One of the most unique topics that has been raised in my American Government & Politics classes has been:  The Sad Decline of Listening Skills… EVERYWHERE. The topic was brought up during a discussion regarding the quality of virtual/remote class instruction delivery versus the historic in-person method. It was very clear from the discussion and comments made by almost every student in the room… that REAL… LIVE… interaction drives greater listening than any messaging that occurs via a computer screen!

Think about this excellent discussion and realize that sometimes quality maturity can show up in many forms… right? But then it was my time to add additional value to the critical topic they had identified.

So I began with a few questions. Do we listen better and more completely because it is a good professional skill… or just to prepare a stronger rebuttal? Does compromise between two people or two groups improve when good/great listening occurs? Or has it disappeared because we operate today in a very divided state… and therefore we only listen to better position ourselves as we pick the non-compromising side we want to win?

Then I discussed the value of in-person versus remote/virtual meetings. I asked them to think about how important it is for professionals to prepare for a business meeting. I also pushed them to think about participation levels at meetings based on high quality listening. Would someone prepare for and participate better in a remote/virtual session… or a live in-person meeting? Or would they pretend like they are listening and involved… but looking down at their cell phone and prioritizing “distraction”?

The bottomline “take-way” from this discussion for me was that young students very much recognize the difference in listening and learning levels that come from in-person versus virtual/remote situations. Some tell me that I am old-fashioned and not able to recognize the value of techno-listening and virtual communication trends! However, my final recommendation is that we all need to give REAL professional development attention to The Sad Decline of Listening Skills… and personally promise to improve.