Guest Blog: Laura Benjamin, President, Pinehurst Press Ltd. Communication & Career Strategies
How many times have you looked at a co-worker, friend, or member of your own family and wondered what planet they fell from? Does it surprise you that despite all the similarities you share with another person there are still occasions when it’s like they’re speaking an alien language?
It’s an undisputed truth that communication can make or break an organization. It is the most frequently used tool and can be the greatest factor to influence our success and ability to get the job done, as well as the one variable that can cause the greatest misunderstanding.
The 4 basic communication styles are:
1. DIRECT: Direct communicators seek action and results. They speak in a very direct, specific, clear-cut way designed to “cut to the chase” and get right down to business. They are change-agents, known for their ability to get the job done and don’t spend much time on niceties and small talk. It’s easy to misinterpret their direct approach as demanding, highly assertive and sometimes abrasive.
2. ANALYTIC: Analytical communicators want to do it right. Their communication style centers on clarifying, correcting, analyzing and evaluating accuracy. They focus on specifics, down to every detail and nuance and tend to be very successful at quality control responsibilities. They may grow impatient if you avoid their questions or respond with vague, general statements. They can be misinterpreted as being too critical.
3. COLLABORATORS: Collaborative communicators want consensus. They strive to create areas of agreement and commonality to gain cooperation. They tend to be peacemakers and avoid contentious communication, even if it means they have to go above and beyond what most people would do to achieve a goal.
4. INFLUENCERS: Influencers want to be liked. They usually start a conversation with the niceties and can spend the majority of their time on “social talk” before getting down to business. They like to paint a broad picture with words and set the stage to gradually transition over to their main point or purpose. They may avoid saying exactly what they mean.
Each of us has our own unique style. You can usually tell if someone has a similar communication style as your own, because conversation will flow easily and naturally.
One person isn’t flawed or wrong for having a style that doesn’t match your own–they are just different! It is up to us to work towards understanding each style’s qualities and adapt our approach to meet our communication destination.
(Editors note: Laura Benjamin wrote a focus book for HDI on communication Styles and is still very active in the communication strategy world. For more information on Laura, check out her website at: www.laurabenjamin.com )
