The Supervisor should:
Let the Staff Member know that he/she is interested in hearing what the Staff Member has to say

• "I'd be interested to hear how you fell about this."
• "Can I be of help with this?"
• "Tell me about it."
• "I've got the time if you have. Want to talk?"

The Supervisor should:
Ask open-ended questions to invite the Staff Member to talk more. Pause and be silent after the question is asked.

• "Could you tell me more about it?"
• "That's an interesting idea, can you say more?"
• "When that happened, what did you do?"
• "What --?" "How --?" "Who --?" "When --?" "Where --?"

The Supervisor should:
Use both verbal and non-verbal listening cues to let the Staff Member know that he/she focusing attention on the Staff Member's comments.

Verbal

• Make listen noises such as, "yes," "I see," "mm-hmm," "I understand"

Non-Verbal

• Nod, smile, make eye contact
• Use a positive voice tone
• "Attend" to the Staff Member

The Supervisor should:
Reflect back what he/she heard. This lets the Staff Member know that the Supervisor has grasped the facts, feelings and attitudes communicated.

• "I can see you're really feeling _____ about _____."
• "So what you're saying is ______?"