Chapter 3 teams and team work

Supportive Style

-Upper left hand quadrant that combines high dominance with high sociability -Cooperative, patient, and attentive -Listens attentively -Avoids use of power -Makes and expresses decisions in a thoughtful, deliberate manner

Identifying your preferred communication style

-communication style is just one dimension of personality

Communication style model

-describes your preferences, not your abilities

Flexing to reflective style

-Appeal to the person's orderly, systematic approach to life. Be well organized. -Approach this person in a straightforward, direct manner. -Get down to business quickly. -Be as accurate and realistic as possible when presenting information. -Messages (written or oral) should be detailed and precise. -The pace of verbal messages should be slow and systematic.

Flexing to the directive style

-Be specific, brief, and to the point. Use time efficiently. -Present the facts logically, and be prepared to provide specific answers to questions. -Maintain a pace that is fast and decisive; project an image of strength and confidence. -Messages (written or oral) should be short and to the point.

The dominance continuum

-Dominance is defined as: displaying a take charge attitude -The dominance continuum is a chart that shows the level of dominance you have LOW DOMINANCE -These people are characterized by a tendency to be cooperative and eager to assist others. They tend to be low in assertiveness and are more willing to be controlled by others HIGH DOMINANCE -These people give advice freely and frequently initiate demands. They are more assertive and tend to seek control over others -The first step to determining your preferred communication style is to find where you fall on dominance continuum scale

Where should you be on sociability continuum?

-Everywhere, there is no best place to be -A person who is low in sociability is more likely to display a serious, no-nonsense attitude when dealing with other people. This person may be seen as impersonal and businesslike -They are perceived as being concerned with relationships and therefore are easy to get to know

Tips on style identification

-Learn to be observant -different situations bring out different behaviors -the continuum -dominance

Strength and weakness paradox

-Problems arise when people overextend or rely too much on the strengths of their style -Some people rely too heavily on established strengths and fail to develop new skills that will increase their versatility.

Flexing to supportive style

-Show a sincere interest in the person. Take time to identify areas of common interest. -Patiently draw out personal views and goals. Listen and be responsive to the person's needs. -Present your views in a quiet, nonthreatening manner. Do not be pushy. -Put a priority on relationship building and communication.

The sociability continuum

-Sociability can be defined as tendency to seek and enjoy social relationships. -Those high in sociability usually express their feelings freely, whereas people low on the continuum tend to control their feelings -This is the second step in determining your preferred communication style

Flexing the emotive style

-Take time to build a social as well as a business relationship. Leave time for relating and socializing. -Display interest in the person's ideas, interests, and experiences. -Do not place too much emphasis on details. Emotive people like fast-moving, inspirational verbal exchanges. -Maintain a pace that is fast and somewhat spontaneous.

Communication style bias

-it is the "you" that is displayed everyday, the outer pattern of behavior that others can see -it is the state of mind that occurs at the unconscious level -Wilson learning offers program "building relationship versatility: social styles at work." this helps employees develop interpersonal skills needed to work with people of different communication styles

Reflective Style

-lower left hand quadrant that combines low dominance and low sociability -Does not make decisions quickly -Albert Einstein fits description -Expresses opinions in disciplined, deliberate manner -Seems to be preoccupied (difficult to get to know) -Prefers orderliness

Directive Style

-lower right hand quadrant that combines high dominance with low sociability -an example would be someone like Donald Trump -Projects serious attitude -Expresses strong opinion -May project indifference

Versatality

-people who can create and maintain interpersonal relationships regardless of communication styles -Acting in ways that earn social endorsement (peoples approval of our behavior) -people give endorsement when they feel comfortable and non defensive -it is independent of style -its what we exhibit ourselves vs what we elicit from others

Personality and communication style

-psychologist view personality as unique pattern of enduring thoughts and actions that characterize a person -styles of communication is an acquired skill that can be learned -once learned you can use it all of your life

Variation within communication style

-styles will vary with intensity such as moderately dominant or strongly dominant ZONE ONE -They will not be as obvious in their gestures, tone of voice, speech patterns, or emotional expressions ZONE TWO -It is important to understand that under certain conditions, people will abandon their preferred style temporarily.You can sometimes observe this behavior change when a person is upset or angry -Rosa Parks is a good example of being usually shy and timid but was not when asked to get up EXCESS ZONE -"Danger zone" -inflexible and lack versatility -usually when people are under stress or not feeling well -promotes breakdown with human relations

Where should you be on dominance continuum scale?

-successful people can be found on all point of scale -someone with low dominance may need to temporarily become more assertive to achieve an objective -A person with too high dominance may seem as inflexible and have a difficult time establishing a cooperative relationship with others.

Word of caution

-tempting to put a label on someone and assume the label tells you everything -we should not classify people, we should classify their strengths and preferences -experience the person as a dynamic process, look at the fine print on the box and carefully study the ingredients inside the package

Communication style

-the impressions people form about us are based on what they observe us saying and doing -communication style is the pattern that others can observe -Accurate self-knowledge is truly the starting point for effectiveness at work -become aware of your employees communication styles

Emotive Style

-the upper right hand quadrant combines high sociability and high dominance -an example would be someone like Ellen DeGeneres -animated, frequent laughs, makes it seem like informal atmosphere -extroversion -persuasive -spontaneous behavior

Fundamental concepts supporting communication styles

1. Individual differences exist and are important. Length of eye contact, speech patterns, gestures, etc, are characteristics of personal communication style. 2.Individual style differences tend to be stable. Every individual develops a primary communication style that remains stable throughout life 3. There is a limited number of styles. People generally fall into four behavior categories: -intuitor -thinker -feeler -sensor 4. Communication style is a way of thinking and behaving. It is not an ability but instead a preferred way of using ability one has. -ability is how well someone can do something -style is how someone likes to do something 5. To create the most productive working relationships, it is necessary to get in sync with (mirror) the behavior patterns (communication style) of the people you work with. -learning to adapt your style to fit the needs of another person is called "style flexing"