Last Updated on July 7, 2026 by Status.net Editorial Team

Good listening skills are important for effective communication, building relationships, and achieving mutual understanding. Some key components of effective listening skills include maintaining eye contact, asking clarifying questions, avoiding distractions, and demonstrating empathy and understanding.

Part 1Performance Review Questions: Listening Skills

These questions will help you gain a better understanding of an employee’s listening skills, allowing you to identify their strengths and areas for improvement.

1. Does the employee make eye contact when listening to others?
2. Does the employee ask questions to clarify understanding?
3. Does the employee repeat back what was said to ensure understanding?
4. Does the employee show empathy and understanding towards others?
5. Does the employee interrupt others when they are speaking?
6. Does the employee appear distracted or disengaged during conversations?
7. Does the employee follow through on commitments made during conversations?
8. Does the employee remember important details from previous conversations?
9. Does the employee seek feedback on their listening skills?
10. Does the employee demonstrate active listening during team meetings and discussions?

You can extend this list with a few questions that dig into how an employee applies listening in higher-stakes moments, since strong performers often show up differently under pressure or when receiving criticism:

11. Does the employee listen for the underlying message, not only the words being said?
12. Does the employee accurately evaluate the credibility or logic of what a speaker presents before responding?
13. Does the employee acknowledge and build on colleagues’ contributions during meetings, showing genuine mutual understanding?
14. Does the employee stay receptive and non-defensive when receiving critical feedback?

These additional questions are useful when listening skills appear as part of a broader “communication” or “mutual understanding” competency on your review form, since many organizations group listening in with collaboration and interpersonal effectiveness rather than scoring it as a standalone item.

Related: Best Performance Review Examples for 48 Key Skills

2000+ Performance Review Phrases: The Complete List (Performance Feedback Examples)

Listening Skills Performance Review Phrases and Paragraphs Examples

Part 2Types of Listening Skills to Recognize in a Performance Review

Listening is not a single skill you either have or lack. In practice, employees draw on several distinct listening styles depending on the situation, and recognizing which style is relevant makes your review comments far more accurate and useful. A salesperson who listens warmly to a client’s story is using a different skill than an analyst who listens for gaps in a colleague’s argument. Naming the specific type of listening you observed helps employees understand exactly what to keep doing and what to adjust.

Appreciative Listening

Appreciative listening happens when someone listens for enjoyment, encouragement, or emotional connection rather than to extract facts or solve a problem. It shows up in team celebrations, brainstorming sessions, and casual check-ins where the goal is rapport rather than analysis.

• Genuinely enjoys hearing colleagues share ideas and celebrates their contributions
• Creates a warm atmosphere where team members feel heard and valued
• Responds with enthusiasm and encouragement during brainstorming sessions
• Recognizes and highlights the positive intent behind a colleague’s suggestion
• Shows appreciation for diverse communication styles within the team

Comprehensive Listening

Comprehensive listening is about accurately understanding and retaining the content of a message, whether that is a training session, a set of instructions, or a technical briefing. This is the type of listening most often tied to onboarding new processes or following multi-step directions correctly the first time.

• Accurately absorbs and retains detailed instructions from training sessions
• Understands complex technical information after a single explanation
• Organizes and recalls information from lengthy briefings without needing repeats
• Applies information from meetings correctly in day-to-day work
• Demonstrates a strong grasp of multi-step processes explained verbally

Evaluative (Critical) Listening

Evaluative listening, sometimes called critical listening, involves weighing the credibility, logic, and validity of a message before forming a judgment. This matters most in roles where employees need to assess proposals, vet claims, or make decisions based on what they hear in meetings and negotiations.

• Assesses the strength of an argument before agreeing or pushing back
• Identifies inconsistencies or gaps in a colleague’s proposal during discussion
• Distinguishes between opinion and evidence when evaluating input from stakeholders
• Asks probing questions that test the reasoning behind a recommendation
• Forms well-reasoned conclusions after weighing multiple viewpoints

Empathetic Listening

Empathetic listening centers on understanding another person’s feelings and perspective, often without needing to solve anything. It is the listening style that shows up most in one-on-ones, conflict resolution, and moments when a colleague needs support rather than solutions.

• Listens without judgment when a colleague shares a difficult situation
• Validates others’ feelings before offering suggestions or solutions
• Notices emotional cues and responds with sensitivity
• Creates a safe space for team members to express concerns openly
• Adjusts tone and approach based on the emotional needs of the speaker

Most performance review scales, including the five-level structure used throughout this article, blend elements of all four styles under the general heading of “listening skills.” When you notice a clear pattern, such as an employee excelling at comprehensive listening but struggling with empathetic listening, calling that out by name gives them a much clearer development target than a generic comment.

Part 35 – Outstanding

Example Phrases

• Actively engages in conversations and demonstrates full understanding
• Uses non-verbal cues to show attentiveness
• Asks relevant questions to clarify understanding
• Demonstrates empathy and understanding towards others
• Consistently maintains eye contact and provides appropriate feedback during discussions
• Shows exceptional ability to recall important details from conversations
• Creates a comfortable environment that encourages open dialogue
• Practices patience and allows others to complete their thoughts without interruption
• Skillfully summarizes and reflects back what others have said
• Demonstrates an outstanding ability to read between the lines and understand underlying messages
• Successfully identifies and responds to emotional undertones in communications
• Adapts listening style based on the speaker’s needs and communication preferences
• Maintains focus during lengthy discussions and remembers key points accurately
• Shows genuine interest in others’ perspectives and opinions
• Effectively balances listening and speaking during group discussions
• Demonstrates cultural sensitivity when listening to diverse viewpoints
• Successfully manages multiple conversations while maintaining attention to detail
• Provides thoughtful and considered responses that show deep understanding
• Consistently picks up on subtle nuances in communication
• Creates detailed and accurate meeting notes that capture all essential information

Example Paragraph

“John is an outstanding listener. He consistently demonstrates exceptional listening skills by actively engaging in conversations and demonstrating full understanding. He uses non-verbal cues to show attentiveness and asks relevant questions to clarify his understanding. John always demonstrates empathy and understanding towards others, which helps to build strong relationships and trust.”

Part 44 – Exceeds Expectations

Example Phrases

• Consistently demonstrates strong listening skills
• Actively engages in conversations and demonstrates understanding
• Uses non-verbal cues to show attentiveness
• Asks relevant questions to clarify understanding
• Demonstrates empathy and understanding towards others most of the time
• Takes thorough notes during meetings and discussions
• Shows genuine interest in colleagues’ input and ideas
• Maintains good eye contact and responds appropriately to conversations
• Effectively interprets both verbal and non-verbal communication
• Regularly provides meaningful feedback in discussions
• Demonstrates respect for others’ viewpoints through attentive listening
• Successfully follows complex instructions after hearing them once
• Shows patience when listening to others express their thoughts
• Remembers important details from previous conversations
• Picks up on emotional cues during interactions
• Creates an open environment for communication through active listening
• Responds appropriately to feedback and suggestions
• Often anticipates questions and concerns through careful listening
• Maintains focus during long meetings and presentations
• Shows consistency in understanding and retaining information shared verbally

Example Paragraph

“Mary exceeds expectations in her listening skills. She consistently demonstrates strong listening skills by actively engaging in conversations and demonstrating understanding. Mary uses non-verbal cues to show attentiveness and asks relevant questions to clarify her understanding. Although there are times when she could demonstrate more empathy and understanding towards others, Mary’s overall listening skills are strong and effective.”

Part 53 – Meets Expectations (Acceptable)

Example Phrases

• Demonstrates basic listening skills
• Engages in conversations and demonstrates some understanding
• Uses some non-verbal cues to show attentiveness
• Occasionally asks relevant questions to clarify understanding
• Demonstrates empathy and understanding towards others some of the time
• Generally maintains attention during meetings and conversations
• Takes adequate notes during important discussions
• Shows satisfactory comprehension of verbal instructions
• Responds appropriately to most communication
• Makes an effort to understand others’ perspectives
• Demonstrates acceptable level of focus during conversations
• Usually remembers key points from discussions
• Shows basic understanding of non-verbal cues
• Maintains adequate eye contact during conversations
• Generally follows instructions after hearing them
• Provides basic feedback when asked
• Shows reasonable patience when listening to others
• Typically stays engaged during regular meetings
• Demonstrates sufficient understanding of shared information
• Makes an effort to clarify information when needed

Example Paragraph

“Tom meets expectations in his listening skills. He demonstrates basic listening skills by engaging in conversations and demonstrating some understanding. Tom uses some non-verbal cues to show attentiveness and occasionally asks relevant questions to clarify his understanding. Although there are times when he could demonstrate more empathy and understanding towards others, Tom’s overall listening skills are satisfactory.”

Part 62 – Needs Improvement

Example Phrases

• Demonstrates poor listening skills
• Rarely engages in conversations and demonstrates understanding
• Does not use non-verbal cues to show attentiveness
• Rarely asks relevant questions to clarify understanding
• Demonstrates little to no empathy and understanding towards others
• Often appears distracted during important conversations
• Frequently misses key information in meetings
• Shows inconsistent comprehension of verbal instructions
• Has difficulty maintaining focus during discussions
• Fails to take notes during important meetings
• Often interrupts others while they are speaking
• Demonstrates limited retention of verbal information
• Shows minimal interest in others’ perspectives
• Frequently needs instructions repeated
• Provides limited or inappropriate feedback in conversations
• Appears disengaged during team discussions
• Often misinterprets the meaning of communications
• Shows impatience when listening to others
• Rarely maintains eye contact during conversations
• Demonstrates limited understanding of non-verbal cues

Example Paragraph

“Sarah needs improvement in her listening skills. She demonstrates poor listening skills by rarely engaging in conversations and demonstrating understanding. Sarah does not use non-verbal cues to show attentiveness and rarely asks relevant questions to clarify her understanding. Additionally, Sarah demonstrates little to no empathy and understanding towards others, which can lead to misunderstandings and strained relationships. It is important for Sarah to work on improving her listening skills in order to effectively communicate and build positive relationships with others.”

Part 71 – Unacceptable

Example Phrases

• Demonstrates complete lack of listening skills
• Does not engage in conversations or demonstrate understanding
• Does not use non-verbal cues to show attentiveness
• Does not ask relevant questions to clarify understanding
• Demonstrates no empathy or understanding towards others
• Consistently fails to pay attention during any form of communication
• Shows no interest in understanding others’ perspectives
• Regularly ignores important verbal instructions and messages
• Makes no effort to maintain eye contact during conversations
• Demonstrates complete disregard for others while they are speaking
• Never takes notes during meetings or important discussions
• Consistently misinterprets or ignores verbal communications
• Shows no willingness to improve listening skills
• Actively dismisses others’ input and feedback
• Creates a negative environment through poor listening habits
• Repeatedly fails to follow basic instructions
• Shows complete disinterest in team discussions
• Makes no attempt to understand or clarify information
• Demonstrates hostile body language during conversations
• Completely disregards the importance of effective communication

Example Paragraph

“Mark’s listening skills are unacceptable. He demonstrates a complete lack of listening skills by not engaging in conversations or demonstrating understanding. Mark does not use non-verbal cues to show attentiveness and does not ask relevant questions to clarify his understanding. Additionally, Mark demonstrates no empathy or understanding towards others, which can lead to significant communication breakdowns and negative relationships. It is crucial for Mark to improve his listening skills in order to effectively communicate and build positive relationships with others.”

Part 8How to Evaluate Listening Skills Objectively During a Review

Listening is one of the harder skills to score fairly, since so much of it happens internally and only shows up through subtle behaviors. A manager who wants to rate this competency accurately generally needs more than a single impression from one meeting.

• Keep short interview notes after one-on-ones and key meetings, jotting down whether the person asked clarifying questions, paraphrased what they heard, or followed through on what was discussed. A running log across the review period gives you specific, dated examples rather than a vague overall impression.
• Gather input from peers who work alongside the employee daily, since listening habits often look different in cross-functional meetings than they do in a one-on-one with a manager.
• Compare self-assessment against observed behavior. Employees who rate themselves as strong listeners but show a pattern of interrupting or missing details in meetings benefit from a review conversation that gently closes that gap.
• Separate “mutual understanding” from simple agreement. An employee can disagree with a colleague and still demonstrate excellent listening if they accurately restate the other person’s position before responding.
• Watch for consistency over time rather than a single strong or weak moment, since anyone can have an off day in one meeting.

When writing evaluation comments, anchor them to specific, observable moments rather than general impressions. Comments such as “consistently repeats back client requirements before starting work” or “took detailed notes during the vendor call and referenced them accurately the next day” carry far more weight than “is a good listener,” because they give the employee a concrete behavior to keep repeating.

Part 9Turning Listening Skills into Stronger Feedback Conversations

Listening skills and feedback skills are closely linked, and reviews often blur the two together. How someone listens while receiving criticism reveals as much about their maturity as how they listen during a routine conversation.

• Employees with strong listening skills tend to pause before responding to feedback rather than jumping straight to a defense or explanation.
• They ask clarifying questions about specific examples instead of dismissing feedback as unfair or vague.
• They separate the feedback from their sense of self-worth, which allows them to hear tough messages without becoming defensive.
• They follow up afterward to confirm they understood correctly, often paraphrasing what they heard back to the manager.

On the other side, managers who model active listening while delivering feedback tend to get better outcomes. Reflecting the employee’s response back before moving on, allowing silence instead of filling every pause, and checking for understanding at the end of the conversation all reinforce that feedback is a two-way exchange rather than a one-directional instruction.

If you coach an employee on this specific area, phrases such as “listens attentively to feedback and asks thoughtful follow-up questions” or “shows openness to constructive criticism and adjusts behavior accordingly” work well in a review, since they connect the listening skill directly to a growth outcome.

Part 10Common Mistakes When Assessing or Coaching Listening Skills

A few patterns show up repeatedly when managers evaluate this competency, and being aware of them helps you write fairer, more useful reviews.

• Mistaking silence for listening. A quiet employee is not automatically an attentive one, and an outgoing employee who asks lots of questions is not automatically a poor listener. Judge the behavior, not the personality style.
• Relying on a single interaction. One distracted moment in a busy week does not represent a full pattern. Base the rating on repeated observations across the review period.
• Confusing hearing with understanding. An employee can be fully present and still miss the point of what was said. Look for evidence that the message was retained and applied correctly, not just that the person was in the room and attentive.
• Applying one cultural norm to everyone. Eye contact, nodding, and turn-taking conventions vary across cultures and communication styles. Evaluate whether the person understood and responded appropriately rather than whether they matched a specific gesture.
• Overweighting note-taking as a proxy for listening. Some strong listeners retain information without writing much down, while some heavy note-takers still miss the underlying message. Use notes as one data point among several.
• Giving vague feedback. Telling someone to “listen better” without a specific behavior to change rarely produces improvement. Point to a concrete moment and a concrete alternative action instead.

Part 11Helping Employees Build Stronger Listening Habits

A rating on a review form matters far less than what happens after it. Employees rated “needs improvement” or “unacceptable” on listening generally respond best to a short, specific development plan rather than a general instruction to try harder.

• Name one habit at a time. Rather than tackling every listening gap at once, pick the single behavior with the biggest impact, such as interrupting less or taking notes during meetings, and build from there.
• Use the paraphrase technique. Encourage the employee to summarize what they heard before responding, in meetings and in one-on-ones. This single habit catches most misunderstandings before they become costly.
• Practice with real-time tools. Meeting transcription and note-taking tools that highlight action items and follow-up questions in real time can give an employee immediate feedback on how much they captured accurately, which is especially useful for someone building comprehensive listening skills.
• Schedule short check-ins. A brief follow-up two to three weeks after the review, focused only on the listening habit you agreed on, keeps the improvement plan alive instead of letting it fade after the review conversation ends.
• Model the behavior yourself. Employees pick up listening habits from the managers and peers around them. A manager who visibly paraphrases, asks clarifying questions, and avoids interrupting sets a standard the rest of the team tends to follow.
• Recognize improvement publicly when it happens. Calling out a specific moment where someone listened well, such as catching a detail others missed or handling tough feedback gracefully, reinforces the behavior far more effectively than a rating change alone.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between hearing and listening in a performance review?

Hearing is the physical act of picking up sound, while listening involves processing, understanding, and often responding to what was said. A performance review should focus on listening, since an employee can be physically present and attentive to sound while still missing the meaning or intent behind a message.

What are some good example phrases for appreciative listening?

Phrases such as “genuinely enjoys hearing colleagues share ideas,” “creates a warm atmosphere where team members feel heard,” and “responds with enthusiasm during brainstorming sessions” work well for this style, since appreciative listening is about connection and encouragement rather than problem-solving or fact retention.

How do I write a comment for comprehensive listening on a review?

Focus on retention and application of information. Comments like “accurately applies instructions from training sessions without needing repeats” or “organizes and recalls detailed briefings correctly” capture comprehensive listening because they show the employee understood and used the content, not just heard it.

How does listening fit under a “mutual understanding” competency?

Many review frameworks group listening in with communication and collaboration under a broader “mutual understanding” competency. In practice, this usually means scoring how well the employee confirms understanding with others, whether by paraphrasing, asking clarifying questions, or acknowledging a colleague’s viewpoint before responding, rather than scoring listening as an isolated behavior.

What tools can help improve listening and real-time feedback during meetings?

Meeting transcription apps, live captioning tools, and note-taking software that flags action items as they are discussed can all give employees a way to check their comprehension in real time. These tools work best as a training aid rather than a permanent crutch, since the goal is for the employee to build the underlying habit independently.

Should listening skills be mentioned on a resume?

Listening skills can strengthen a resume when tied to a specific, measurable outcome, such as “resolved client concerns by actively listening to feedback and adjusting service delivery” rather than listing “good listener” as a standalone trait. Concrete examples carry more weight with hiring managers than generic soft-skill claims.

Is it true that most people remember only a small portion of what they hear?

Research on listening retention generally shows that people forget a significant portion of spoken information within a short time after hearing it, which is why note-taking, paraphrasing, and follow-up confirmation are such valuable habits to encourage and reward in a performance review.