PBL Participant Toolbook

Active Listening Skills

Context
Jerry had been asked to prepare a report for the demand
forecasting process. He was to analyze the current process and
provide recommendations for improvement. Unfortunately, Jerry
had misunderstood the assignment and focused instead on the
financial analysis of the previous year’s forecasting process. When
the team met to review Jerry’s proposal, they were disappointed he
hadn’t provided the correct information.

“How could I have misinterpreted this assignment?” Jerry thought

to himself. He was certain that his boss had asked for financial
analysis of the process. This wasn’t the first time Jerry had
misinterpreted instructions or assignments, but he hoped it
wouldn’t happen again. What can he do?
31

Active Listening Skills

Description
Active listening is a set of skills that demonstrates to a speaker that
you listened to and understood what was said. You use active
listening when:

• You want a clear understanding of what a person is saying

• You want to confirm that you heard what was said

• You want to listen for understanding, such as when defining

customer requirements, listening to instructions, or resolving
conflict

 2002 CLG
 PBL Participant Toolbook

ACTIVE
LISTENING DEFINITION
Clarify Ask questions. Use clarification when you need to ask the
speaker for more details or would like to get the speaker
more involved in the discussion. Ask who, what, where,
when, why, and how.
Open-Ended Questions
Ask open-ended questions to prompt longer answers:
“What can we do to improve our employee retention level?”
Closed-Ended Questions
Ask closed-ended questions to prompt short answers such
as “yes” or “no,” dates, or numbers:
“Did you know there is a problem with our employee
retention level?”
Paraphrase Restate what you think the person said, especially when you
are uncertain what the person said or when the person is
angry. Simply play back what was said, in your own words,
but without adding your own interpretation.
Reflect Feelings State how you think the speaker felt, and be prepared to
back your subjective opinion with objective observations.
Follow your statement with a closed-ended question to
32 confirm your perceptions of the person’s feeling. Reflect
Active

feelings when the person is clearly emotional about the

Active

event and you want to acknowledge his or her feelings, or

Listening

when the person’s body language does not match what he

Listening Skills

or she said.

Potential Problems or Limitations

If overused, paraphrasing and reflecting feelings might annoy the
speaker. Don’t simply repeat everything the speaker says.
Summarize what you believe to be the key points. If you feel you’re
paraphrasing too often, tell the speaker you’re doing so to ensure
that you understand what he or she is saying.

 2002 CLG