Active listening in the workplace is very important. It is important because to being a good, active listener will mean that there will be good communication. In being an active listener, you will be able to cultivate an interest in both the speaker and the message. By having an interest in the speaker and the message, you will be able to focus your attention on the message being given. Active listening helps approve the level of communication in the workplace, because it improves overall understanding. It also forces attentiveness, and minimizes defensiveness. It helps ensure that you understand the message clearly and effectively, and that you remain focused on the subject at hand. Some examples of active listening are eye contact, facial expressions, body posture, gestures, distractions, and vocal. It’s important to retain eye contact when you are speaking with someone, as that shows that you are paying attention and that you are really listening. It’s very important to pay attention to the gestures and facial expressions that you use, for it can either give a good impression or a bad one, just as your body posture can do. Reflecting is also part of active listening, and it’s two parts are repetition and paraphrasing. Repetition is when the listener gives back to the speaker exactly what he or she has said. Paraphrasing is a more powerful way of reflecting, as it puts the speaker’s message into the listener’s own words and correctly feeds that back to the speaker. By reflecting, both the speaker and the listener are made aware that the message that was being conveyed was clearly communicated.
Now I am going to explain how supportive and defensive climates can improve relations in the workplace. A good supportive climate can improve relations in the workplace. Supportive climates include the following; description, problem orientation, spontaneity, empathy,