Four different communication styles!!!

What communication style should I use to communicate with you?  What and how should I tell you?  Should I be straight to the point, should I tell stories, should I be a sympathetic listener, or should I be precise? There are four dominant styles of communication including Direct, Spirited, Considerate, and Systematic. To tell what is the dominant style of another person you can observe their qualities and see which category they fall into.

What communication style should I use to communicate with you?  What and how should I tell you?  Should I be straight to the point, should I tell stories, should I be a sympathetic listener, or should I be precise? There are four dominant styles of communication including Direct, Spirited, Considerate, and Systematic. To tell what is the dominant style of another person you can observe their qualities and see which category they fall into.

Direct	Spirited	Considerate	Systematic
Straight to the point	Tells stories	Doesn’t offer opinions	Precise
Poor listener	Doesn’t hear details	Sympathetic listener	Seeks facts
Bold	Enthusiastic	Slow	Controlled
Suggest power	Cluttered	Displays photos	organized

I will focus on the considerate communicators since I belong to that group.
People who are the most comfortable with considerate communication style generally fall under the category of being nice.
Strengths of Considerate communicators  
–  good listeners
– build strong relationships on trust
– appreciative of others
–  reliable, patient, and easy to get along with
–  strong team players
Trouble spots of Considerate communicators
– have trouble prioritizing
– have trouble making decisions
– not delegate well
– tell you what you want to hear rather than the reality
– picks up slack for everyone
– places too much emphasis on feelings

When does nice become too nice?
Considerate people are great team players. They are also known as the glue that holds the team together. However, they are not able to give accurate feedback which could keep a person under the false impression that everything they are doing is great. Also, they pick up your slack which might deprive you of an opportunity to show what you can do. Considerate people also have a hard time adapting to change. These are all qualities that hinder the considerate people as well as all of them around them.

Tips to communicate with people whose dominant style is considerate:
– have one on one conversation with them
– be cooperative
– listen to them just like they listen to you
– build a trust based relationship with them
– tell them about changes early on so that they can take their time to adapt to them

I have focused on the considerate style since that is my dominant style however, I find that I am able to adapt to other communication styles at times depending on the situation. Do you have a coworker whose dominant style of communication is considerate? How do you communicate with them? What are some things that you do differently from the tips mentioned above? Are there some things that you try but just don’t work?

Without looking at the qualities listed above can you match the image to the type of communication style it is portraying?