Listening to Understand
How to confirm you understood before you act
Check you got the right version without nodding along to the wrong one.
How to do it
Summarize what landed, clarify the one vague word, and own the part you might have missed. Three moves that catch a costly misread before it becomes work.
Summary check
'Priority X, blocker Y. Right?'
Pin the vague word
'When you say soon, what date?'
Own the gap
'One part I want to confirm.'
What it sounds like
Stakeholder
“So we're all set, right? Let's get moving.”
You
“Mostly, timeline and owner are clear. One thing: does scope include the mobile app, or just web? Want to lock that before we start.”
Practise it
Noor Aziz, stakeholder
“Great, sounds like we're aligned. I'll tell the team we're a go.”
Confirm what you caught, then clarify the scope point that was fuzzy. Do not pretend you got all of it.
A strong answer: “Before we go, quick check: timeline and budget are clear. One open piece, is scope web-only or does it include mobile? That changes who I staff.”
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The short version
Summarize, clarify, own the gap. Alignment you checked beats alignment you assumed.
Practise it every day
This is one lesson from the Listening to Understand course in the Insight7 app, with a roleplay to rehearse the real conversation.