LEARNING ACTIVITY 22

Are You a Good Listener?

Objectives

Participants will be able to

 Reflect on their listening skills and behaviors

 Identify areas of listening skill strength and areas for potential development.

Materials

 Assessment 3: Listening Skills Quick Assessment

Time

15 minutes

Instructions

1. Introduce this self-reflection activity by emphasizing the integral link between

influencing and listening. The ability to listen well is one of the most effective skills a
project manager can use to influence others. As the slide underlines, listening builds trust
and credibility—the bedrock on which influencing others is based. Distribute
Assessment 3: Listening Skills Quick Assessment.

2. Ask participants to rate how good a listener they think they are on a scale of 25 to 100
(100 = highest), and write it in the box.

3. Now tell them that they will rate themselves on the 25 statements in the assessment using
a scale of 1 to 4, with 1 being seldom true and 4 being always true.

Original material by Wes Balakian, © 2017 Association for Talent PROJECT MANAGEMENT trai ni ng - 1
Development (ATD). Used with permission.
LEARNING ACTIVITY 22, continued

4. After they have finished rating themselves, have them add up all their scores to come up
with a total score. Scoring is as follows:

75–100 = You’re an excellent listener and communicator. Keep it up.

50–74 = You’re trying to be a good listener. Consider brushing up some of your

listening skills.

25–49 = Listening isn’t one of your strong points. Spend serious time developing
your listening skills.

5. Ask participants if they were surprised by their scores. How did their actual scores
compare with their estimated scores?

6. Explain that each of the 25 statements in the assessment relates to a key aspect of good
listening. If they rated themselves 3 or 4 on the statement, they can consider that skill a
strength. If they rated themselves 1 or 2 on a statement, they can consider it a skill they
may need to develop. Have them pick three listening skills that they would like to work
on and note actions they can take to become better listeners in that area.

7. This activity was meant as self-reflection, so no further debrief is needed.

8. Close by asking participants to add notes and next actions about influencing to their
project management goal planners (Handout 25).

Original material by Wes Balakian, © 2017 Association for Talent PROJECT MANAGEMENT trai ni ng - 2
Development (ATD). Used with permission.