Comments on: Top Five Ways To Be A Better Listener http://tynerblain.com/blog/2006/01/27/top-five-ways-to-be-a-better-listener/ Software product success. Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:39:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Scott Sehlhorst http://tynerblain.com/blog/2006/01/27/top-five-ways-to-be-a-better-listener/comment-page-1/#comment-917 Scott Sehlhorst Tue, 18 Apr 2006 13:21:22 +0000 http://tynerblain.com/blog/2006/01/27/top-five-ways-to-be-a-better-listener/#comment-917 Hey Vijay, thanks for reading and thanks for the comments - welcome to Tyner Blain! Thanks also very much for the links. Imagine if, in the middle of the conversation, your friend of a friend suddenly picked up his phone and called someone else, without asking to be excused. He suddenly decided that it was more important to talk to the other person - how is it different? There have been rare times when I knew that I might get a call that I would have to take before a meeting. In those cases, I have apologized to the meeting participants at the beginning of the meeting about the possible call that I would have to take if it came in. Hey Vijay, thanks for reading and thanks for the comments – welcome to Tyner Blain! Thanks also very much for the links.

Imagine if, in the middle of the conversation, your friend of a friend suddenly picked up his phone and called someone else, without asking to be excused. He suddenly decided that it was more important to talk to the other person – how is it different?

There have been rare times when I knew that I might get a call that I would have to take before a meeting. In those cases, I have apologized to the meeting participants at the beginning of the meeting about the possible call that I would have to take if it came in.

]]> By: vj http://tynerblain.com/blog/2006/01/27/top-five-ways-to-be-a-better-listener/comment-page-1/#comment-904 vj Tue, 18 Apr 2006 06:34:04 +0000 http://tynerblain.com/blog/2006/01/27/top-five-ways-to-be-a-better-listener/#comment-904 Well not only for a BA but in general life too one needs to be a good listener, am sure these points are really useful for every one and i would actually pass on this link to all my friends. Going by experience, i had a friend's friend visit us, he was deeply involved in a conversation with us and all of a sudden his phone rang and leave apart the fact that he did answer the call,he didnt even bother to excuse himself from the conversation or anything, simply answered the phone and kept talking loudly for atleast another 5 minutes.. Trust me there cant be anything more annoying then this.. After that i didnt even wish to start a conversation with that dude.. i wish he would read this blog some day and gain atleast some listening skills or of the least some social etiquettes... Well not only for a BA but in general life too one needs to be a good listener, am sure these points are really useful for every one and i would actually pass on this link to all my friends.

Going by experience, i had a friend’s friend visit us, he was deeply involved in a conversation with us and all of a sudden his phone rang and leave apart the fact that he did answer the call,he didnt even bother to excuse himself from the conversation or anything, simply answered the phone and kept talking loudly for atleast another 5 minutes.. Trust me there cant be anything more annoying then this..

After that i didnt even wish to start a conversation with that dude.. i wish he would read this blog some day and gain atleast some listening skills or of the least some social etiquettes…

]]> By: Scott Sehlhorst http://tynerblain.com/blog/2006/01/27/top-five-ways-to-be-a-better-listener/comment-page-1/#comment-289 Scott Sehlhorst Tue, 14 Feb 2006 12:32:57 +0000 http://tynerblain.com/blog/2006/01/27/top-five-ways-to-be-a-better-listener/#comment-289 When talking to users about interfaces, I've heard "sexy" and "sizzle." "High performance" is another good one. Hopefully our recent post on <a href="http://tynerblain.com/blog/2006/02/12/symbolism-and-communication/" rel="nofollow">symbolic association</a> will raise some awareness about this. When talking to users about interfaces, I’ve heard “sexy” and “sizzle.” “High performance” is another good one. Hopefully our recent post on symbolic association will raise some awareness about this.

]]> By: Marcus Ting-A0Kee http://tynerblain.com/blog/2006/01/27/top-five-ways-to-be-a-better-listener/comment-page-1/#comment-282 Marcus Ting-A0Kee Mon, 13 Feb 2006 05:54:21 +0000 http://tynerblain.com/blog/2006/01/27/top-five-ways-to-be-a-better-listener/#comment-282 Maybe we should create a list of words that when spoken make one call for a time-out because they mean different things to everyone. My contributions to the list would be: user friendly, flexible, easy-to-use, never and intuitive. You already have, "reliable," and, "fast." Maybe we should create a list of words that when spoken make one call for a time-out because they mean different things to everyone.

My contributions to the list would be: user friendly, flexible, easy-to-use, never and intuitive. You already have, “reliable,” and, “fast.”

]]> By: Outside reading: Enterprise versus consumer software -Tyner Blain http://tynerblain.com/blog/2006/01/27/top-five-ways-to-be-a-better-listener/comment-page-1/#comment-240 Outside reading: Enterprise versus consumer software -Tyner Blain Wed, 08 Feb 2006 00:21:02 +0000 http://tynerblain.com/blog/2006/01/27/top-five-ways-to-be-a-better-listener/#comment-240 [...] This is always a challenge when eliciting requirements too - in an interview with a user, “reliable” and “fast” can be completely ambiguous terms, because they mean different things to different people.   This is why active listening is such a critical skill - it is the best (only?) way to identify when the same words mean different things to different people. [...] [...] This is always a challenge when eliciting requirements too – in an interview with a user, “reliable” and “fast” can be completely ambiguous terms, because they mean different things to different people.   This is why active listening is such a critical skill – it is the best (only?) way to identify when the same words mean different things to different people. [...]

]]> By: Scott Sehlhorst http://tynerblain.com/blog/2006/01/27/top-five-ways-to-be-a-better-listener/comment-page-1/#comment-167 Scott Sehlhorst Sun, 29 Jan 2006 16:45:36 +0000 http://tynerblain.com/blog/2006/01/27/top-five-ways-to-be-a-better-listener/#comment-167 Hey Marcus, Thanks for the explanation of active listening - guess I should have included that. <strong>Really great point about becoming judgemental and closed minded</strong>. If I had a nickel for every time a new client told me about their past experiences with arrogant consultants, well, that would be a lot of nickels. Hey Marcus,

Thanks for the explanation of active listening – guess I should have included that.

Really great point about becoming judgemental and closed minded. If I had a nickel for every time a new client told me about their past experiences with arrogant consultants, well, that would be a lot of nickels.

]]> By: Marcus Ting-A-Kee http://tynerblain.com/blog/2006/01/27/top-five-ways-to-be-a-better-listener/comment-page-1/#comment-166 Marcus Ting-A-Kee Sun, 29 Jan 2006 06:55:34 +0000 http://tynerblain.com/blog/2006/01/27/top-five-ways-to-be-a-better-listener/#comment-166 Active-listening, characterized by paraphrasing what someone just said and playing it back to them, allows you to confirm that the meaning has indeed been captured. I think everyone has been in a situation where two parties believed everything was understood only to find out it was not. Even if you think you completely understand what is being said, rephrase it and play it back - you may be surprised at the amount of miscommunications that actually happen. One other tip you may want to consider is to stay open-minded and non-judgemental. Over your career you build up experience which allows you to perform more efficiently. Make sure that you do not allow your past experiences and knowledge to let you think you know what the client wants already. If you do so, you probably are not listening as effectively as you could be. Active-listening, characterized by paraphrasing what someone just said and playing it back to them, allows you to confirm that the meaning has indeed been captured. I think everyone has been in a situation where two parties believed everything was understood only to find out it was not. Even if you think you completely understand what is being said, rephrase it and play it back – you may be surprised at the amount of miscommunications that actually happen.

One other tip you may want to consider is to stay open-minded and non-judgemental. Over your career you build up experience which allows you to perform more efficiently. Make sure that you do not allow your past experiences and knowledge to let you think you know what the client wants already. If you do so, you probably are not listening as effectively as you could be.

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