Effective Listening as a Tool

Owners and operators who want to be effective in communicating with their employees need to develop the ability to listen. Listening to another person’s account of feelings and problems requires concentration to grasp the attitudes and thoughts behind what is being expressed. Listening means showing genuine understanding and concern. If the listener indicates doubt, surprise, disagreement, or criticism, this at once places them in the undesirable role of judge or critic and impedes the communication process.

Restaurant owners/operators face numerous responsibilities and distractions. When an employee is speaking, they may feel that circumstances prevent them from concentrating on what the employee has to say. Or, the owner/operator may not be paying sufficient attention to interpret the employee’s feelings accurately or objectively. Thus, they may arrive at a false conclusion.

To avoid this, the owner/operator must focus and connect with what the employee is saying and must avoid any distraction. If the employee gets the impression that what they have to say is not important enough to require full attention, resentment and distrust may occur. And in the long run, employee moral will suffer which will directly impact your customers.

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