You know how important good communication is, and you know that it’s a skill we can never improve too much. But did you know that just like there are different types of personalities, there are also different communication styles, and more importantly do you know what your own communication style is? Not all communication styles are effective. So it’s important to understand not just what the different communications styles in the workplace are, but also, what makes for an effective communication style in the workplace.
The Four Basic Communication Styles ( In The Workplace) The common and classic definitions of the four basic communication styles are passive, passive-aggressive, aggressive and assertive and you can probably think of someone you work with who falls under each style. But in case you were wondering here’s a summary of each of these styles and how it looks in action:
Passive Passive communicators avoid expressing their own feelings and opinions. Instead, they let others speak freely and without challenge. Common signs that someone has a passive communication style include :
Letting others have their way
avoiding confrontation
struggling to say no
Lack of eye contact
Not reacting to anger or hurtful remarks
seeming indifferent
Trying to keep the peace
Eyes looking down/ lack of eye contact
With this list, it’s easy to see how having a passive communication style can lead to internal frustration, pain or even pent up anger. And for others, it can also be difficult since you never really know what the passive communicator is thinking, feeling or what they really want.
Having a passive communication style at work means not speaking up about your ideas, not challenging others even when you know their wrong, not letting people know about your achievements and not throwing your hat in the right for things you know you could do a great job at. Ultimately, it means you’re likely to be passed over for projects and promotions and you won’t get the recognition you probably deserve! In short, passive communication is not on one of the effective communication styles in the workplace.
Aggressive While you might find it hard to spot the passive communicator because they’ll be hiding in the background, the aggressive communicator is the complete opposite. If there’s anyone in your life that has an aggressive communication style, then you would have experienced the commanding and dominating nature of this style of communication. Aggressive communicators can be hard to bear since their approach can be very much “my way or the high way” and they don’t listen to or consider other people’s views and options. Signs that someone has an aggressive communication style include;
Being emotionally charged
Denying others an opinion
Not having consideration or empathy for others
Being insulting
Criticizing, intimidating or attacking others
Having a win at all costs attitude
Dominating conversations and not letting other people have a say
Ordering people to do things in a manner which comes across dictatorial
Being disrespectful of others
Being rude.
Intense or even scary eye contact ( Shudder!)
If you’re a competitive person, then you might be wondering what’s wrong with wanting to win! After all, who doesn’t like winning! But the issue with aggressive communication is that it’s a one-way street. Telling not discussing, commanding not asking and put up and shut up. Aggressive communicators can damage other people’s self-esteem and since they won’t allow others a say, decisions they make are often unilateral, not taking other perspectives into consideration which can cause all manner of issues down the line, especially in a work environment. Even if you don’t have a naturally passive communication style, when you work with someone who has an extremely aggressive style, you might find that you decide to just let them have their way to avoid all the headache, on the flip side, you might find yourself constantly having heated arguments and getting angry when this isn’t in your nature either. Neither of which is good.
But wait… People with aggressive communication styles can be seen as leaders and be placed into senior roles. Since they can command respect- or be it through fear and can get the job done, even if that means bulldozing through others. But while an aggressive communication style might get you so far, the reality is that people won’t necessarily have any loyalty or real respect for you if you don’t treat them in the right way. So, is an aggressive style an effective communication style at work or not? Well, if you don’t care about trampling on a few people to get to where you’re going then an aggressive communication style is what you need, but if you really want to get the best out of people, whether it’s your team or your peers then this style of communication is definitely not effective long term.
Passive-aggressive If being passive makes you a potential doormat and subject to being taken advantage of, and being aggressive makes you a monster, then perhaps being passive-aggressive is good in between? Wrong! In the book, The Angry Smile: The Psychology of Passive Aggressive Behavior in Families, Schools, and Workplaces, “passive aggression” is defined as a deliberate and masked way of expressing covert feelings of anger (Long, Long & Whitson, 2008). Passive-aggressive communicators struggle to communicate their anger. On the surface of it, they might appear to be corporative or fine with things, but deep down their seething. But unlike your passive friend or colleague who likely won’t do anything about it, if you’ve got under the skin of someone who’s passive aggressive, then make no mistake, they’ll definitely take action. It just might not be as immediately obvious how. While they won’t get visibly angry, people who have a passive-aggressive communication style will show their anger in other ways. Here are some of the signs that you might be dealing with a passive-aggressive communicator:
Muttering things under their breath rather than having an open dialogue
Being nice to your face then spreading rumors behind your back
Sabotaging other people’s efforts
Giving backhanded compliments
Being insulting or sarcastic and passing it off as a joke
Saying they’ll do things when they really don’t want to then dig their heels in and procrastinating
Giving the silent treatment
Basically, anything horrible that you can think of. Dealing with someone who has a passive-aggressive style can be downright frustrating because it’s not always obvious what they’re doing. What’s worse is that confronting them about it isn’t likely to do the trick, they’ll simply get defensive or say, you’re being crazy and that they don’t know what you’re on about. AARRGH! The verdict, a passive-aggressive style of communication is NOT effective.
Assertive The assertive communication style is the holy grail of great communication and is the most effective style of communication ( as defined by these four classic styles). If you have an assertive communication style then you are well on your way to success! You’re able to voice your thoughts and opinions while respecting the thoughts and opinions of others. As an assertive communicator, you always aim for balance. Whether it’s having a win-win in a negotiation, or just making sure that everyone gets their say. And when it comes to feelings and emotions, where the aggressive communicator is highly charged, focused on attacking and blaming the other person, you take ownership of your emotions. Some of the signs of an assertive communication style include:
Good eye contact ( not the staring you down kind! )
Being able to say no ( something we can all do with getting better at)!
Listening to others
Being able to voice your needs, views, and opinions in a confident yet respectful manner
Recognizing when you might be wrong
So, there you have it, the four classic communication styles. You’ll definitely deal with all of them at some point or another in your career or personal life. At least now you can be armed and ready because you know what to expect and what to look out for.
But that’s not it where communication styles are concerned. Just like personality is complex, communication styles are too and that’s why there are other ways that different communication styles can be defined. Another way to define communication styles The Research of Mark Murphy and his team looks at and defines different communication styles in another way. This approach shows that different styles of communication will be less or more effective in different situations. So really, the most effective communication style in the workplace will really depend on what the circumstances are. The research found that there were four different styles, however, these were analytical, functional, intuitive and personal. Where these four styles are concerned, what’s classed as an effective communication style in the workplace will depend on the specific situation and whose involved.
The analytical one The analytical communicator loves the detail. More specifically, People with an analytical style of communication prefer to focus on the hard facts and The data. If you’re an analytical communicator then you’ll love the nitty-gritty and you’ll like it when things are super specific, no wishy-washy ness for you! The more specific the better. Benefits There are lots of advantages to being an analytical communicator. Since analytical communicators are focused on data and hard facts this means if you’re an analytical communicator you’ll find it easier to remain objective and keep the emotion out of things. This can come in handy when it comes to having difficult discussions or when you’re trying to make a case for something… like an increased training budget perhaps. Also, If you’ve got a presentation or project to deliver then it’s worth running things past the analytical person in the team since they could spot any missing gaps in the facts and figures.
The functional one If you’re a functional communicator then it’s highly likely you’re a master of process. Functional communicators love the step by step. Just like for the analytical communicator, the facts are important, but more than that, you love the process!
Benefits If you need a process mapped then you need a functional communicator on the team. Functional communicators want to make sure that everything is crystal clear which obviously has huge benefits.
The Intuitive one When it comes to the intuitive communicator it’s enough with all the detail. If you have an intuitive communication style then you just want the big picture, the high-level view. You don’t need the data, the detail and the linear process, just the broad brush strokes will do. The one that keeps things personal. If you often find yourself thinking, enough with all the data, the facts, and the detail, what about the people involved? Then you’re more than likely a personal communicator. As the name suggests, if you’re a personal communicator, then you’re as concerned with the person who’s giving the information as you are with the information itself.
To Conclude
As you can see, there are lots of things to consider when it comes to effective communication styles in the workplace. The important thing is that you’re aware that different people have different preferred natural styles of communicating. By knowing that these different styles exist and what to expect from each one, you’ll be able to work with different types of people much more successfully, whether that means tailoring your style or approach to suit someone in your team, or picking the right person for the job where a project is concerned. And where your own communication style is concerned, if you’ve read something here that concerned or shocked you, then it’s never too late to turn a new leaf and start learning to communicate in a way that’s much more effective and conducive to better relationships at work and in other areas of your life.
Source: https://www.sheownssuccess.com/skills/most-effective-communication-styles/
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