ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on three mega-skills for public managers: listening, asking questions, and analyzing conflicts. One of the skills most needed by supervisors and public employees is the ability to listen. Listening allows a leader to learn about how work is most efficiently accomplished, to discover employee strengths and weaknesses, and to discern the hopes and fears of the public. Listening is a civil behavior. For public employees, listening is essential. If an employee misunderstands a service need, time and money can be wasted. Sometimes real harm results. Two fundamental listening skills should be in every public manager's toolbox: collaborative listening and emotional paraphrasing. Asking questions is the second mega-skill for conflict managers. Early in an encounter, open-ended questions often are the best technique. Later in the exchange, genuinely curious and probing questions can be applied strategically. A combination of the research literature and interviews with state agency leaders provides a clear picture of how to moderate conflict.
