Obstacles to listening

When you’re making calls to the older guests it’s helpful to be aware of any obstacles to listening that might exist for you.

These can be practical obstacles – it might be too noisy where you are, or too hot or cold, it might be as simple as you not being comfortable where you’re sitting. These things can take your focus away from listening to your guest, so before you make the call it’s worth making sure the environment you’re sitting in isn’t distracting or uncomfortable for you.

There can also be other factors that can take your focus away from listening to the guest. It might be that you yourself are having a hard day or are going through a difficult time. This can make it challenging to fully focus on the conversation.

Time can also be a factor. If you’ve allowed 30 minutes for the call and you know you need to be somewhere else after that you will find it hard to focus on what the guest is saying if the call runs a bit longer than that.

So before making a call to a guest, make sure that you’ve allowed plenty of time, and try to make a conscious effort to put aside anything else that’s on your mind for the duration of that conversation so that you can fully focus on what your guest is saying.

When you are finishing the call always remind the guest when you will call next. It will make ending the conversation easier for them.

Communication and listening skills

It’s important in general to remember that these phone calls may be our guests only social interaction of the week. You will most likely be talking to the guest about practical concerns but there should also be time to talk about how they are feeling, or what they may be worried about. Try not to offload your own worries too much during this conversation, allow the guest to focus on how things are for them. Let the guest guide the conversation wherever possible.