mindful, we don’t let our thoughts drift to what we did yesterday or plan to do this weekend, nor do we focus on our own feelings and responses. Instead, when we listen mindfully, we tune in fully to another person and try to understand what that person is communicating, without imposing our own ideas, judgments or feelings.” Julia Wood, Personal Communication: Everyday Encounters (2016, p. 212)
Hearing and listening are not the same thing. The listening process involves five steps (Engleberg & Wynn 2017):
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- Receiving
- Interpreting
- Recalling
- Evaluating
- Responding
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Different parts of the listening process change depending on the context and message. For instance, when listening, we are usually discriminative, differentiating sounds or tones of voice to make sense of the words. We are gathering, comprehending, and retaining information, while also listening for types of information that are most relevant for us. We may also be critically analyzing and evaluating this information, perhaps in preparation for follow-up questions or our response. If the message is more emotional, we will also be listening empathically to understand the experience (Engleberg & Wynn 2017).
Active listening is a conscious act, requiring the listener to be fully present and engaged with what is being said. This means reducing distractions like our own thoughts, feelings, plans, or ideas, as well as putting away devices like phones and giving full attention to the speaker. It also means providing the speaker with cues that we are listening through eye contact, nonverbal gestures such as head nodding, or verbal confirmation such as “uh-huh” or asking relevant follow-up questions for clarification.
People’s listening styles fall into four different categories (Engleberg & Wynn 2017):
| People-oriented | Listeners who are most interested in the speaker |
| Action-oriented | Listeners who are most interested in what the speaker wants |
| Content oriented | Listeners who are most interested in the message |
| Time-oriented | Listeners who are impatient for the speaker to get to the point |
What kind of listener are you? Take this Listening Skills Test (psychologytoday.com). After completing this listening assessment, consider which areas of listening you need to work on.
Listening may not always be perfect, and we often encounter barriers to successful listening, including environmental interference (e.g., a siren or loud truck obscuring our ability to hear); cognitive resistance (e.g., if we disagree with the speaker’s message, we may not fully hear what they are communicating); incompatible thought speed (e.g., the speaker speaks either too quickly or too slowly for our comfort or patience); poor speakers (e.g., someone who hesitates or struggles to convey their intended meaning). These perceived issues may lead to poor listening practices, where the listener interrupts or distorts the speaker’s message, or stops listening altogether (Engleberg & Wynn 2017).
There are, however, ways to improve our listening skills to benefit group work. Ensure that you are listening by avoiding distractions; put away your phone! Pay attention to the big ideas, even if you don’t agree with the details. Ensure you’ve fully heard and comprehended the speaker before you begin to speak, especially if you intend to challenge their ideas. If you find the speaker’s speech pattern too slow for your own thought speed, use this extra thought speed to your advantage to repeat, reflect, or begin to develop your response, while ensuring that you are fully listening again when they speak. Pay attention to nonverbal behaviours of the speaker and the group. Is someone in the group tuning out or distracted? Is someone in the group getting impatient and wanting to interrupt? (Engleberg & Wynn 2017)
For more ideas on effective listening, follow this link to Julian Treasure: 5 ways to listen better | TED Talk
