Hearing loss affects every part of our lives in some way, especially if your hearing loss is untreated. This is especially true at work, where listening and communication are paramount to getting the job done. Here are some ways you might see untreated hearing loss impacting your work performance, and some things you can do about it.
Missing Details
With hearing loss, hearing what others say to you can be quite challenging. You may hear the sound of their voice but struggle to put together the meaning of the words they say, or mishear a word or phrase and think they said something completely different, or not understand what someone is saying because it sounds like they’re mumbling. Because of this phenomenon, you might miss key details you need to complete your work, like deadlines, instructions or updates.
Hearing aids can be a massive help with this issue. Modern hearing aids feature speech amplification, which is exactly what it sounds like: the processor recognizes the sound of human speech and amplifies it. Other coping mechanisms may work depending on your work style, such as taking notes or asking people to put instructions in writing, but hearing aids will be a massive boon to spoken communication.
Group Conversations
One of the biggest indicators that you’re having hearing difficulties is trouble following group conversations. When your ears send incomplete information to the brain, the cognitive load of listening increases, as the brain must work harder to fill in the blanks. In group settings with multiple speakers and conversations criss-crossing, the brain can really struggle to keep up, making things like meetings extra difficult.
Again, hearing aids can help with this, for all the reasons discussed above. Also consider how you’re physically situated in these settings and try to optimize it: face the speaker so you can hear them better and catch nonverbal communication cues, and encourage people not to speak over each other so only one person is speaking at a time (which is, in all honesty, just good manners).
Long Listening Sessions
Meetings run long, presentations are dense and conversations might carry over. Have you noticed that you feel exhausted at the end of these listening-intensive situations? That’s called listener’s fatigue. As mentioned above, the brain has to work harder to keep up with hearing loss, and as a result, it uses a lot of energy, leaving you feeling zapped. As a result, you’ll have less energy to focus on your projects and get your work done.
Wearing your hearing aids will help with this, as well. Hearing aids increase the amount of sound information that gets sent to the brain, meaning it won’t have to work as hard to fill in the blanks. Additionally, background noise suppression will take a load off your brain, as it won’t have to spend extra energy identifying and filtering out background noise.
Phone and Virtual Communication
A lot of work is done these days virtually or over the phone, which can present incredible challenges for people with hearing loss. Sounds, especially speech, can come across as garbled or tinny on the phone or over Zoom, and, in many cases, the visual communication cues we rely on are removed.
For these, try using transcription services or apps. There are many available. These apps can transcribe your conversations in real time, allowing you to read anything you might have missed and check back on your notes later.
Safety Considerations
Finally, in some workplaces, safety can be compromised with hearing loss. Since high pitches are the first to go with age-related and noise-related hearing loss, you might not hear alarms, pings, alerts or other types of notifications. Your spatial awareness is also compromised with hearing loss, as our sense of hearing is critical to being aware of our surroundings. In these cases, hearing loss treatment, like hearing aids, is more than just a productivity aid; it’s a safety necessity.
To learn more about hearing loss treatment, talk to an audiologist. Our team at Wilmington Audiology Services will help you find the treatment plan that works for you, which will, in turn, help you be more productive and confident at work.