TPI Communication – Listening Intelligence – Tool and Insights

[Katrin]

TPI Communication – Listening Intelligence – Tool and Insights

One of TCI’s 14 Team Performance Indicators is Communication. This article shares a tool that I’ve been using with teams that has the potential to raise not only the Communication TPI but most others, especially Trust, Respect and Camaraderie. It’s ECHO LISTENING INTELLIGENCE.

I have long been fascinated by listening and the role it plays in communication. I mean, Listening is the other half of communication. Yet most communication training is about presenting and writing. According to a study by SIS Research International, people spend between 70-80% of their workday engaged in some form of communication, and about 55% of their time is devoted to listening.

Listening is somewhat mysterious and many thought leaders and organizations have tried to make sense of it.

CTI Coaches Training Institute trains the following 3 levels of listening:
Level 1: self-focused. when you are in a conversation with someone and are mostly focused on yourself, your goals, what you want to get out of this meeting, your notes etc.
Level 2: other focused. Your attention is on the person you are meeting with. You are so absorbed in them that you forget about why you are here.
Level 3: energy field. You are aware of yourself, the person you are with, as well as the surroundings and the energy field you are in, and are creating.

Active Listening is a way to focus on listening for understanding. And a recommended practice is “let me summarize what I just heard you say”.

Otto Scharmer MIT Professor Sloan School Of Management, in his Theory of U describes 4 kinds of listening:

Listening 1 – Downloading. “yeah, I know that already”. Listening to reconfirm habitual judgements.
Listening 2 – Factual. Just listen for facts and data to see if a fact is new or wrong. Research driven.
Listening 3 – Empathetic. “Oh, yes, I know exactly how you feel”. An open-hearted, empathetic way of connecting with someone “from within”. Seeing the situation through the eyes of another.
Listening 4 – Generative. An altered state of Communion where we feel transformed. It’s when we slow down, are totally present, connected to each other and something greater. It’s listening from the emerging field of future possibilities.
All of the above are good and at the same time they feel somewhat intangible. How do you actually use these to improve listening skills? How do you do it with teams? How do you make it tangible?

Well, here it is… it’s pretty darn cool!

ECHO Listening Intelligence
My favorite body of knowledge and working with teams to develop listening intelligence is by ECHO Listening (echolistening.com).

They show that listening is a brain-based function and that because our brains are different, people hear things in different ways. Just as we express ourselves in unique ways, we listen in unique ways. This is why 10 of us can go to the same meeting and walk out having heard different things. Listening is a habit and each of us listens to and for different things.

I first became involved with this approach by collaborating with the brilliant inventor, Marian Thier, 10 years ago, when this idea was really out of the box, and brand-new. I’m now a certified practicioner in this method and use it with my clients, both individuals and teams.

Teams have huge A-HAs, when they realize that everyone in the team listens differently. Why they trip each other up, their friction points And it’s very empowering to identify what team members need to be fully connected, in sync and merge as a team to develop team flow.

ECHO identifies 4 main habits which show that people filter what they hear through 4 main preferences and filters:

CONNECTIVE Listeners focus on how the information impacts others. They are interested in people and teams.
REFLECTIVE Listeners focus on how information impacts them and their situation or problem they are working on.
ANALYTICAL Listeners listen for data and facts and are interested in results and the facts behind feelings.
CONCEPTUAL Listeners listen for big ideas, big picture and concepts. They focus on possibilities.

ECHO’s assessment, the ECHO Profile, takes only 10 minutes, and gives most people a huge A-HA about themselves and team communications. It is supported by science and validated.

For example, on one team two executives had really challenging dynamics between them. The head of product had a PhD from Harvard and was all about data (a single dominant Analytical listener) and the head of sales was all about customers and people, and would off into discussions about the big picture and ideas (a dual dominant listener, Connective and Conceptual). Their dynamics negatively affected the whole team. Definitely not an experience of team flow.

Once the team paused, and looked at each other’s Listening profiles they had huge A-HA’s about their Listening preferences and habits. Looking at the Listening Profile of the Team also revealed why the Reflective Listener was not that well understood and felt a bit like an outcast. By bringing all this to light, real behavior change began. In the end, better listening lead to better communications to better decision making, more trust, and respect.

By helping each other understand how we listen and see the team’s listening profile leads to great understanding on what’s blocking Team Flow and discussions on how we can communicate even better as a team. Yay for the possibility of generating team flow through better listening!

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