Why Understanding Communication Styles is Vital for Team Success
Effective communication is the lifeblood of any successful team.
But it doesn't happen in a vacuum; it's influenced by each team member's unique style. Whether you're a senior leader, or a new starter, understanding your colleagues’ communication styles can make a dramatic difference to your daily interactions, which in turn produces a harmonious and productive work environment.
Each of the four styles is a bit like coffee: the right amount is a real asset, too much can be detrimental to yourself and others!
Self-awareness it the key to making the most of these strengths. And of course, the reality is that we are all a mix. Which style/s do you identify with?
Understanding the Four Communication Styles
Those with high AMIABLE characteristics are:
🤝 Cooperative, loyal, and supportive, creating a warm, inclusive atmosphere.
🤝 Respectful, patient, and excellent listeners and often contribute to the team feeling like a family.
👀 However, their tendency towards compliance and soft-heartedness may sometimes lead to a lack of assertiveness, direction and pace.
👀They might avoid conflict, even when it's necessary for progress.
📈 By setting boundaries and speaking up more assertively, they can maintain their nurturing role while also encouraging a proactive, accountable team culture.
Those with high EXPRESSIVE characteristics:
🤝 Generate many ideas, always full of enthusiasm and creativity.
🤝Are outgoing, persuasive, and often the driving force behind team morale. They can inspire their peers and ignite a spark in team projects.
👀 Their lively nature can sometimes result in impulsivity or unrealistic expectations.
👀 Their enthusiasm can get the better of them, making them pushy at times.
📈 By tempering their spontaneity with thoughtful planning, they can still inspire their teams while also leading them in a more grounded, realistic direction.
Those with high ANALYTICAL traits:
🤝 Bring precision and rigour
🤝 Are logical, thorough, and systematic, often providing the structured backbone a team needs to navigate complex tasks.
👀This methodical, task-based approach can sometimes make them appear cold or distant, and their insistence on detail may frustrate others and slow down decision-making processes.
📈By showing empathy and pragmatism they can maintain their detail-oriented strengths while building stronger relationships within the team.
Those with high DRIVER traits are:
🤝 Action-oriented and decisive, often pushing the team towards its goals with an unyielding focus.
🤝Candid, pragmatic, and efficient.
👀Their direct nature and intense focus on goals can make them appear insensitive or overly demanding to others, which might create tension in the team.
📈By exercising patience and showing a genuine interest in team members' input, they can drive results without driving people away.
Questions to consider: Which style/s do you use predominantly?
How do they help you communicate?
When do their traits get in the way?
If you’re interested in developing your own, or your team’s communication skills through leadership coaching or our Effective Leadership Training programmes do contact me.
Kate Jennings