Seek First to Understand

Sheryl Ferguson, New Perspectives

Listening is the most important form of communication. Unfortunately, very little time is devoted to learning how to truly listen. We typically do not listen with the intent to understand; we listen with the intent to reply.

Listening is crucial to effective teamwork; members of the team must feel they are understood. As we learn to listen deeply to others, we discover differences in ideas and perceptions. These differences make teams work most effectively!

Think about your listening skills. Do you truly listen or are you just pretending to listen? Are you giving your complete attention? Are you listening to really understand? Examine your listening style; how effective is it at work or at home? What can you do to improve? First step: Seek first to understand, then to be understood.

Resource: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

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Nancy Flood, floodn@missouri.edu Consumer & Family Economics Specialist Putnam County University Outreach and Extension Center Last Update: May 23, 2001