To achieve cohesive success, it’s crucial to know how to communicate successfully with coworkers. While everyone has different strengths, it’s likely that those that are working well in certain positions fall into a particular communication style.
By being able to assess the communication style of each employee, you will have a better chance of “speaking their language” when you are trying to communicate and discovering how best to delegate tasks to that person.
The four conversation styles are said to be:
- Analytical Communication Style
- Intuitive Communication Style
- Functional Communication Style
- Personal Communication Style
While individuals will likely lean toward one or the other, for a manager or executive, it is useful to be as versed as possible in all four styles. Ultimately, considering communication style when coordinating interactions, particularly within teams, can be extremely useful and help build critical communication skills.
Analytical Communication Style: If your team member speaks mostly in metrics and solid data, then they likely appreciate this same conversation style to be reciprocated. This means less in the way of small talk or speculation and more discussions on precise ways concepts can be backed up concretely.
Intuitive Communication Style: It is important to give someone who is more intuitive the latitude they need to dream and innovate. While they may not initially know HOW something will be accomplished, someone who speaks in this style can be persuasive and savvy when it comes to the evolution of the industry.
Functional Communication Style: These are the people that thrive when put in charge of meetings, deadlines, and milestones. Allow them to take charge where applicable. At the end of a meeting, for example, this person might go back over everything that was discussed and create action steps for all the team members. This is an invaluable skill that you will want to foster in a teammate.
Personal Communication Style: When clients need to be handled or customers need to be listened to, the personable person will be your best agent. Give them tasks that are less about metrics and more about networking and it will be a recipe for success.
The visual below from Nextiva gets more in-depth the concept of conversational style in the workplace, but basically, it’s important to use the concept to aid you when considering who to hire or how best to distribute tasks and craft teams.
