COMMUNICATION STYLES - PART III

by Kathy Reiffenstein

In the last two posts, we’ve looked at the four communication styles, based on Carl Jung’s work: Intuitor, Thinker, Senser and Feeler.

And while it’s interesting to learn about how different people look at the world and communicate their ideas, we have to ask ourselves…so what? How can we take this information and apply it to our communications to improve our effectiveness? [Can you tell that’s a Senser speaking??]

So let’s take a look at how we can leverage our knowledge about each of the styles to see how each style can communicate most successfully with the others.

INTUITORS

The Intuitor’s biggest challenge is communicating in concrete enough terms to meet the needs of the other styles.

To interact with a Thinker, try to be less abstract and offer some tangible facts and analysis to support your theory or argument.

To interact with a Senser, translate your concepts and theories so the Senser can see the practical application.

To interact with a Feeler, ask for her insights about how to get the other people in the department on board with your theories.

THINKERS

The Thinker’s biggest challenge is recognizing when more research and analysis is unnecessary and will just delay a decision.

To interact with an Intuitor, be willing to engage in some speculation and brainstorming without immediately applying constraints and limitations.

To interact with a Senser, show her how your facts and analysis are directly related to the end result or the decision at hand.

To interact with a Feeler, show a little enthusiasm and enlist her support in explaining the rationale behind the rules or regulations you’re responsible for.

SENSERS

The Senser’s biggest challenge is not discounting others’ points-of-view in her race to get things accomplished.

To interact with an Intuitor, be patient and allow the Intuitor to do some brainstorming or conceptualizing, recognizing that you can always guide the conversation to more practical ground.

To interact with a Thinker, back up your argument with facts and logic and don’t press the Thinker for an immediate decision.

To interact with a Feeler, take a few moments at the beginning of a conversation to establish rapport or ask the Feeler how she’s doing; this investment of time will pay off in increased cooperation and productivity.

FEELERS

The Feeler’s biggest challenge is being so concerned about other people’s feelings that she avoids difficult conversations.

To interact with an Intuitor, don’t overreact when she proposes an idea that you know will be unpopular with your colleagues.

To interact with a Thinker, frame your communication with facts rather than intuition or “gut feel.”

To interact with a Senser, get to the point and position any people concerns in terms of how they will impact the project deadline or bottom line.

OPPOSITE STYLES

Rather than viewing opposite styles as sources of conflict, view them as complementing each other and compensating for each other’s weaknesses.

An Intuitor is complemented by a Sensor:

• to ask practical questions
• to anticipate criticism
• to translate strategy into workable projects
• to get things done

A Thinker is complemented by a Feeler:

• to reconcile differences in a work group
• to anticipate how others will react
• to maintain good morale
• to generate enthusiasm

A Feeler is complemented by a Thinker:

• to maintain objectivity
• to ensure consistency
• to identify risks
• to criticize

A Senser is complemented by an Intuitor:

• to introduce alternatives
• to look at long term opportunities or consequences
• to assess complex problems
• to see connectedness, e.g., synergies, partnerships, product spin-offs

Remember – no style is good or bad. And each style is appropriate and effective in certain situations. The key is understanding and respecting each other’s differences. If we feel that others “get us”, we have the groundwork for good communication.

Armed with these insights about the four communication styles – and with a little bit of practice applying them – you now have the tools to dramatically improve your communications in the workplace and beyond.