The benefits of listening.

The benefits of listening.

A skill in listening improves your self confidence. People like you when you listen to them. Good listeners are usually more effecient in completing their work. What you create with good listening is flexibility in settling disagreements. Intelligent responses are easier when you listen. Learning to listen to people helps you respond more quickly to their needs. Good listeners are not often embarrassed by unnecessary mistakes. Organizations rely heavily upon listening as an important productivity tool, they need people who have good communication skills. Those who know how to listen can; better understand problems, sustain attention, retain information and improve working relationships. Most of us are not good listeners. We listen at about 25% of our potential, which means we ignore, forget, distort or misunderstand 75% of what we hear. Hard to believe perhaps . But true. Such lazy listening habits can be very costly, bad decisions can be made, wrong choices can be persued, poor information can be absorbed, misinterpretation can be made, conflicts can arise, people can be misquoted or misunderstood. Poor listening is one of the most significant problems facing businesses. When communication breaks down, costly mistakes are made. Lazy listening is a hidden cost of doing business.