Active Listening

5 minutes 5 Questions

Active listening is a fundamental coaching skill. It involves fully focusing, understanding, responding, and then remembering what is being said. In a Scrum context, it enables a Scrum Master to understand exactly what a team member is communicating, unstated needs or issues. It promotes a culture …

Active Listening Guide and Exam Tips

Active Listening is a crucial component of coaching and facilitation, especially in the field of professional scrum mastering.

Why is it Important?
It aids in understanding others, fostering better communication and problem-solving, and building respect and trust.

What is it?
Active Listening involves fully focusing, understanding, responding, and then remembering what is being said. You are actively engaging in conversation instead of just passively hearing.

How it Works?
You first give your attention completely to the speaker, showing non-verbal cues to acknowledge the other person. Then, you respond to their points to prove you are understanding them. Finally, you provide feedback to validate their points and thoughts.

Answering Questions on Active Listening in an Exam:
Perhaps the best way to answer an Active Listening question on an exam is by:
1. Illustrating what it is with a definition.
2. Providing a real-world example.
3. Explaining its value in a collaborative environment like in Scrum.

Exam Tips:
Remember to include the key concepts of giving full attention, showing understanding, responding and remembering when answering questions on Active Listening. Make sure to discuss both the theory and its practical application in a professional environment. Use examples to support your points whenever possible.

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PSM I - Active Listening Example Questions

Test your knowledge of Active Listening

Question 1

In a Sprint Planning Meeting, a product owner is explaining a new feature requirement but frequently hesitates and pauses. What would be the most effective active listening approach?

Start a discussion with other team members during the pauses. Interrupt the product owner and suggest your own ideas about requirement. Ignore the ongoing issue and let the meeting continue as it is. Patiently wait for the product owner to collect their thoughts and continue. If the pauses are long, prompt them with encouraging words or open-ended questions.

Correct Answer: Patiently wait for the product owner to collect their thoughts and continue. If the pauses are long, prompt them with encouraging words or open-ended questions.

Active listening in a Scrum environment means promoting an open communication and understanding between team members. Thus, the most effective approach when a product owner hesitates during a Sprint Planning Meeting is to patiently wait for them to collect their thoughts and continue. If the pauses are long, prompt them with encouraging words or open-ended questions to facilitate their explanation. Interruption or suggesting your own ideas for the requirement might hinder the communication and ignore the Product Owner's authority in defining the product's features. Ignoring the issue and letting the meeting continue as it is can lead to misunderstandings about the feature requirement. Starting a separate discussion with other team members during the pauses is inappropriate and disrespectful. It also breaks the focus of the meeting which should be on clarifying the product requirements.

Question 2

During a sprint retrospective, a team member starts mentioning vague issues related to communication within the team. How should you apply active listening to clarify and understand their point?

Quickly summarize what was said to move on to actionable items without delving deeper into the issue. Reflect the concerns back to the team member for confirmation or correction to ensure accurate understanding. Encourage the team member to write down their concerns in detail and email them to the team for asynchronous feedback. Implement a new tool for communication in the hope that it addresses the vague issues mentioned.

Correct Answer: Reflect the concerns back to the team member for confirmation or correction to ensure accurate understanding.

Active listening involves carefully listening, understanding, and then responding to the speaker. The correct response leverages this by reflecting the concerns, which shows empathy and ensures that the Scrum Master thoroughly understands the issues being expressed. Quick summarization might miss the depth of the problem, implementing new tools without understanding the exact issues could be misguided, and asking for written, detailed feedback via email does not promote immediate discussion or clarification, potentially stifling dialogue and immediate understanding.

Question 3

During a review meeting, a client is providing feedback on an implemented feature, but their description is not very clear. Which active listening approach is advisable to take?

Document the feedback verbatim for later analysis, without engaging in further dialogue during the meeting. Encourage the client to provide feedback through a feedback form post-meeting to ensure all details are captured in writing, bypassing the need for immediate clarification. Summarize the client's feedback and request specific examples to ensure accurate understanding. Immediately suggest possible solutions to what you interpret as their feedback without seeking clarification.

Correct Answer: Summarize the client's feedback and request specific examples to ensure accurate understanding.

Active listening involves engaging with the speaker to confirm understanding and gather as much information as possible. Summarizing and asking for examples is a direct method to ensure clarity and understanding. Suggesting solutions without clarification, documenting without understanding, or deferring the discussion does not facilitate immediate understanding or engagement.

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