An

Assignment on

Topic on

PGDM : 2013 15

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Submitted By :

Guided

By :
Name : Ashish Kumar Sharma
Mukesh Bhatia
Roll No : 104
Section : B

Mr.

CONTENTS
Sl.No.
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Topic
Definition of Learning
Process of Listening
Elements and Level of Listening
Types of Listening
Importance of Listening
Effective Listening
Keys to Effective Listening
Common Barriers of Listening
How to Improve our Communication Skill
Conclusion

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DEFINITION AND MEANING OF LISTENING:

The

active

process

of

receiving

and

responding

to

spoken

(and

sometimes

unspoken) message.
Listening is one of the subjects studied in the field of language arts and in the discipline
of conversation analysis.
Listening does not mean simply maintaining a polite silence while you are rehearsing in your
mind the speech you are going to make the next time you can grab a conversational opening. Nor
does listening mean waiting alertly for the flaws in the other fellow's arguments so that later you can
mow him down. Listening means trying to see the problem the way the speaker sees it which means
not sympathy, which is feeling for him, but empathy, which is experiencing with him. Listening
requires entering actively and imaginatively into the other fellow's situation and trying to understand
a frame of reference different from your own. This is not always an easy task.
"But a good listener does not merely remain silent. He asks questions. However, these
questions must avoid all implications (whether in tone of voice or in wording) of skepticism or
challenge or hostility. They must clearly be motivated by curiosity about the speaker's views."
(S.I. Hayakawa, "How to Attend a Conference." The Use and Misuse of Language, ed. by S.I.
Hayakawa. Fawcett Premier, 1962)

PROCESS OF LISTENING :

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ELEMENTS AND LEVELS OF LISTENING :

"There are four elements of good listening they are as follows:
1.
2.
3.
4.

attention--the focused perception of both visual and verbal stimuli

hearing--the physiological act of 'opening the gates to your ears'
understanding--assigning meaning to the messages received
remembering--the storing of meaningful information

TYPES OF LISTENING :
1. ACTIVE LISTENING :
Active listening involves six skills: paying attention, holding judgment, reflecting, clarifying,
summarizing, and sharing. Each skill contributes to the active listening mind-set, and each skill
includes various techniques or behaviors. For example, paying attention isn't something you stop
doing when you start holding judgment. In one conversation, clarifying may take much effort and
time in another conversation, gaining clarity and understanding may be quick and easy.

2. PASSIVE LISTENING :
Passive Listening is listening without reacting. Allowing someone to speak, without
interrupting. Not doing anything else at the same time

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IMPORTANCE OF LISTENING :

Most frequently used communication skill

50% of typical workday spent communicating

of this 50%, 45% is spent listening

45% of business persons salary earned listening

Good listeners

are perceived as more intelligent

save time, energy, and other resources

increase chances for advancement and success.

EFFECTIVE LISTENING :

Effective listening requires an understanding that it is not just the speaker's responsibility to
make sure he/she is understood.

The listener has a major role to play in hearing the complete message.

The following ideas will assist the listener in understanding the message.

SEVEN KEYS TO EFFECTIVE LISTENING :

1.

Find areas of interest.

2.

Judge content, not delivery.

3.

Language.

4.

Listen for ideas.

5.

Be flexible.

6.

Work at listening.

7.

Keep your mind open.

COMMON BARRIERS TO LISTENING

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There are many things that get in the way of listening and you should be aware of these
barriers, many of which are bad habits, in order to become a more effective listener. Barriers and
bad habits to effective listening can include:
Trying to listen to more than one conversation at a time, this includes having the television or
radio on while attempting to listen to somebody talk being on the phone to one person and
talking to another person in the same room and also being distracted by some dominant noise in
the immediate environment.
You find the communicator attractive/unattractive and you pay more attention to how you feel
about the communicator and their physical appearance than to what they are saying. Perhaps you
simply don't like the speaker - you may mentally argue with the speaker and be fast to criticise,
either verbally or in your head.
You are not interested in the topic/issue being discussed and become bored.
Not focusing and being easily distracted, fiddling with your hair, fingers, a pen etc. or gazing out
of the window or focusing on objects other than the speaker.
Feeling unwell or tired, hungry, thirsty or needing to use the toilet.
Identifying rather than empathizing
Understanding what you are hearing but not putting yourself in the shoes of the speaker. As
most of us have a lot of internal self-dialogue we spend a lot of time listening to our own
thoughts and feelings - it can be difficult to switch the focus from 'I' or 'me' to 'them' or 'you'.
Effective listening involves opening your mind to the views of others and attempting to feel
empathetic.
You have preconceived ideas or bias :
Effective listening includes being open-minded to the ideas and opinions of others, this does
not mean you have to agree but should listen and attempt to understand.
You make judgements, thinking, for example that a person is not very bright or is underqualified so there is no point listening to what they have to say.
Previous experiences :
We are all influenced by previous experiences in life. We respond to people based on
personal appearances, how initial introductions or welcomes were received and/or previous
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interpersonal encounters. If we stereotype a person we become less objective and therefore less
likely to listen effectively.
Preoccupation :
When we have a lot on our minds we can fail to listen to what is being said as we're too busy
concentrating on what we're thinking about. This is particularly true when we feel stressed or
worried about issues.
Having a Closed Mind :

We all have ideals and values that we believe to be correct and it can be difficult to listen to
the views of others that contradict our own opinions. The key to effective listening and
interpersonal skills more generally is the ability to have a truly open mind - to understand why
others think about things differently to you and use this information to gain a better
understanding of the speaker.
Language Problem :
To understand the what the other person wants to say with us in which language which we
cant able to understand.

HOW TO IMPROVE OUR LISTENING SKILLS :

Identify Objectives :
To identify the object or the matter what the speaker or sender want to say or to
communicate with the listener or the receiver, however without understanding the matter or
word the person would not be a good speaker.

Know Your Listening Habits :

The habits refers to the word good listener or not to know in which language we can
understand and speak or to gave a feedback to the sender of the message.

Generate Motivation and Energy :

It means to generate motivation that what the speaker wants to communicate or what
he wants to say with us and what he wants to suggest or to gave her idea.

Eliminate Distractions :
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Distractions means to eliminate the noise pollution or to eliminate the more person if
they are present with us at the time of communication.

Ask questions :
It means to give a feedback to the sender or teller what he wants to get some
suggestion from us what he wants to communicate with us.

CONCLUSION :
"What is so important about listening? I listen!"
Sure you do. But how? How adept are you, for example, in getting people to come right out
and really talk to you?
Before you can get the most out of a listening situation, others must first believe that you
really want to listen. They must feel that when they tell you something, it will be received by
you in the proper spirit.
Learn to listen beyond the words, with your heart as well as your ears.
Observe the signs of the inner feelings such as voice quality, facial expressions, body posture
and motions, etc. These actions are revealing, and sometimes may have an opposite meaning
from the spoken word.
A friend put it this way: "You listened as if you wanted to hear what I was going to say, as if it
was really important to you. And that makes me feel good!"

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