Mastering Active Listening: Key Strategies for Enhanced Communication
Duration
4 Hours
Level
Basic Level
Design and Tailor this course
As per your team needs
In workplace and personal interactions, mastering active listening is a crucial skill for effective communication and building meaningful relationships. This Workshop on Active Listening introduces learners to a range of techniques and strategies that empower them to become active listeners in diverse interpersonal contexts.
Whether you are a seasoned professional seeking to enhance your leadership skills, a team member aiming to improve collaboration, or an individual striving to strengthen personal connections, this workshop equips you with actionable tools to become a proficient active listener.
Throughout the program, participants will engage in immersive learning experiences aimed at:
- Understanding the fundamental differences between mere ‘hearing’ and active listening, and appreciating the impact this distinction can have.
- Exploring a range of active listening techniques, including paraphrasing, restating for clarity, leveraging nonverbal cues, and the SOLER framework.
- Elevating awareness of communication dynamics, while managing common barriers such as distractions, biases, and preconceptions.
- Cultivating empathetic listening skills to nurture constructive collaboration, enhancing both professional and personal relationships.
At the heart of this workshop lies a commitment to instill participants with the essential skills and insights necessary to thrive as active listeners in today’s dynamic and interconnected world.
Upon completion of the workshop, participants will be able to:
- Engage more effectively through actively listening
- Understand the difference between ‘hearing’ and ‘listening’
- Learn the techniques to listen actively
- Enhance awareness about communication behaviors and barriers
- Understand how emotions affect their ability to listen
- Learn to paraphrase and restate for clarification
- Manage and encourage constructive collaboration
- Professionals in leadership or managerial roles seeking to enhance their communication and leadership skills.
- Team members or employees interested in improving collaboration and productivity within their teams or across departments.
- Individuals aiming to strengthen personal relationships and communication skills in various contexts, including social interactions and personal development.
- Welcome and Introductions
- Brief overview of the importance of active listening in the workplace
- Defining active listening and emphasizing its benefits
- Difference between ‘hearing’ and ‘listening’
- Components of active listening – paraphrasing, asking questions, nonverbal cues
- The SOLER framework- Squarely face the speaker, Open posture, Lean slightly towards the speaker, Eye contact, Relaxed
- More active listening techniques such as mirroring, summarizing, and reflecting
- Examples of using these techniques in the workplace
- Common barriers to active listening – distractions, biases, preconceptions, emotions
- Strategies to overcome these barriers – eliminating distractions, practicing empathy, staying present
- Paired role play-based activity: One participant will share a work-related scenario while the other person practices active listening
- Role reversal in Paired role play-based activity: now, the second participant will share a work-related scenario while the first person practices active listening
- Group Discussion – Actively sharing the successes and challenges faced during the role play activity and their key takeaways
- The role of empathy in active listening
- Importance of understanding and acknowledging the speaker’s emotions
- Examples of empathetic responses
- Role play activity to practice empathy in active listening
- Recap key points discussed during the session
- Tips and tricks to continue practicing active listening in daily interactions
- Action plan for implementation
- Basic understanding of communication principles.
- Familiarity with workplace dynamics and interpersonal interactions.
- Willingness to engage in self-reflection and skill development.
