WHY IS LISTENING IMPORTANT IN PR?

This blog post aims to outline the importance of listening to stakeholders as public relations practitioners adopting a case study approach to underpin the arguments drawn.

WHAT IS LISTENING?

Listening involves actively recognising and understanding others viewpoint, which is viewed as a form of ethical communications due to the presence of two-way communication.

WHY IS LISTENING IMPORTANT FOR PUBLIC RELATIONS PRACTITIONERS?

The rapid development of information communication technologies has revolutionized the way stakeholders interact with organisations, resulting in an imbalance of power between stakeholders and public relations practitioners. The imbalance of power can influence an organisations reputation, relationship and crisis communications strategy. Arguably, due to the change in the media landscape influencing stakeholders communication habits, this can stress the importance of listening as a practitioner.

Practising listening reveals perceptions stakeholders hold on an organisation, to explore this further Dead by Daylight (a survival game) will be used to underpin the argument. It can be said that Dead by Daylight successfully listens to their stakeholders, in particular, their customers. This is demonstrated through their testing phase of a new update, as customers can enter the 'public test build mode' to locate any bugs before releasing the final version to the public domain. Here we can see the presence of a mutually beneficial relationship due to the presence of listening, as the organisation can provide customers with a high quality of service utilising the 'public test build mode'.

The skill of listening enables a strong relationship between management and stakeholders, as it shows dignity and respect for each party. Zappos is a strong example to demonstrate how the organisation adopts a listening approach to show dignity and respect to customers, as they reply to every email that they receive. By practising listening and implementing two-way communication allows fostering a strong relationship with customers.

Listening is a tool which can avoid a crisis, we can investigate this statement further by analysing Boeing's 737 MAX 2019 crisis. Boeing introduced a new Manoeuvring Characteristic Augmentation System, which was installed in all 737 MAX aircraft. For pilots to become familiar with the new system they were provided with 'Level B' training, however, stakeholders were not convinced the level of training was sufficient. This variable resulted in the crisis on the 10th March 2019, which caused 157 deaths of passengers aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight. Possibly, if Boeing had listened to stakeholders this may have prevented the crisis.

HOW TO BECOME A BETTER LISTENER?

1. Pay attention
Focus on the individual by acknowledging the messages shared and align verbal and non-verbal cues, as it shows that you respect their time and value their opinions.

• Make eye contact.
• Smile when appropriate.
• Face the individual in an upright body posture.  
• Put aside your thoughts.
• Avoid being distracted by the external environment.

2. Be openminded
Avoid placing judgements onto the individual, as this will prevent effective listening.

• Allow the individual to make their points.
• Reiterate the points that they are making to demonstrate an understanding of their opinion.

3. Respond appropriately 

Once you have gained all of the information, spend time to process the data systematically to formulate an appropriate response.

• Be respectful of the individual's opinions, by encoding your message with sincerity and relay key points that they made back to them.
• Assert your opinion by formulating your response in a manner which will allow the receiver to decode your message with ease. 

I appreciate you taking the time to read my blog post, I hope you had found the information I had presented insightful. In the comments section below, let us open a discussion on the topic of the role of listening for practitioners, as I would love to know your opinion.

Finally, please keep an eye on my blog, as there will be regular content regarding public relations, and I would love to gain insights on your opinions on topics that I have discussed.