Have you ever met someone that you just couldn’t get through to? While there could be many reasons for this, one of the most common reasons is that your communication “style” is different than the other person’s communication style. One of the best ways to quickly improve the effectiveness of your communication is to adapt your communication style to match theirs.
Good communication requires a high level of self awareness and is not just down to the organisations formal and informal communication flow. At Office & Training Solutions we have used the below model of four communication styles recently with an organisation that had identified real issues in internal communication which impacted greatly on relationships at all levels. This self discovery exercise was of great benefit to the organisation and highlighted for each individual the necessity to adapt their style to maximise the effectiveness of each interaction with their colleagues
The Eagle (The Controller/Director)
The Controller is easy to spot because they just want the facts and nothing but the facts. They can be perceived as bossy and insensitive as they are extremely goal oriented and their major motivation is to get things done. They’ll take a project and run with it, often they won’t have a plan when they begin and they will just ” figure it out as they go.” The Controller has little use for details, so don’t give them any more details than are absolutely necessary to get your point across.
Some tips for communicating with the Eagle:
| v Be efficient and businesslike. | |
| v Get to the point. | |
| v Set and clarify goals and objectives. | |
| v Give them conclusions and only provide details if asked. | |
| v Go to them with solutions not problems | |
| v Talk in terms of results |
The Peacock (The Promoter/Socialiser)
You know the Promoter…they’re the life of the party, love people and love to talk. Their natural sociability allows them to talk for long periods of time about almost anything. They have an attractive personalit, are enthusiastic, curious, and expressive.
Some tips for communicating with the Peacock:
| v Leave plenty of time for talk and social niceties. | |
| v Ask them about their family, children etc. and be prepared to talk about yours. | |
| v If possible, let them “experience” what you are communicating. | |
| v Talk in terms of people and stories. | |
| v Use lots of examples. |
The Dove (The Supporter/Relater)
The person with a Supporter communication style typically has a low key personality and is calm, cool and collected. They tend to be patient, well balanced and are typically competent and steady workers who do not like to be involved in conflict. Although when there is conflict they may be called upon to mediate the problem. They are good listeners and usually have many friends and avoid offending people.
Some tips for communicating with the Dove:
| v Don’t come on too strong. | |
| v Earn their trust in small steps | |
| v Don’t ask for big decisions right away. | |
| v Provide plenty of reassurance. | |
| v Talk in terms of security |
The Owl (The Analyzer/Thinker)
These are the “facts and figures” people. They love to gather details and organize things. They tend to be deep, thoughtful, analytical, serious and purposeful. Because their communication style includes a need for details, they sometimes hesitate to make decisions if they feel that they don’t have enough facts. They love lists, charts, graphs and figures. Because they pay so much attention to details, they can sometime be seen as being pessimistic.
Some tips for communicating with the Owl
| v Make sure you are well prepared. | |
| v Have plenty of facts and figures. | |
| v Be prepared for scepticism. | |
| v Answer all of their questions. | |
| v Go relatively slow to give them time to think and analyze. |
Which of the above do you think you are naturally …..an Eagle, Peacock, Dove or Owl?
Why not contact Orla at orla@ots.ie to identify your communication style ….
