How important is effective listening?

Question

It is fantastically important. Many miscommunications occur because of ineffective listening. These miscommunications can cause hurt feelings, frustration, fights and even wars.

For effective listening, you first have to attend (pay attention) to the speaker. Then you need to make sure that you understand what has been said, before you react to it. One way to do this is to rephrase what you think the person is saying.

Here are some articles that might be helpful.

http://www.members.cox.net/dagershaw/lol/BeHere.htm (Paying attention)

http://www.members.cox.net/dagershaw/lol/Listener.htm (Trying to understand what is being said. Although this article relates to personal interaction, the principles can be used for things like following instructions for doing a task.)

I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.