Associates for Professional Development's Coaching Blog

Sorting Through the Words: Professional Development

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Do you have a colleague who includes a lot of detail in their conversation?  Maybe too much?

Do they seem to go on and on?

Do you wish they would deliver their message with fewer words?

Me too. But when I need the information that they have, I need to learn to manage my impatience and effectively communicate by being a good listener.

Here are 4 strategies to be a good listener. (Even if you don’t want to.)

1. Listen for nuggets of information that you need. Focus on those.
2. Ask questions to steer the conversation in the direction that you need it to go. Coach them on what you need. 
3. Take notes. Discipline your wandering mind by writing down salient points.
4. Challenge yourself to learn something. If your colleague’s mind works differently from yours, you may pick up something valuable.

I hope I have been brief enough!