15487: Active Listening Training Using Immersive AI Technology: Effects on Individuals and Their Teams (session 26457)

Corporate leaders and recruiters cite active listening as one of the top 10 workplace skills needed by employees, today and in the future. Yet, within the management education and organizational behavior literatures, research examining the performance-related effects of active listening - and active listening training - appear to be limited in scope and context. The present research attempted to bridge these gaps by experimentally investigating whether active listening training using immersive AI technology positively influences team member coordination, an important predictor of team performance. Drawing upon self-determination theory, we propose a motivational framework for understanding how engaging in active listening training may influence individual team members, and in turn, team coordination. Our findings showed that active listening training increased team member coordination over time. Additionally, individuals’ active listening behavior was found to mediate the effects of training on team member coordination. Finally, trust moderated the effects of training on individuals’ listening behavior, as well as the effects of listening behavior on team member coordination. Contributions to the listening and trust literatures are discussed, as are limitations and implications for managers and educators.

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