In my last Insight, I discussed different communication styles that people have, but it’s not enough to just identify the different communication styles of employees. Employers must also develop a communication approach that can adjust to each style.
As important as self-awareness and the knowledge of other people’s communication styles is, what’s really important is that you take action based on the knowledge you now have.
Just having knowledge isn’t enough. You need to prepare a plan and create a flexible approach to leverage the knowledge you have about others’ communication styles.
Also, although what you learn in the classroom is important, it’s more important to take what you learned in the classroom and apply it to your daily work.
In so many cases, people walk out of a training class refreshed, interested and invigorated, but then they put the materials and the knowledge on a shelf and don’t change how they approach communication.
So overall, I think it’s most important for individuals to commit themselves to using the information they learned in order to make necessary changes and get better in touch with other people.
There are three common mistakes I see employers make with developing a communication approach.
- The first is the fact that, as adults, people have difficulty changing habits and behaviors. People are creatures of habit, and that can be hard to change. Also, the older a person gets, the often more difficult it is to change how he/she does things.
It takes a lot of effort to make changes in your life, but sometimes you have to continue to adopt new habits over time and make it part of the way you do things.
- The second mistake is not even attempting to flex your communication approach. That’s probably the worst mistake of all. People who don’t try to change their approach just continue dealing with things the old way, even after they’ve seen the value in a new approach.
The other area within this big mistake is backsliding. Some people attempt change for a short period of time, then give up if they find it to be too difficult.
Instead, you need to go out there and continue to work on changing how you deal with people. You have to recognize that you can change aspects of how you are, as long as you’re willing to give it your all and not give up, even when the change takes you outside your comfort zone.
- A third mistake I see commonly is overcompensating. For example, now that you know an employee’s particular communication style, you brand him with it and take a “one-size-fits-all” approach to that style, without recognizing that human beings are all unique.
Even if you know an employee’s communication style doesn’t mean you should prepare a cookie-cutter approach. You still need to adjust your approach and allow for individual differences.
Steps to Developing an Effective Communication Approach
- Increase your self-awareness and the self-awareness of others—There are a number of different types of communication-styles assessments out there that can help you increase your awareness. These assessments can help you identify your communication style and predict the communication style of other people.
It sets the stage for making changes.
- Create written documentation—You want to make sure you document the communication styles you identify, then you want to develop a plan for how you’re going to approach people differently now that you have knowledge about their communication styles.
You might document this by listing each individual in your workplace, as well as listing their characteristics and then deciding how you’re going to change your communication approach.
For instance, if you know your colleague is a very direct person who requires direct answers, you should make a better effort to provide that in your communications with that particular colleague.
- Conduct a self-assessment after communicating with someone—How well did you handle interaction with that person? What are the things that you did well and that you did not so well?
Give yourself a self-evaluation or some feedback on how you did. Then keep plugging away and trying to get to know people’s communication styles and adjusting your approach when communicating to them.
Many of the problems I see in the workplace are the result of poor communication. These problems could be resolved, however, by taking the time to learn about communication styles and tailoring your communication approach to each person’s unique style.
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