TYPES OF COMMUNICATION

We all use many types of communication but most of us never spent much time knowing which one we’re actually using and whether or not it’s effective for us. Understanding the different styles of communication is very essential especially if we’re aiming to develop the effectiveness on how we interact with people on both professional and personal aspects.
 
Have you ever had a training or a business meeting before where you can actually tell that your listeners’ attention is somewhere else? Or perhaps they’re doing something not related to what you’re discussing about which is somewhat rude on your part, but why some those people do it? It is possible that the style of communication you are using at that time may not be suitable for those people or situation.
 
Now to cite some of these examples, here are 4 styles of communication you might need to discover and how to potentially change the pattern in the way you approach or deliver your statements.
 
 
ANALYTICAL COMMUNICATOR
 
Analytical communicators are often the people who like real numbers, hard data, or any tangible proofs to confirm certain information given to them. Most of them are not rude, rather they are just as likely to become more of a critic than a listener especially if they cannot find specific answers from any given statements to prove your point.
 
One of the examples for this type of communicator is if you mentioned to the group, “Guys, I appreciate your hard work! The results went massively high compared to the last quarter!”
 
Analytical communicators would more likely to react as, “What does ‘massively high’ mean?”
 
To best capture, their attention, instead of generalizing your statement, try to phrase your ideas in a way the best resonates with them like, “Great job! The total result of our closed sales has increased 20% since the last quarter!”
 
In short, try your best to avoid emotional or expressive languages since analytical communicators are data-driven but they are perceived to have the informational intelligence to contribute and help the team.
 
 
PERSONAL COMMUNICATOR
 
Unlike analytical communicators, personal communicators' style works somewhat the opposite. They tend to value emotional statements and would generally try to use the style to gain or build relationships with others.
 
As with our first statement example say when you mentioned to the group, “Guys, I appreciate your hard work! The results went massively high compared to the last quarter!”
 
Personal communicators would either be contented and happy with what you said or you can upraise the emotional a little by saying, “Kudos to everyone! Our total result for closed sales have increased 20% since the last quarter and that’s the first time in two years we’ve done that! Thanks to everyone!”
 
Looking at personal communicators, they are certainly very relationship-focused but you have to be mindful especially if some of your listeners are analytical communicators.
 
 
 
INTUITIVE COMMUNICATORS
 
Intuitive communicators are not difficult to handle, however, they are generally like to focus more on the bigger picture, trying to avoid or eliminate the details and cut right to the chase. You’ll find that these people would talk less and they are quite inadequate when providing complete information. They tend to jump right to the final step of the process after giving or skipping a few steps.
 
In most cases, this style of communication would often be popular among bosses and clients. So it’s best to understand the right approach by giving them important information while keeping it social when matching the details with their interest rather than having them wait for your next episode.
 
 
 
FUNCTIONAL COMMUNICATORS
 
This type of communicators can be the most favorable amongst all. Functional communicators are good listeners and patient. They tend to welcome most of the information given in the process and they like thinking through each of the details provided in which they would rarely miss a single information when implementing important plans or procedures.
 
Functional communicators will find comfort with ideas presented to them but in most cases, these communicators are not fully compatible with intuitive communicators.
 
Having a hard time finding which communication style works for your business structure? Here at WorkLink VAs, our Virtual Assistants are required to present their behavior assessment overview (DISC profile) as part of our pre-screening process. This helps you understand the character type of the VA before hiring them. Feel free to schedule a consultation today so we can help you get the right Virtual Assistant for you and your business.