Communication makes up almost 80% of the overall work time in project management. It is the first and most fundamental component of each project - from understanding the client’s needs and setting up the weekly goals to ensuring tasks are delivered on time and every team member understands what they should be doing next. Nonetheless, quality communication goes beyond listening to others and waiting for your turn to speak. The secret to effective conversations lies in the skill of active listening. In this article, our team members share their insights about active listening in project management.
What is active listening?
Active listening is a communication practice that requires deep concentration on what the speaker is saying, both verbally and non-verbally, to understand their point of view and feelings, appropriately respond and retain information for future reference.
Simply put, active listening is listening to understand and respond in a way that shows your understanding and empathy. It requires full immersion into the conversation, presence in the moment, and genuine interest in your speaker.
Our project manager Olha shares this point of view:
“For me, active listening is one of the most crucial skills among others. The first thing that comes to my mind when I hear “active listening” is the idea of being active and taking action while you are listening to someone. This can include simple actions such as asking follow-up questions, paraphrasing the statement, or making meeting notes to ensure that important ideas are captured for further review and analysis.”
Our CEO Ari also highlights the paramount importance of active listening for a project manager, saying:
“In the context of project management, specifically for software development, it’s part of a bigger concept called “customer experience”. It is the process of trying to understand what the customer is actually looking for and what their underlying needs are. In some way, it goes just against the principle of simply listening, because we listen to what they [customers] are saying and try to guess what they really mean. At the same time, we attempt to introduce the information customers don’t have, as they may lack technical knowledge for example, and may not know what is feasible and what isn’t.”
Barriers to active listening
From what our team members shared, I can differentiate the following barriers a project manager can face:
- Physical barriers - poor speakers, poor internet connection (if it’s an online meeting), or background noise.
Our project manager Olha shares her experience and agrees that selecting the wrong location for a meeting can have a negative impact on communication in general. She says:
“Conducting meetings with clients from public places like cafes can be stressful and even annoying. You might miss some important information or idea that the client wants to convey because of the background noise, random people, and other distractions. I also think that for a company representative, whether you are a project manager or a sales manager, you might seem unprofessional in the client’s eyes conducting your meetings from public places.”
- Linguistic barriers - lack of knowledge of the language or professional jargon, differences in accents, too slow or too fast language speed.
Here’s what Uliana, our COO, thinks of linguistic barriers:
“English is a lingua franca for many people, and I often talk to those who, like me, learned it as a second or third foreign language. We have accents and a lack of vocabulary, especially when it comes to domain-specific jargon, grammar issues, etc. These influence the info perception, but it’s not critical. Usually, it takes 5 extra minutes to set things straight by rephrasing what’s been said.”
- Personal barriers - stress and work overload.
Olha agrees that stress coupled with having too much work on your plate can also be an enemy of active listening. She comments:
“When you’re so busy that you can barely listen to what the speaker is saying, you will most probably end up in an unpleasant situation when you’ll have to follow up with this person and ask the same questions once again.”
- Focus barriers - focusing on your own agenda and thinking about what you have to say next, concentrating on other things, and losing track of the conversation.
Having experience in dealing with focus barriers, Uliana shares her thoughts:
“When I first started talking to potential clients, I often experienced focus barriers because I was worried a lot. Instead of focusing on what a person is saying, I was thinking about my next steps, what I need to find out, how I need to behave, and what I need to say to look professional. I always took notes throughout the meetings, so I can’t say I lost much info, but what I did lose was non-verbal signals which I could not notice because of being focused on the signals my body was giving.”
Benefits of active listening
A deeper understanding of the project
Ari believes that “in developing an application my goal has to be the same as the client’s goal.” Without listening attentively to your clients and asking open-ended questions, it will be difficult to identify what your project should look like, its requirements, goals and objectives. Active listening removes the guesswork from project management and enables you to create a more precise and effective project plan that fully addresses your client’s needs.
Enhanced decision-making
The key to making the right decision lies in gathering relevant information and seeing the issue from different perspectives. Again, this is nearly impossible to achieve without mindfully listening to other people. By taking into account the team’s feedback and clients’ thoughts, a project manager gains a complete picture of the project and its progress. With all these insights, it’s easier to evaluate the pros and cons of each decision.
For example, in situations when the team and the client want to choose completely opposite ways of solving an issue, and the client’s choice may not be effective in the long run, Olha thinks that
“Active listening will provide some additional information on whether it is possible or not to convince the client to listen to the team’s opinion and follow it.”
Increased collaboration
Active listening goes beyond just hearing words and provides a deeper insight into a person’s intentions and character. Uliana, our COO, is a firm believer that active listening helps her “understand what your colleague’s trouble is and show support and empathy”. As a result, a project manager gains the chance to better understand team members, realizes their strengths and weaknesses, and stays informed about their problems and concerns.
Ari also believes that showing empathy and applying active listening helps to create an atmosphere of trust, respect and understanding which leads to more efficient collaboration and better productivity. He says that
“When you’re in a professional setting, it’s important to support all of the people you’re working with to achieve the best results.”
Reduced conflicts and misunderstandings
Active listening allows project managers to identify and clarify any misunderstandings and address disagreements before they turn into serious conflicts. By listening to everyone involved in a problem, it is easier to find mutually acceptable solutions.
Olha, our project manager, comments:
“Active listening always helps me during conflict management and conflict solving. The more context I have about the situation that has happened, the better my decision is. Without comprehensive information, your decision might be wrong. When it comes to people, it is really important to take into account the needs of all parties not to offend anyone.”
How to apply active listening in project management?
Avoid interrupting
Sometimes, during the flow of an engaging conversation, it is hard to resist the temptation to suddenly interrupt the speaker and share the new idea that sprang to your mind two seconds ago. Yet, interrupting the other person rarely shows your interest in the conversation. In addition, Uliana mentions:
“You cannot be 100% sure that you know what a person wants to tell you. Plus, it makes people feel confused and frustrated, so they can’t finish their thought, which is counterproductive.”
Letting the speakers finish their speech at a comfortable pace will allow you to see the full picture.
Paraphrase and summarize
Summarizing and reflecting what the person has told you is one of the most trivial yet effective active listening techniques. On the one hand, it helps the listener to ensure that they captured the message correctly, keeping the chance of miscommunication low. On the other hand, it gives the speaker the feeling that they are valued, heard and understood. Our project manager Olha comments:
“In addition to simply paraphrasing the speaker, I have the habit of creating meeting notes or meeting minutes- the summary (sometimes with the action items and assignee) of the conversation. It is a simple way of validation of the understanding and another way of ensuring that all participants are on the same page.”
Ask specific, open-ended questions
Asking relevant, clarifying questions helps to keep the conversation flowing naturally. It shows the other person that you were actively listening to them instead of just pretending to pay attention. In addition, it allows you to clarify the topic, ensures that you understand the speaker’s point of view properly and that no important details are overlooked. As our COO Uliana says:
“Asking specific, open-ended questions is essential to comprehend the client’s vision to offer valuable advice and ensure the technical team selects practical solutions.”
Ari, shares Uliana’s point of view and believes that asking questions can help you to understand what the client really wants even if they don’t tell you directly. He says that asking questions helps you narrow down options and see the real underlying customer needs.
Leave the judgment at bay
There are hardly two people in the world that have identical views on all topics. A world where all people agree with each other would be definitely boring. Yet, if you want to be an effective communicator, you cannot allow your emotions to take part in the conversation. Uliana shares her perspective:
“I learned to listen to people without making judgments or jumping to conclusions. When you don’t understand someone because of the language, rephrasing often will do the trick. In the meantime, when you don’t understand someone because you think they are wrong, there’s no easy way of fixing this.”
A lot of us take part in the internal monologue held by our brains which gives positive and negative judgments to what’s been said. But these judgments compromise our ability to listen with an open mind and understand the other person’s ideas. Instead of criticizing people in your mind, it is better to focus on listening. It will allow you to provide neutral, non-judgemental responses and create a comfort zone for the speaker where they can feel safe to share their thoughts.
Pay attention to non-verbal cues
Many researchers believe that almost 65% of communication is conveyed through non-verbal means. Taking into consideration the mimics, gestures, and tone of voice, you can help easily detect someone’s boredom, enthusiasm or irritation. This is particularly useful when non-verbal communication contradicts the words someone says and provides valuable insights into what another person is thinking or feeling. Ari shares his experience:
“Paying attention to the tone of voice and facial expressions helped me a lot of times. There are some people who are always talking and some people that don’t want to jump in, but a bit of observation will help you to notice whether a person has a question or what they think about the topic.”
Final thoughts
Acquiring the habit of active listening can open many doors in different areas of your life, from building better personal relationships to increasing workspace productivity. By using active listening in your professional setting, you will be able to create an atmosphere of presence, attention, understanding, and respect among everyone involved in the project. And who wouldn’t like to be a part of it?