As a manager, listening is key to knowing your workers, relating to their differences and creating a bond. Employees may be reluctant to share their struggles but as a leader, you need to create an open platform where they can open up and on your part, care to listen and respond- deliberately. This aspect is critical for leadership success at every level. Ines Makuza CEO and managing director at Kigali Agency for Entrepreneurs says that deliberate listening allows you to discover intent. “I find that by listening, truly paying attention to the way someone says something doesn’t only convey respect to those interacting with you, but it fills a lot of gaps about what you need to know or understand about a topic and even a person. You are easily able to pinpoint the interests or reasoning behind someone’s statement or position on a certain topic,” she says. Eddy Muhumuza a business development advisor at Business Development Fund (BDF) says that managers are not meant to give orders only but also to listen to others’ opinions; it’s not always the opinion of the boss that will lead to the organisation achieving its mandate. “At the workplace, we encounter people we deem difficult or easy. They can be our supervisors, co-workers and our subordinates. They may seem hard to get along with, they step on you to get on top, interrupt you, or they don’t even want to listen at all! Despite many factors at play, the biggest reason is communication, specifically lacking listening skills,” he says. Listening genuinely can create a bond, employees get to disclose information about how they feel, details of their professional and personal lives, including the challenges and emotions that affect the workplace and a manager showing that they are willing to listen helps them too, says Eddy Rwema who works at a sales company. Why is deliberate listening important? “By understanding my co-worker or team’s opinions, goals, and ideas, it allows me to develop the work environment where we can work towards mutually agreeable solutions. It’s about understanding the difference between wants and needs and how they can benefit team rapport and the general work environment,” says Makuza. She adds that focusing, not interrupting, and not trying to plan your own response to a discussion while someone is talking allows you to actually take in what they are saying. “Process it. Communication skills don’t just include talking and listening, but processing. That way you can balance yourself out with your co-workers, without having issues of hierarchy.” Muhumuza says that both the manager and employee need to listen to one another for the benefit of the organisation. According to him, this is why it is important: Deliberate listening helps to recognise differences/ conflicts at the workplace It is a good way to share the best or worst practices at work and beyond Develops trust, trust is built through listening and acting. Mends relationships Increases productivity Achieves the organisation’s targets Strengthens the social and professional bonds by sharing inner thoughts!
