Listen, involve, synergize at work. Then you will bury the old and create an entirely new winning culture which will unleash people’s talents and create complementary teams where strengths are made productive and weakness are made irrelevant through the strengths of others.— Stephen R. Covey

Would you be surprised to learn that communication continues to be an issue in the workplace? That only 13% of U.S. workers strongly agree that their organization’s leadership communicates effectively?

This may not be news as it’s been an issue for years, but why is that? Are we choosing to NOT address the issue?

The state of our work culture includes many elements, but it’s been determined that there’s a strong link between having a disengaged workforce and ineffective communication. And, a study by Salesforce Research found that:

Employees who feel their voice is heard at work are nearly five-times (4.6X) more likely to feel empowered to perform their best work

No doubt about it, listening takes work! Below are 6 tips gathered BY STEPHANIE VOZZA:

1. LISTEN TO LEARN, NOT TO BE POLITE
Ajit Singh, professor in the School of Medicine at Stanford University, says If we ever finish a conversation and learned nothing surprising, we weren’t really listening.

2. QUIET YOUR AGENDA
Really listen to what someone else is trying to say. We need information that is disconfirming, not confirming.

3. ASK MORE QUESTIONS
When you ask questions, you create a safe space for other people to give you an unvarnished truth.

4. PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR TALK/LISTEN RATIO
Strive for a 2:1 ratio of listening to talking.

5. REPEAT BACK WHAT YOU HEARD
If the speaker agrees that what you heard is what he or she intended to say, you can move on. If not, the speaker needs to reword their statement until the listener really does understand.

6. ACTUALLY WAIT UNTIL SOMEONE IS DONE TALKING BEFORE YOU RESPOND
Leslie Shore, author of Listen to Succeed shares: When we begin working on a reply before the speaker is finished, we lose both the complete information being offered and an understanding of the kind of emotion present in the speaker’s delivery.

How do you think listening would be rated in your workplace? What are you doing to improve that rating?

Leaders who don’t listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say.–Andy Stanley