The power of presence

Effective Listening

Effective listening conveys interest and respect of the other person; this is crucial if we are to

have any ability to help solve problems and satisfy other persons needs and goals as well as our

own. This can be demonstrated in the case below

Kebirungi learns to listen.

Kebirungi Agnes is a member of the Nsambya west zone women SACCO. In 2015, Kebirungi

decided to enrol for the annual training in Entrepreneurship and management of small scale

Businesses at Sharing youth Centre in order to attain knowledge on how to run the small

businesses the SACCO was starting for them. During this Period, Kebirungi realized that things

we’re not going according to plan especially after receiving her results in one of the assessments

done during the training. She had scored the least marks in the entire class attending the training.

She had received marks way below the pass mark which would guarantee her failure to graduate

from the training.

On analysing her problem, she realised that the major issue that could have caused the

failure in the assessment was her lack of planning and poor listening traits. Many people had

complained about her perpetual late coming and sitting at the back. She had also portrayed poor

listening traits like constantly talking and using her mobile phone during the training sessions,

not taking notes, complaining about the trainer’s voice, clothes and looks, in essence always

allowing herself to self-distraction. Her colleagues always made statements such as, ‘You don’t

listen’, ‘Why don’t you listen?’, ‘You need to listen more’. Because of her poor lack of

cognitive awareness, Kebirungi was not able to understand, later on assessing the content provided in the training. She had a weakness in listening to what the trainers were trying to teach them and that is why she was unable to grasp the cores of the training.

Having analysed the situation at hand, Kebirungi came up with a strategy that would enable her

to learn more from her time in the training. She realized that listening is not just hearing the

sounds but also needed to have a prepared mind in order to absorb the message.

For her to attain her goal of learning during the training, she started coming early for trainings

and decided to shift her sitting position. In order to avoid distractions, she always switched off

her phone whenever she was in a training session. She endeavoured not to chat while the

speaker was talking and ensured that she does not interrupt anyone or the speaker during the

sessions. Kebirungi also did not let the trainer’s physical appearance, mannerisms or habits

distract her. She also did not get irritated by any message from the trainer or her classmates. For

example, one day the speaker told her that, ‘she looked like someone he had seen in a motor

garage in Wandegeya serving mechanics food’. She just smiled and continued to listen to what

the trainer was saying. Kebirungi always gave time to the trainer to complete his message before

she could ask questions on what she did not understand. She also responded to the lecturer and

students who asked questions in class. In case she hadn’t grasped something, she would wait

until the end of the lecture then she would approach the speaker in order to get clarity on some of the issues of concern. Kebirungi created a present mind whenever she went for trainings. Even when she had work and family issues on her mind, she tried to put them aside in order to focus on what is being said. She sat in an attentive posture and always looked straight up at the speaker and used gestures such as head nods to acknowledge that she’s listening. Whenever the speaker delivered a message, she took notes on the main points, heard, interpreted and evaluated the message and then when the speaker asked for questions, she was able to give her opinion. She responded with appropriate answers, comments, suggestions and also sought for clarity.

These changes helped her in improving her personal relations with her friends and family as well

as attaining better results from the assessments done at the training. This also helped her to

understand the subject matter in a better way. She managed to pass and attain grade A in her

final pass out assessment done at the training.

Effective listening and feedback are key in proper planning and eventual attainment of set targets

and goals for an individual and the organization at large.

Kebirungi was able to understand the subject matter, give positive feedback, passed her final

assessment and also improved her personal relations. This was so because she planned to listen

by keeping time, changing her sitting position to the front, and being well equipped with study

tools. She also exhibited good listening traits such as focusing on details, note taking, making

eye contact, showing interest by nodding and showing a positive attitude. These enabled her to

enhance her Cognitive awareness in listening by seeking to understand more, critically assessing

information, being open minded and non-biased.

This is because planning to listen, good listening traits and Cognitive awareness in listening

enhance effective listening and feedback.