I consider myself a good listener but after I did the self-assessment, I realized I was not as good as a listener as I perceived myself to be. Although I scored decently and am considered a good listener, I thought my score was going to be much higher than it was. The areas I lack in when it comes to listening are tuning people out when I get tired of the conversation, and not being able to listen when there are many distractions around me. To improve these skills, I would make sure I was in an area that had no other distractions so that I am able to give my full attention to whomever I am having a conversation with. I would also try my best not to tune someone out when they are talking to me, by asking questions that help keep me engaged in the conversation.
I would assess someone’s listening skills by watching their nonverbal cues and asking them questions to help check their understanding of the topic that is being discussed. I would assess their critiquing skills by how open they are to receiving and giving criticism as well as how they take criticism. Their criticism skills intertwine with their coaching skills, if their coaching skills are good and the person can give proper feedback that motivates then their understanding of being a leader and managing people are high. If they can do well in these three categories, then they should be able to manage conflict well if they pay attention to these factors as well as nonverbal cues.
I assess my own listening, feedback, critiquing, coaching, and conflict management skills each time a situation arises where I need to use these skills. When listening to someone I assess my skills by making sure I understand what the other person is saying, and the tone in their voice. I also assess my body language and my facial expressions. I assess my feedback skills by giving feedback on what the person is asking or making sure it is in the same realm of conversation. I assess my critiquing skills by understanding how I take criticism which I sometimes become defensive, and I enjoy coaching more so than criticism. I assess my conflict management skills, how well I manage a situation that involves more than one person in conflict, and how I manage my own conflict.