The most important skill a hospitality employee can have is listening. Whether you’re listening to a guest communicate their needs, listening to read between the lines to figure out what the real problem is, or listening to how you could help a teammate during a shift.
Active listening is one of the more well-known types of listening, but there are a few other kinds that every hospitality professional should know and use and improve upon.
1. Active listening
As mentioned, this is the most talked-about type of listening. Active listening is when you are truly listening to the person talking. You show you are engaged in what they are saying by stopping any other task you are doing and using your body language to reflect your engagement, such as leaning slightly towards them and uncrossing your arms.
When using active listening, try to ask specific questions and paraphrase what they said to you to show you are paying attention.
Active listening tends to be the base for all other kinds of listening.
2. Empathetic listening
Empathetic listening is similar to active listening, but you take it a step further by essentially putting yourself in their shoes to understand their emotions. This kind of listening improves mutual understanding and trust between both parties.
Empathetic listening is best used during a more difficult guest interaction to help diffuse and come up with a solution. Show the guest that you understand they are upset and genuinely apologize to show you care.
3. Critical listening
Critical listening is listening to evaluate the content of the message. You are listening to all parts of the message, analyzing it, and evaluating what you heard while thinking critically. This involves problem-solving, analysis, and decision-making.
An example of critical listening would be if a guest is trying to pick an amenity, then you would listen closely to what they are specifically hoping to achieve and suggest appropriate amenities. Or suggesting local places that could deliver what they are looking for.
4. Informational listening
Informational listening is when you have the goal of learning, understanding, and grasping information. This is the type of listening used when you are being trained in a new role or skill at work, meeting a new team member, or even meeting a new guest that stays or eats at your property often.
This is considered a more passive version of listening because the listener is not judging, evaluating, or making a decision based on the information.
5. Appreciative listening
Appreciative listening is the type of listening we all do when we are listening to something that we love or that makes us happy. This is the most relaxed kind of listening when you are listening to a guest or teammate give you positive feedback or a story that you are finding inspiring or interesting.
The best way to improve on your listening skills is to do just that….listen. Give the person talking the space to talk without interrupting, we tend to be so focused on what we are going to say back to them that we jump in too quickly.