Often, employees are promoted to supervision because of their strong technical expertise -- expertise in building a product or providing a service. Suddenly, the new supervisor is now charged with a whole new range of responsibilities, many of which have little to do with technical expertise.

Do you get annoyed when you have an urgent or important message to convey to someone? Hello! Is anyone getting any work done?

People need to practise and acquire skills to be good listeners, because a speaker cannot throw you information in the same manner that a dart player tosses a dart at a passive dartboard. Information is an intangible substance that must be sent by the speaker and received by an active listener.