Listening
Initially, the skill steps concentrate on being able to listen effectively to others - including remembering short instructions, understanding why others are communication and recording important information.
Individuals then focus on how they demonstrate that they are listening effectively, thinking about body language, open questioning and summarising and rephrasing.
Beyond that, the focus is on being aware of how they might be being influenced by a speaker, through tone and language.
The final steps are about critical listening - comparing perspectives, identifying biases, evaluating ideas and being objective.
Speaking
Initially, this skill focuses on being able to speak clearly - first with well known individuals and small groups and then with those who are not known.
The next stage is about being an effective speaker by making points logically, by thinking about what listeners already know and using appropriate language, tone and gesture.
Beyond that, individuals focus on speaking engagingly through use of facts and examples, visual aids, and their expression and gesture.
Beyond that stage, speakers will be adaptive to the response of their listeners and ready for different scenarios. The final steps focus on speaking influentially - using structure, examples, facts and vision to persuade listeners.
Problem Solving
The first steps focus on being able to follow instructions to complete tasks, seeking help and extra information if needed. The next stage focuses on being able to explore problems by creating and assessing different potential solutions. This includes more complex problems, without a simple technical solution.
Beyond this, the focus is on exploring complex solutions - thinking about causes and effects, generating options, and evaluating those options. This extends into analysis using logical reasoning and hypotheses.
Finally, individuals implement strategic plans to solve complex problems, assess their success, and draw out learning for the future.
Creativity
The first few steps focus on the individual's confidence in imagining different situations and sharing their ideas.
The focus is then on generating ideas - using a clear brief, making improvements to something that already exists and combining concepts.
Individuals then apply creativity in the context of their work and their wider life. They can build off this to develop ideas using tools like mind mapping, questioning, and considering different perspectives.
The most advanced steps focus on building effective innovation in group settings and by seeking out varied experiences and stimuli. Finally, individuals support others to innovate, by sharing tools, identifying the right tools for the situation and through coaching.
Staying Positive
The early steps focus on identifying emotions - particularly feeling positive or negative. Building off that is the ability to keep trying - and then staying calm, thinking about what went wrong, and trying to cheer up and encourage others.
The focus then turns to identifying new opportunities in difficult situations, sharing those, and adapting or creating plans accordingly. At more advanced steps, individuals identify and manage risks and gains in opportunities.
Finally, individuals support others to stay positive by managing their own response, helping others to see opportunities and creating plans to achieve them.
Aiming High
The focus is then about working with care and attention, taking pride in success and having a positive approach to new challenges. Building on this, individuals set goals for themselves, informed by an understanding of what is needed, and then be able to order and prioritise tasks, secure resources and involve others effectively.
At the higher steps, the focus is creating plans informed by an individual's skill set, with clear targets, and building on external views. At the most advanced level, individuals develop long-term strategies. These are informed by an assessment of internal and external factors, structured through regular milestones and feedback loops.
Leadership
At the earliest stages, the focus is on basic empathy - understanding their own feelings, being able to share them, and recognising the feelings of others. The focus is on managing - dividing up tasks, managing time and sharing resources, managing group discussions and dealing with disagreements.
Beyond that, individuals build their awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses, and those of their teams. This allows them to allocate tasks effectively. They then build techniques to mentor, coach and motivate others. At the highest steps, individuals will be able to reflect on their own leadership style and understand its effect on others.
Ultimately, they should be able to build on their strengths and mitigate their weaknesses, and adapt their leadership style to the situation.
Teamwork
The next steps focus on making a contribution to a team through group decision making recognising the value of others' ideas and encourage others to contribute too.Beyond that, individuals improve their teams through managing conflict and building relationships beyond the immediate team. At the top steps, individuals focus on how they influence their team through suggesting improvements and learning lessons from setbacks.
Ultimately, individuals support the team by evaluating others strengths and weaknesses and bringing in external expertise and relationships.
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To achieve Step 6, individuals will be able to demonstrate that they are listening by using eye contact with whoever is speaking and other positive, encouraging body language.
In earlier steps, individuals focused on their experience of receiving information and how to take that information on effectively. The next steps, Steps 6 to 8, focus on how individuals can demonstrate effective listening to others.
Building blocks
The building blocks of this step are learning how to:
- Use eye contact as a sign of engagement
- Use appropriate body language to show engagement
Reflection questions
- Why do you think eye contact is important to show you are listening?
- How do you feel when someone is not making eye contact when you are speaking?
- What does positive body language look like?
- What is the effect of positive body language?
- What do you do already to show you are interested?
What you need to know
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Using eye contact
Eye contact is a helpful part of showing that you are listening to someone, and to show that you are not being distracted by other things.
Eye contact is also important because seeing someone’s face and their expressions give you extra information about how they feel about what they are saying. It also helps you to understand what they are emphasising, and therefore what they think is important.
However, maintaining eye contact does not mean that you should be staring in someone’s face. This can be even more off-putting than limited eye contact. Instead, an approximate target of 60-70% eye contact is probably the best balance.
You may also show that you are listening in other ways, such as glances, responses to what is being said and/or body movements. People show active listening in different ways.
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Positive body language
We look at someone else’s body language to build our understanding of how they are feeling, and also how interested they are in us and what we have to say. So, to be a good listener you should try to ensure that your body is giving the signal that you are interested in what you are hearing and that you want to hear more. Some of the ways that you might do this are:
- Face the speaker: You should turn your body so that you are naturally facing the speaker. This might mean moving your chair – if you are uncomfortable looking at them, it will show and they might interpret that as you being uninterested or uncomfortable with what they are saying.
- Not fidgeting: Fidgeting with your hands, feet or anything else is distracting for the speaker and you. It indicates that you want to be somewhere else.
- Being open with your arms: Folding your arms can look defensive – that you want to be somewhere else or that you are trying to protect yourself. Instead, try to use open gestures to show that you are open to what you are hearing.
- Leaning forwards: If you are engaged you would naturally lean forwards to show that you are wanting to take part in the conversation and to better listen to what is being said.
- Engaged face: Seeing someone smiling helps the speaker to relax and helps them to feel that you are enjoying what they are saying. Obviously, depending on the message smiling is not always appropriate but you can still look engaged.
Again, people show active listening in different ways, so think about how you will show the person speaking that you are listening.
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Why this skill step matters in education
In education, there will be occasions when you need to work with others. This might be in a group discussion, to create a presentation or to work on a project. When working with others, eye contact is very important to demonstrate that you are listening to their ideas and focused on what they are saying. By ensuring you make effective eye contact, you might build better relationships with others or encourage a team member to share an idea that could really benefit the project or assignment.
Positive body language is also an important part of being a good listener. In school, college or university, you might have important meetings with teachers, lecturers or advisors. During these meetings, it’s important to show you are interested in what is being said and present yourself professionally.
Why this skill step matters in the workplace
In the workplace, it is important for you to develop positive relationships with your colleagues, managers, customers and stakeholders. When listening to someone speak, using effective eye contact and positive body language can help you build an encouraging rapport with others. You might listen to presentations or talks at work and someone’s face and their expressions give you extra information about how they feel about what they are saying.
At work, you might receive a piece of negative feedback or a complaint. Through effective eye contact and body language, you will help to show that you are taking their feedback seriously. It might also help to rebuild their confidence in the company or organisation.
Why this skill step matters in wider life
In our wider lives, it is important to build positive relationships with others. When spending time with friends, family, teammates or any others, we will often need to use the skill of listening. If a friend is sharing a problem or an important story, good eye contact and positive body language will help them to feel comfortable doing this. Equally, understanding what someone’s face, expressions and body language suggest will also help you to effectively support others when they need it.
How to practise this skill step
To best practise this step of Listening, apply what you have learnt to a real-life situation. Choose one or more of the activities below, remind yourself of the key points and strategies in the step, and have a go!
- In a pair, take turns to talk for 3 minutes about a topic of your choosing such as a TV show, film or hobby. For the first round, avoid eye contact, fidget, use closed body language and scowl. Repeat the task but this time use eye contact and positive body language. How did it feel to speak in each round? Which was better? Why?
- Ask friends, peers or colleagues to monitor your eye contact in different settings. They should keep a record of how often you do this. Ask them for their feedback and consider what they share.
- Ask friends, peers or colleagues to monitor your body language in different settings. They should keep a record of your actions. Ask them for their feedback and consider what they share.
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Teaching It
To teach this step:
- Learners can be put into pairs. They should take it in turns to talk for 3 minutes on a topic of their choosing – for example, what they would like to change about school, their favourite television show, or a hobby.
- For the first go, encourage learners to actively disregard the guidance on how to show that they are engaged – by avoiding eye contact, fidgeting, using closed body language, and scowling. Ask the speakers how they felt.
- Repeat the exercise, encouraging learners to put all of the guidance on how to use eye contact and positive body language. Ask the speakers and listeners how they felt – hopefully much better.
- Highlight to learners that whilst eye contact and positive body language are really important when they are speaking and listening in pairs, it is also useful when they are listening as part of a larger group too.
- When speaking to the class as their teacher, encourage them to demonstrate that they are listening, and highlight good practice
Reinforcing it
This is a good step to reinforce regularly in the course of normal teaching:
- Before paired work, learners can be reminded how to do their best work together – starting by how they show that they are ready to listen and to learn from one another.
- In the day-to-day of learning, the teacher can remind learners how to be ready for learning, and how they can demonstrate that they are ready through these same techniques.
- The teacher could also include visual reminders of what it looks like to show that they are listening, based on the tips and techniques shared above.
Assessing it
This step is best assessed through observation in day-to-day learning, although a particular scenario or role-play could also be created. For example, the teacher could create a check-list, based on the reminders above, and assess whether individual learners are demonstrating those. This could be extended to peer assessment too.
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Build it at work:
This step is relevant to everyone who works with others in the course of their work, whether colleagues, customers or partners.
To build this step in the work environment, managers could:
- Discuss with an individual why it is important to be aware of their body language when they are communicating with other people.
- Explain the effect of an individual’s body language on display, during a line management meeting.
- Model appropriate body language to demonstrate its effect. To do this a manager might record a video call between themselves and an individual. A manager might then play back this recording, highlighting examples of body language or eye contact and the effect it has on the speaker.
- Set an exercise where two individuals are paired together to role play a customer-employee interaction. During the first interaction, the employee acting as the listener could actively disregard the guidance on how to show that you are engaged – by avoiding eye contact, fidgeting, using closed body language, and scowling. The individual acting as the speaker could explain how they feel to show the effects of limited eye contact and body language. This exercise could be repeated, this time with the individual acting as the listener applying the guidance on how to use eye contact and positive body language.
- Reflect with the individual about how aware they are of their body language and what it tells others about how they are listening.
Practising it:
There are plenty of opportunities for building this skill in the workplace:
- Working with colleagues: During situations when an individual is working with others face to face, in a team meeting or communicating over a technology platform like Skype or Google hangouts.
- Working with customers or clients: When performing a task that is about listening to another party to make them feel understood. This might be during a meeting with a client discuss their requirements for a product or service, for instance.
An individual could also practice this skill step through volunteering in a role such as supporting a young people during their exams or coaching a nervous performer at work.
Reviewing it:
For those already employed, this step is best assessed through observation. For instance:
- An individual could be observed during their interaction with another person, with an assessment made on the body language on display.
- Alternatively, an individual can be asked to identify examples of body language and the effect it creates whilst observing an interaction between two people.
Spotting it in recruitment:
During the recruitment process, this step could be assessed by:
- Observing for body language when conducting an in person interview or reviewing their video interview submission.
- This could be complemented by a reflective conversation with that individual, in case their body language is unusual because of their nervousness at the setting.
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We work with a wide range of organisations, who use the Skills Builder approach in lots of different settings – from youth clubs, to STEM organisations, to careers and employability providers.
We have a lot of materials available to support you to use the Skills Builder Universal Framework with the individuals you work with, including:
- Tools for self-reflection
- Materials to support you to teach the skills, if appropriate in your setting
- Reward systems like printable certificates
We also do a lot of work with organisations who join the Skills Builder Partnership to build the Universal Framework into their work and impact measurement systems. You can find out a lot more using the links below.
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At home, you can easily support your child to build their essential skills. The good news is that there
are lots of ways that you can have a big impact, including:
- Talking with your child about the essential skills, what they are and how they are useful in all
aspects of life, whether at school, home or in the workplace - Talking about how you use these skill steps in your own work or wider life
- Helping your child to identify where they already build their skills at school, at home or
through other activities and clubs - Praising your child when they show they are using the skills well, and helping them to feel a
sense of achievement - Encouraging them to recognise and talk confidently about their skill strengths with others, and
supporting them to develop their skills further
