An Examination of the Role of Listening in Judgments of Communication Competence in Co-Workers

Listening has been reported to be an important component in judgments ofcommunication competence in the workplace. To investigate the contributions oflistening to judgments of competence, this study examined how organizationmembers use listening and listening-related factors in judgments of communication competence across situations. The results support the notion that listeningplays a central role in assessments of communication competence. Analysisreveals that listening accounts for approximately one-third of the characteristicsperceivers use to evaluate communication competence in co-workers. Additionally, the results suggest organization members differ in their use of listening injudgments of competence in several kinds of situations.