Business Communication| Listening

LISTENING:

Listening can be defined as the accurate perception of what is being communicated. Accuracy, it may be stated, is never 100%. Because of the differing perceptions of individuals, there are bound to be differences in understand the intent of the message. The process of listening is two-fold:

1       Decoding .

2       Giving an internal response to perceived message.

DECODING.

The process of decoding takes place as soon as the message reaches the receiver. At the time of communication his mind is literally open for the reception of the reception of the entire message. How much of the information he decided to use or consider as relevant is contingent upon his perception of the message. Words and statements are best understood when there is an understanding of the context. If the sender has been careful, the usage of terms would be easily comprehensible to the receiver. However, if he has missed out certain links, in the hope that the receiver would  be familiar with them, the decoding process would suffer a major setback. The decoder would view the utterances from his own perspective and give a  response. Without either party realizing it, the seeds for the first stage of miscommunication have already been sown.

Moving on the presumption that the decoding has been accurate or exactly as was desired by the sender, communication progresses to the second stage, that is giving an internal response to perceived message. This would entail the stage where the receiver would probably try to weigh the utterance with respect to his own needs and expectations. If there is harmony between the two, his response is going to be well formulated and conductive to the growth of communication. Listening there is a three-tier process:

Leveling

Sharpening

Assimilation

Information or message are  poured in the mind of the receiver and collect like a garbage heap. The mind automatically sifts through the material and picks up areas or ideas on which it would prefers to focus. These would pertain to the level of interest and expectations of the receiver. Finally, it assimilates only those issues that it thinks are of direct relevance to it.

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