A framework for active listening

- In every organization, there are ideas, thoughts, and points of view that people hesitate to say out loud. We're missing out on critical insights at work, and that puts us at a disadvantage. But active listening is a skill that you can learn to ensure that you're not missing that information and to show those you work with that they're heard, valued, and understood. I'm going to give you an overview of a five step framework you can easily follow to become a better active listener. I call it the cycle of active listening. The first step is to recognize you must not only listen to what you're told, but to what's not being said too. I remember being stuck in the middle of a reorganization where no one noticed how I was feeling about the changes because they assumed I was happy and bought in. What they didn't realize is that I was stuck and I was frustrated. I'm just one example of how recognizing the unsaid can create more buy-in into change and a sense of being valued in the process. The next step to the cycle of active listening is to seek to understand. And this means that you have recognized that there is something unsaid and you want to know more. We seek to understand by asking questions that help us uncover these insights. When you ask important questions and your people see your interest to know more, they feel comfortable and empowered to share their opinions. You can then make informed decisions based on diverse perspectives, ultimately benefiting your employees, customers and leaders. Learning to clear away the distractions and focus on being present will be key here as you want your employees to feel that they have your undivided attention. Next, you'll decode what you heard in the seeking to understand step and decipher what's most important to team members and customers. When you decode or make sense of what you've been told, you'll begin to see a complete picture of what people are finding unsatisfactory, tough, or frustrating, and have an opportunity to reflect on which changes are needed. A key element of decoding is taking that time to pause and process the information you've received. We'll cover how to pause and reflect in much more detail later. The fourth step is to build an inclusive and collaborative action plan. Here you'll create an action plan based on the verbal and nonverbal feedback you received in the previous steps. The most important thing to remember is that your action plan should be inclusive. The last step I call closing the loop. This step is often overlooked by leaders, which minimizes the impact of all the work done in the previous steps. Closing the loop means that you communicate with employees and customers on the feedback you received and the action you're taking or plan to take as a result. You don't leave them guessing whether you will do anything about what they told you. As your team members feel valued, heard, and empowered, they own more, give more, and perform better. And customers will respond with more brand loyalty. These five steps work for any type of communication and with any person. What steps stood out to you the most as an area you personally would like to improve? Now that I've given you an overview of the cycle, we're going to dive in to learn how you can implement this new way of listening with your team.