Question

Many people in the work environment listen to reply versus listen to understand please explain the difference.

Answer 1

The listening for a reply means that in the work environment people listen to get back on the subject. So it’s sharing of information if one has one for the other one. This is observed among the teammates that they talk to one another where one is listening to another’s the question to respond with an answer. This can be formal or informal based on the workplace conditions and needs of the situation.

However, to listen and understand is different in the organizational setup or workplace. In such a case the listening is to instructions which may be new for the listener and demands no response until the case is not understood. Hence the listening to understand may happen from the supervisor to the team members where one passes down instruction to others while the other listen to it to get the point. It may be from the junior to the senior explaining their problems or the senior to junior to explain the task at hand.