Development Cooperation Handbook/Communication Skills/Listening and Feedback

Listening is one of the most important tools in the communication toolbox for creating meaningful, productive, and profitable relationships. Coupled with feedback, it also keeps the channels of communication open in both directions. Together they create an atmosphere, a organizational culture, in which people are more willing to offer suggestions, insights, and observations that may contribute to the common goals. Feedback is an essential component of effective communication. Using feedback appropriately can lead to less message distortion and greater accuracy in the information that you send and receive. It can also help to establish a more positive communication climate and better relationships with your employees. Feedback consists of the messages we send to a person (or a group) which gives that person information about how we react to their messages and how that person affects others. Feedback helps others consider and alter their behaviour and thus better achieve their goals. Additionally, feedback is central to building understanding and establishing trust, two of the cornerstones of effectively communicating with employees.

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 * Effective and Poor Listening
 * Becoming a Better Listener
 * Guidelines for Providing Feedback