Understanding the critical role of active listening in fostering trust and minimising conflicts in personal and professional interactions
Have you ever wondered why relationships fail? Why do people get into heated arguments over trifles and end up dragging each other’s collars? Don’t you think people tend to show a propensity for impatience when they are supposed to listen to speeches, talks, lectures, or instructions in an ideal setting?
You might have observed that people have a tendency to take things at face value and jump to conclusions without giving serious thought—or even a second thought—to someone’s speech or words. You might have also seen patients heatedly arguing with health professionals in a healthcare facility and vice versa.
Now, tell me why this happens. Why do people become so restless that they are not even ready to give a second thought to someone’s words and end up as puerile chaps fighting over ludicrous and petty issues? It’s simple to understand. All this can be attributed to a critical characteristic flaw in individuals: the lack of proper communication.
Nobody is flawless. Nobody is infallible. We all falter on occasion. However, when people demonstrate nonchalance toward basic communication skills, they grow up as uncouth literates. The unapologetic apathy shown by people toward communication etiquette becomes the de facto basis for disputes and disregard for one another, ultimately culminating in mammoth ramifications for the healthy well-being of society.
Communication is integral to human society, and in any setting, it plays a crucial role in establishing rapport among people to avert misunderstandings and miscommunication. Miscommunication leads to failed relationships.
The first basic skill in effective communication is listening to a speaker attentively. Adler, Rosenfield, and Proctor, professors of communication, tell us in their work “Interplay: The Process of Interpersonal Communicating” that listening constitutes half of communication, which undoubtedly is as true as the sun.
In the health sector, communication is integral to day-to-day verbal transactions between employees or between healthcare professionals and patients or attendants. It cannot be weaned away from people, even for a moment; communication keeps the cycle of life running. For effective and meaningful communication to occur, it is mandatory for two communicators to be fully invested and tuned into each other. Effective communicators not only hear words but also receive, interpret, and respond to one another.
This is the fundamental difference between hearing and listening. Mere hearing may be termed passive listening, whereas active listening entails consciously giving full attention to the speaker, noting their physical details, body language, and expressions, and taking cues with full commitment. This ultimately unveils the complete meaning of a speaker’s message.
Therefore, in the health sector, professionals should adopt active listening as a critical skill so that they engage with patients and their attendants with great panache. This noble behavior of healthcare professionals will go a long way in mitigating healthcare woes, where we often see patients or their attendants complaining to higher-ups or the media.
Quite often, we pretend or convince others that we are keen listeners, notwithstanding the fact that we invest little attention. We have mastered the art of multitasking, deluding ourselves and hoodwinking people. Listening, inter alia, is pivotal to communication. It is especially crucial in healthcare; at times, it is critical. Healthcare professionals need to listen to patients and their attendants with commitment, taking verbal clues and reading body language. This enables them to assess each patient thoroughly and handle any eventuality or scenario during the day.
Effective communication becomes indispensable in life-threatening or emergency situations when every sense turns stolid. In such scenarios, an attentive, patient-focused healthcare professional can calm the situation by placating the patient or their attendants. Instead of doodling on a notepad or shuffling through paperwork, a doctor, nurse, or aide can discreetly offer a kind word and alleviate the palpable worries that a patient or their attendants may anxiously harbor.
A healthcare professional’s genuine engagement with a patient or their attendants demonstrates that they truly care. It not only earns the trust of patients and their immediate family members but also emboldens patients to share their deepest concerns and reveal sensitive information, which is vital for better healthcare outcomes. This establishes a rapport between the healthcare professional and the patient, averting miscommunication and misunderstanding.
A focused mind can read through the inconsistencies in a patient’s statements and those of their attendants. By reiterating interpretations of a patient’s symptoms and immediate family members’ concerns, a clear picture of the situation emerges. For instance, while a patient may insist that they feel well today, a healthcare professional well-versed in communication can read between the lines—picking up on a trembling voice, changed facial texture, or swollen eyes—and fill in the blanks with pertinent information not explicitly divulged by the patient.
Healthcare is often affected by the sheer pace and hectic schedules in a health facility. Nevertheless, healthcare professionals practicing effective communication skills can deliver the best care to their patients as they actively remain engaged during any dire situation. Effective communication skills not only help deliver better patient care but may also prove indispensable for healthcare professionals in their higher academic endeavors and pursuits.
Healthcare professionals must rise to the occasion and pursue communication skills as an additional domain to master the art of effective communication. Let’s first learn to listen to a speaker attentively, without prejudice, preconceived notions, or ideological predilections—in other words, removing the horn effect.
Our predicament is that we do not want to learn or unlearn what we’ve already learned. We have given in to vanities. We pretend to be good, but we do not strive to actually become good. We must shun this perplexing ambiguity in our minds and start afresh to become better communicators. This is the first step on the ladder of effective communication, which implicitly resolves conjured and complex issues with ease and swiftness.
The writer works at GMC Anantnag
By Adil Rashid Bhatt
bh*******@***il.com