[MUSIC] Before beginning this video, please take a survey on your listening skills. A link to a free-15 minute survey is in your workbook. When you finish, you'll be given a score and an option to buy more information. You do not need to pay for the extra information they make available. We need only for you to take the survey so that you can see the questions to be considered and get a sense of how well you're listening right now. Keep your workbook open as you take the survey, so you can note down in your strengths section the listening behaviors you do well. And in the challenges section, those you wish to improve upon. If you have not taken the survey yet, pause the video and finish it and the strengths and challenges notes and then come back. Don't worry, we'll wait. Okay, one thing regarding any self-assessments you take do not assume that the answer you get is the answer and do not let it define you. If you've got a 50, you are not a poor listener. If you got a 70, you are not a mediocre listener. The survey is only one data point. We listen differently to our boss than we do to our direct reports and peers. We listen to our spouse or partner differently than we do our children. Some might say we listen less to those we love than to those to whom we report. Who were you thinking about or in what situation did you place yourself when you took that survey that can influence your answers? Moreover, you're taking this course, because you are becoming. So it isn't I am a mediocre listener. It's I am becoming a better listener or I am working on my listening skills. We assume we know how to listen, because we've been doing it since before we were born, but listening is harder than we think. I have been working on my listening skills for nearly 30 years and I likely will have to keep working on them for the next 30. In your workbook, you'll see a little story I wrote for our newspaper that might give you a chuckle. And by the way, listening is not the same as hearing why. Listen, it's a lot of work as you can see from the questions on the survey and really who has the time with all the emails, texts, other messages we get every day, not to mention all the meetings we sit through. Why bother? Think about other people. How might their relationship improved with you if they listen to better to you? How might your work relationships improve with improvements? And you're listening with your boss with your direct reports with your peers with those over whom you have no direct authority, but who you must influence with other stakeholders, the public, etc. How might your work quality improve or your ability to persuade others? If you're listening improved, would you better resolve conflicts on your team? Do you think that project team interaction and work output could improve? How about your productivity and efficiency? Note down your ideas in your workbook when I ask students what might improve if they listen better, they often say things like I would make fewer errors, because I would better understand what other people ask of me. I would have fewer misunderstandings, because I wouldn't make wrong assumptions about what others intended for me to understand. I could better negotiate deadlines and scope of work. I would get more information about what my customer or boss is really looking for that sometimes less clearly stated needs and this would enable me to clarify what I can and cannot do and ensure I am meeting expectations. I would be better able to ensure my ideas are heard. When I show that I'm listening to others, they are more likely to tell me that they do not fully understand what I am saying. Otherwise, my ideas may not get fully or correctly implemented, because the other person is taking their best guess. Also, I'd be able to hear them fully express when they don't understand or when they cannot meet my requests. Students who work with people from other disciplines often say they would learn to understand their colleagues more easily if they listen more fully. A medical team may be comprised of surgeons, nurses, GPS therapists, etc. An engineering team could be comprised of mechanical civil material, engineers plus marketers, financial managers, project managers and more members of multidisciplinary teams need to learn the other disciplines quote languages. A key skill on multidisciplinary teams is expressing empathy for other disciplines challenges and empathy requires complete listening. Multidisciplinary team members need the ability to speak in a way other disciplines can understand. And again, these require fuller listening. I often get this response. Other person would feel more respected if I listen better to them, but be careful, we are not trying to make someone feel a certain way, we want to actually demonstrate respect for them. So consider that when I listen to others, they are more likely to listen to me and what else did you all come up with? Most people's daily work is intensely verbal even if most of your communication is via email. Reading is an auditory process. We have to listen to our electronic mail with the same level of active involvement as we do when someone is speaking, and we often scan emails, texts and chats. But daily work is comprised of many small interpersonal and group discussions were constantly clarifying, negotiating and even translating. And by that, I mean, translating the language is spoken by different types of group members, such as our organization's leadership, the other departments and disciplines with which we work clients, suppliers for some of you, the public. And as Susan McPherson wrote in her HBR article. How much of your authentic self, should you really bring to work? Nurture your relationships, even when you don't need something from the other person? The best tool you have here is listening. The best tool to nurture relationships is listening to other people and there's more to this than the usual answers. Quality management requires exceptional listening skills. We plan and organize best when we have all available information, some of which might come from electronic presentations of data. Gant charts shared calendars, resource lists, capability charts and more to control work. We have access to a lot of data status updates, budgets, accounts payable and billable and more. But to be great at planning, organizing and controlling. We need to hear from people. I recall a mechanical engineer saying that when he had moved up to managing a 200 person team of many different engineers. I didn't understand some of their technical explanations. So I had to listen very carefully. For the underlying unstated stuff is a direct report expressing concern about meeting the budget? Is a client intimating they might be delayed in making payments? Does the vendors sound like they're going to deliver parts late is a boss, implying they're less concerned with some parts of the scope of your deliverable than others much of communication is subtle. Many people state partial truths and vague ideas for many reasons, not necessarily due to malicious intent. And only the most astute and active listener will catch the critical information needed to succeed as a manager. And if you work with people from other cultures and really, who works in a monoculture, then this message from Hervey Coco, former president of Michelin, may resonate. Listening is the one skill that is universally effective at building trust and respect across boundaries. Everything you're going to learn in this course about planning, leading, organizing and controlling project management, coaching your employees, leading an ethical culture, strategic analysis and planning and implementation. Everything you do is going to require high quality listening. Does your list of the outcomes you expect along with those I've mentioned inspire you to work on your listening, because listening is hard. If you are not inspired, you may not be ready to overcome your listening weaknesses. So take a good look at the list of reasons for improving your listening before continuing with this lesson.
