People Management
Managing Worry Through Effective Listening
Part of being an effective business leader and manager is learning how to manage your own stress levels. This can also extend to guiding members of your team who may be suffering from workplace stress.
Often, just having a chance to talk something through can be an immense relief to your team members. When one of your team next has a worry they need guidance with, try these simple tips:
- Pay full attention to the speaker — don’t try to perform other tasks such as answering the phone or filing papers. Listen carefully to what is being said.
- Use body language to show your concern — a person under stress wants to be heard on all levels. Make eye contact with and lean toward the speaker. Nod your head to show you understand. Use facial expressions to indicate feelings.
- Respond every now and then with a verbal acknowledgement such as, "I understand," or "I see what’s happening."
- Restate the speaker’s point in your own words to make sure you understand what they are trying to convey.
- Comment only on what the speaker is describing. Don’t try to solve the problem; just try to understand it.
- Acknowledge the feelings behind the words. You can even identify them by saying, "It sounds as though you’re feeling very hurt (or angry or frustrated)."
