The Art of Communicating With Different Communication Styles
As individuals we tend to prefer some forms of communication over others.
As business leaders it is our responsibility to understand not only our preferred communication style but also the communication styles of those that surround us.
For a company to succeed, everyone must feel safe enough to demonstrate the gifts and talents that they have to offer.
If the people around you don't feel comfortable communicating with you, it can be hard to properly utilize everyone's unique contribution.
There are two main styles of communication; active - fast paced / direct and thoughtful - moderate paced / indirect.
An active / direct communicator will look you in the eyes and tell you what they think.
This usually occurs in short, non-involved statements.
A thoughtful / indirect communicator tends to approach subjects in a more round-about way.
They ensure that you have all the possible information that you might need about themselves and about what they need to tell you to fully understand what they are trying to say.
When these two communication styles are working together on a project, the active communicator should be watchful that they don't overwhelm the thoughtful communicator with orders.
In return the thoughtful communicator should remember to speak in a confident and direct manner to the more active communicator.
This will help ensure that the thoughtful communicator's ideas are heard.
While we are at work we tend to be either task oriented or people oriented.
Task oriented people focus on getting the task done first and then are able to give their attention to the people around them.
A task oriented person will disregard the feelings of others in exchange for making sure the task gets completed.
It is not that they do not care about the people around them, they do, they just need to get the task done before they can show it.
People oriented people tend to want to connect with those around them first and then can move their attention to accomplishing a task.
Neither way is right or wrong...
just different.
Every work environment involves a mix of these four behavior styles.
Learning how to properly communicate with each one will assist you in efficiently and effectively connecting with your clients and your employees.
The system of putting this information to use for you begins with evaluating and understanding your own personal communication style.
CEO Systems recommends that every executive take the DiSC(R) Behavioral Style Profile assessment.
Taking this assessment will offer you valuable insight into your own unique communication style and how to connect with others.
As business leaders it is our responsibility to understand not only our preferred communication style but also the communication styles of those that surround us.
For a company to succeed, everyone must feel safe enough to demonstrate the gifts and talents that they have to offer.
If the people around you don't feel comfortable communicating with you, it can be hard to properly utilize everyone's unique contribution.
There are two main styles of communication; active - fast paced / direct and thoughtful - moderate paced / indirect.
An active / direct communicator will look you in the eyes and tell you what they think.
This usually occurs in short, non-involved statements.
A thoughtful / indirect communicator tends to approach subjects in a more round-about way.
They ensure that you have all the possible information that you might need about themselves and about what they need to tell you to fully understand what they are trying to say.
When these two communication styles are working together on a project, the active communicator should be watchful that they don't overwhelm the thoughtful communicator with orders.
In return the thoughtful communicator should remember to speak in a confident and direct manner to the more active communicator.
This will help ensure that the thoughtful communicator's ideas are heard.
While we are at work we tend to be either task oriented or people oriented.
Task oriented people focus on getting the task done first and then are able to give their attention to the people around them.
A task oriented person will disregard the feelings of others in exchange for making sure the task gets completed.
It is not that they do not care about the people around them, they do, they just need to get the task done before they can show it.
People oriented people tend to want to connect with those around them first and then can move their attention to accomplishing a task.
Neither way is right or wrong...
just different.
Every work environment involves a mix of these four behavior styles.
Learning how to properly communicate with each one will assist you in efficiently and effectively connecting with your clients and your employees.
The system of putting this information to use for you begins with evaluating and understanding your own personal communication style.
CEO Systems recommends that every executive take the DiSC(R) Behavioral Style Profile assessment.
Taking this assessment will offer you valuable insight into your own unique communication style and how to connect with others.