by Joseph Wardy

Created on: February 04, 2009

The title " Tips for Effective Communication" is very broad in scope as it can pertain to negotiations, presentations, team building, telephone skills, delivering feedback, asking for feedback etc. The list is endless. To refine the topic, this essay will focus on listening skills as this skill is central to any form of communications.

In addition, listening is the activity most greatly used ion the workplace. The average employees spends 9 percent of the time reading, 16 percent writing , 25 percent speaking and 33 percent listening. In fact, research indicates that CEO's spend 80 percent of their day listening requiring the expertise of lieutenants in order to make better informed decisions. So, here are four suggestions to listen more effectively using the acronym CARE.

* C- Concentrate- Listening seems so simple that there is virtually no time that school devote to cultivating the skill. Teachers continually saying "pay attention" is proof. Yet, listening is not only a skill but an attitude with discipline. Concentration is ever so difficult in view of the value placed on multitasking. But effective listening and multitasking cannot coexist. Concentrate means to do nothing else as doing other things sends a negative message. How do you feel when a coworker or boss is not listening? Suggestion: Give undivided attention and don't fake it. When you cannot give undivided attention, tell the other person and ask them to come back when you can.

* A- Acknowledge- In this step, you are encouraging the speaker by the body language of nodding and leaning forward. It can also be accomplished through such neutral phrases such as: " tell me more", "go on". This is encouraging without agreeing.

* R- Respond- Here, dialogue begins as the listening results in questioning for purposesof understanding and clarification. Understanding the speaker is accomplish through the open questioningof asking "how", "what" and "why". These are two step questions as the answer generally leads to another question. Clarification is through the summary question of paraphrasing what you though the speaker was alluding to.

* E- Emotions. Here, we must look the speaker and our personal feelings and search for what the speaker is suggesting. When we accomplish this challenge, we don't kill the messenger and in the process leave the ego home by practicing what and not who is right.

In conclusion, I ask that you practice the quote form best selling author Stephan Covey who said: " To be understood we first first understand. Effective listening is the core of effective communication by showing great care to the people we are communicating with!

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