How can a manager improve their interpersonal skills?

How to Improve Listening Skills to Be a Better Manager

• Answer:

  If you are in a leadership position at your work, such as a manager or supervisor, it is very important to possess effective listening skills (among a variety of other traits). To communicate with and help direct your employees, you need to have the ability to understand their feelings, needs, suggestions, confusions and ideas. Nourish and improve your listening skills to become a much more efficient, respected and productive manager at your workplace. Difficulty: Moderate Instructions Keep steady eye contact. One of the fundamentals of effective listening and communication is eye contact. Direct eye contact can encourage people to trust in you, and can also convey you are truly interested and engaged in what someone is saying. It also can increase your focus level. Just avoid eye contact that can come across as piercing or staring, to avoid making your employees feel awkward. Avoid interrupting. To listen actively, refrain from interrupting your employees as they speak. This can come across as disrespectful -- like you don't find it necessary to wait to hear what the other person has to say in full. Also, when you interrupt a person, you might cause him to completely abandon his train of thought. Ask a lot of questions. To enhance your listening skills, engage yourself by maintaining a high level of involvement in the conversation or interaction. Ask a lot of open-ended questions to do this. Apart from raising your level of involvement, questions will indicate to the other person that you are truly offering your full attention and are not distracted or thinking about something else. Use appropriate body language. Small body language signals also can show another person that you are fully "there" with the conversation. Partake in subtle body language to show that you are listening, such as periodically nodding your head in understanding, smiling (when appropriate) and leaning in. And always look directly at the person speaking. Eliminate all outside distractions. One cannot offer undivided concentration in the presence of outside distractions. To listen fully and with clarity, get rid of possible outside disruptions. Silence your cell phone. Shut down your computer. Turn off your television. Fully close your office door. Do whatever it takes to achieve the necessary focus. Keep your mind open. If an employee is talking about something that you do not necessarily agree with, as tough as it might be, wait until she is finished to say your peace. Also, you do not need to immediately defend yourself if it is a complaint against you. Wait it out and honestly listen to and analyze what she is saying. After all, she may have a point. Tips & Warnings Tip: To listen deeply, attempt to pick up on subtle nonverbal communication signals including sighing, straight posture, fidgeting and hand gestures. Noticing these factors may provide you with a stronger ability to understand what she is trying to communicate to you.