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What are some common barriers to listening in an organizational setting?

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1- Interactive listening is a complex yet invaluable method of communicating with people. What are some common barriers to listening in an organizational setting? Provide an example situation and propose a solution to the problem.

2- Define the following terms and give an example:

1. Empathic listening

2. Discriminative listening

3. Negative listening

4. Chronemics

5. Proxemics (explain intimate zone, personal zone, social zone & public zone)

6. Kinesics
For kinesics, give an example of how you have used or observed non-verbal cues such as:

Emblems or
Illustrators or
Regulators or
Adaptors or
Affect Displays

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Solution Summary

A description with examples of common barriers to listening.

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1. First let's define what interactive listening is: "The second types of listening skills are those used to interact with the speaker. These skills help ensure that you understand what the sender is communicating, and they acknowledge the sender's feelings. Interactive skills include clarifying, verifying, and reflecting." http://www.healthyplace.com/communities/Depression/suicide/listening_skills_2.asp

One area that causes a great deal of communication difficulties is at a meeting. During the meeting the speaker usually has "control" of the meeting and the message that is being sent out to attendees. The problem with this type of setting is that it does not usually allow for interactive listening. Each member interprets the information on their own and leaves the meeting with their own understanding. Meeting attendees usually do not ask questions and sometimes leave the meetings with unanswered questions or a false understanding of the message being said. Ways to fix this problem include: always add a questions/answer portion on each meeting agenda, the speaker asks questions for clarity during the meeting, have each member write down their questions on a piece of paper during the meeting and at the end collect the papers and answer each question (this can also be done using a bulletin board and creating a "parking lot" which is used to catch all the questions that will be answered at the end of the meeting. The name parking lot is used to "park" the questions until the end).

This is just one basic idea of ways in which communications are difficult in the organization setting. I hope this gives you other ideas, or at least a base for you to expand on. I used meetings since they are the most common form of face to face communication, you have the chance to be very creative with your answers for creating ways to solve this communication problem.

Part 2

1. Empathic Listening - Empathic listening (also called active listening or reflective listening) is a way of listening and responding to another person that improves mutual understanding and trust. It is an essential skill for third parties and disputants alike, as it enables the listener to receive and accurately interpret the speaker's message, and then provide an appropriate response. The response is an integral part of the listening process and can be critical to the success of a negotiation or mediation. Among its benefits, empathic listening,
builds trust and respect, enables the disputants to release their emotions, and reduces tensions,
encourages the surfacing of information, and creates a safe environment that is conducive to collaborative problem solving. http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/empathic_listening/

2. Discriminative Listening - By being sensitive to changes in the speaker's rate, volume, force, pitch, and emphasis, the informative listener can detect even nuances of difference in meaning" http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/kline-listen/b10ch4.htm. Generally speaking this type of listening allows the listener to hear the meaning behind the message. For instance when you are listening to not only the words, but the changes in pitch and tone of the message, you will be able to know what points are being stressed and what ...

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