Ineffective Listening

In spite of the importance of effective listening, most people demonstrate their inability to listen effectively, thus undermining effective communication. Adler and Towne (1998), along with Johnson (1996) highlighted the following characteristics of ineffective listening. The identification of these characteristics is also accompanied by a discussion of the negative impact on the outcomes of the communication process:

Pretending to listen: Individuals who exhibit this characteristic project the appearance of listening attentively even though their mind may be engaged in daydreaming or preparing their responses to the speaker's earlier remarks. Adler and Towne (1998) cited a study of 195 incidents in banking and medical settings, which showed that the type of feedback provided by the listeners will illuminate their pretense. The speakers who realize that their comments have been largely ignored will naturally be angry and frustrat

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nal relationships. For instance, the failure of the two communicators to address the issue may constitute a huge barrier that prevents further genuine interaction to occur between them. Apart from undermining the effectiveness of the communication, interpersonal conflicts may also erupt over this unexplored significant issue. Attacking and criticizing speaker: Ineffective listeners may adopt a belligerent stance towards their speaker, perhaps in challenging negotiations. In this scenario, they are focused solely on collecting evidence to oppose or criticize the speaker. Furthermore, they are liable to misinterpret and distort the speaker's comments in order to cling onto their own perspectives. This ineffective listening approach provides a conducive environment for interpersonal conflicts. By ignoring any conciliatory or even positive components of the speaker's comments, these listeners will only respond by underscoring the negative components, thus heightening the disagreement and tensions, which may already exist between the two parties. Judging and interpreting the speaker's remarks in a biased fashion: Ineffective listeners are also unlikely to attend closely to the remarks of speakers whom they had prejudged as an
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1244
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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