Inclusive Listening Helps Connect Global Teams

What, exactly, is Inclusive Listening? 

Language is a two-way street. It takes both a speaker, and a listener, to make communication work. Think of it as two wheels on a bicycle. If one wheel isn’t up to speed, there’s little forward movement.  

Inclusive listening is the act of listening, with intentionality, to all the voices of a diverse workforce. It means listening to others in ways that invite participation and collaboration. In a global workforce, where English isn’t everyone’s first language, inclusive listening includes developing the skills to understand the accents of clients and colleagues who speak English as an additional language. Without this accent comprehension ability, a business’s bottom line is compromised. Let’s consider what happens when communication is compromised by an inability to understand accents that are different from our own.