Despite what many of us would like to think, communicating all day every day doesn’t make us experts. Every one of us will have some quirk that holds us back in our own unique way. It’s not necessarily bad, just… different. We have habits that, if left unchecked, can prevent us from having meaningful, productive interactions with others. And when these compound across teams, departments, or entire organisations, the consequences can be costly.
What’s important to remember is that communication isn’t a one-way street. Equally as important as what you’re saying is how you hold space and show up for the people in front of you. And a lot of this won’t come down to how you speak, but rather how you listen to others.
With this in mind, let’s look at one communication faux pas that we often see hold businesses back: passive listening.
What is passive listening?
Picture this. You try to schedule a meeting with a colleague to discuss an upcoming project. At the end of your email, you leave three dates and times that would suit you for a call. They respond, closing their response with “A catch-up sounds great. When this week would suit?” Facepalm.
We’ve all likely experienced situations like this. Times when someone hears the gist of what we’re saying, but hasn’t taken the time to actually process it. And this can happen across both written and verbal communication. It highlights a key distinction between listening to someone and hearing what they’re saying.
It seems innocent enough in isolation. Someone’s busy, with 300 other tasks on their mind. They skimmed your email in a hurry and missed the final line. It’s not a big deal. But being on the receiving end of this - even once - can feel frustrating, inefficient, and minimising. When it happens constantly to everyone on your team? It’s going to cause friction.
What’s the impact?
No one goes into a conversation looking to be rude on purpose (or so we hope). For the most part, passive listening is a symptom of being busy, preoccupied, unaware, or even the result of a neurodivergent brain in overdrive. It can be hard to notice in ourselves, but this doesn’t change the potentially damaging effects. No matter the cause, the impact on the receiver is the same.
If you’re a time-poor boss or leader, and your staff are on the receiving end, they’re going to get resentful. They’re not going to feel seen, heard, or valued. And there’s every chance their productivity and engagement will suffer as a result. If your sales or customer service staff aren’t listening, you’re going to have a pipeline of leads not converting and customers who don’t feel prioritised. They’re going to grow tired of having to repeat themselves and moving around in circles, and it’ll lead to unnecessary friction or hesitations.
When people feel ignored, they switch off. And this is going to leave your company so far from its brilliant potential. The solution? Make a switch from passive to active listening.
Making a change
In your communication, slow down enough to process what you’re hearing or reading. And if you can’t give an email, phone call, or meeting the attention it deserves, put it aside until you can. A trick for verbal conversations is to summarise what someone has said before you respond. “Before I give my thoughts, can I clarify that you meant X and Y?” Confirm your understanding to ensure you’re fully addressing what they have to say.
If you’re not sure whether you’re guilty of passive listening, try giving yourself an audit. Think back on previous conversations that haven’t gone to plan and consider whether there were ways you could have shown up better for the other person. And when you lead by example, your whole team can adopt these simple techniques, too.
Active listening is a skill you have to practise, just like any other. But the benefits of doing so will be massive. By keeping yourself in check, as well as teaching your teams to be better communicators, you’ll notice a vast number of improvements across all aspects of your operations.
If you’re struggling with communication challenges yourself, or want to ensure a more seamless, productive team dynamic, The Four Pillars offers personalised coaching to ensure you and your staff are always putting your best foot forward.
