Agenda - Council Work Session - 11/22/2022

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DARCY WALKER MANAGEMENT REPORT 06.16.2020 • Brainstorming sessions provide good experience for listening to all viewpoints with an open mind. Brainstorm with your direct reports as often as possible about work -related problems and issues. The benefits will be two -fold; you will practice listening and you will gain input from your work unit on solving problems. LIFTI NING CAREFI II LY WITHOUT I T Skills, Behaviors, and Attitudes to Adapt and Practice • Avoid interrupting, as it can become a habit, and could waste valuable time. Have you ever been irritated when someone has interrupted you with an assumption? • Avoid considering your response before others finish speaking. Concentrate on what they are saying. Allow others to make their point before responding with your own. • Do not allow constant disturbances during exchanges of information. Commit yourself and your direct reports to focus on listening to each other and to concentrate on the benefits of everyone's input toward a common goal. • When you realize that you have interrupted someone, apologize by saying, "I'm sorry. Please continue." Politely admitting a mistake demonstrates your integrity and can build your credibility. Challenging Activities • Sometimes good listening can include taking notes. Consider keeping a pen and note pad readily accessible at all times. Write down as few words as possible to avoid distracting the speaker with excessive note taking. You can elaborate on your notes later. • It is almost impossible to listen well and talk at the same time. Consider recording a few of your phone calls and listening to your portion of the conversation. Is there an appropriate amount of silence on the recording for the topic you discussed, indicating the time you spent listening? Recording yourself and considering how much you listen to others could remind you to avoid monopolizing the conversations in the future. SUMMARIZING INPUT AND THEN CHECKING FOR UNDERSTANDING Skills, Behaviors, and Attitudes to Adapt and Practice • Decide that you are going to maximize the information and value you receive every time you converse with one of your team members. • Recognize that we all tend to filter what we hear through our preconceptions and biases and that it is easy to misunderstand the core messages of others - and plan to be more open. • Realize that everyone has the potential to enrich your understanding and deserves to be heard and understood. • Adopt an attitude that the person you are listening to is the most important person in your life at that moment in time - give them your fu l l attention. • Make a specific decision to note any time you become judgmental of what you're hearing - and revert to openly listening to understand what the other person is saying. • Note when others summarize well in listening to you - what can you learn from them? Challenging Activities • Every time you have a conversation, make it a point to summarize and restate continually. Summarize anything they say that addresses your initial question - and note any interesting new perspectives they raise for further discussion. Don't simply parrot their words - restate the words and the emotions you detected: "..it sounds like you're frustrated by this situation..." or "..that must be exciting..." Make it clear that you understood what they said to you and how they feel about what they said. • When you ask good open ended questions, you'll tend to get long responses. Don't be afraid to let your speaker go off topic a little - this will often help uncover other useful aspects of what they have to say. © by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form, in whole or in part, is prohibited. 28