listening and interpersonal goals

I spent a good part of today listening--and giving advice. As acting chair, I scheduled drop in advising hours 9a-1p today, sending out a message via mySJSU to all COMM majors and minors. I lost track of how many students I talked with (at least 20), but I didn't finish until 2:40p. Although the setting was educational, the conversations weren't in the classroom. The goals were primarily instrumental--students making sure they were completing requirements and me making sure students understood what they needed to do. But there were relational goals involved as well, as some students I had talked with before and others I'll likely talk with in the future.

Several people in the class have blogged about listening. Carmen noted the use and importance of backchannels to let others know we're listening. Caligirl522 observed that in the organizational context individuals often focus more on speaking and listening. Yet poor listening skills can lead to all sorts of problems in the workplace. Aleks related a situation in which she was distracted by the speaker's jargon. What can listeners do in that type of situation? Nicciri talked about the importance of listening in romantic relationships. One of the most difficult communication tasks is taking another's perspective while listening--because we're so focused on what we think and what we want to say.

Keep those blog entries coming!

--Professor Cyborg