I’m not going to rewrite the list of skills that you can find in literally hundreds of other (and better) resources, but I do want to point out some tactics that I have found help me the most, and were hardest for me to work on.
Some listening strategies
Look your user in the eye
This seems simple, but it’s overlooked a lot. Look directly at them. Not past them. Not around them, at them.
Don’t use your laptop as a crutch
If you take notes on your laptop, be sure you let them know that’s what you are doing. Drop a casual “Sorry, I’m just jotting down some notes,” and be sure that you are only jotting down some notes. This is not the time to check email or the Teams channel. This is time to be present.
Rephrase
This one gets a little clinical, but it’s important. Maybe don’t be as generic as “What I hear you saying is…” but find something that sounds natural to you. I default to “Wait. It’s doing XYZ?! That’s crazy.” or “OK, so I want to make sure I have this right….” It lets you…