How many podcasts and trainings have you listened and sat through that focused on active listening?
In a work environment, listening is essential whether it’s your boss telling you what you need to do or your client telling you what they want. The best thing you can do is to make sure that in the moment you are listening. You need to be mindful of what people are telling you to be sure you are taking in to account all of the details.
If you are like me – then this is something you may struggle with. Sometimes we have 10 million things on our minds and it is hard to live in the moment and actively listen.
But how to overcome adversity? While listening, jot down key notes. Writing down key notes will give you something to reflect on when its time to start that new project or when you need to offer a new solution to a client.
Jotting down notes is the first step, but if there is something you did not hear clearly or you need clarification – do not ever be afraid to ask for a recap or a better explanation. Dictate it back in your own words to make sure you got the gist of the conversation!
The worst thing you can do is to go by pretending you heard and understand and in the long run you are confused as to exactly what has been asked of you!
–Samantha Plateroti, Social Media Coordinator, InSource
Plan and run better meetings
Meetings are a necessary evil in our business. Between staff meetings, project planning and review meetings, vendor meetings, and of course client meetings, its any wonder we get real work done at all. But one thing I have learned in almost 25 years in the creative...