Communication Skills for Managers
APPAU
January 2016
The Basics of Type Preference
Instructions: Circle the Type letter in each pair that you believe best describes your preferences. If you are evenly balanced between two preferences, it may be difficult to make a decision; if so, choose the Type letter you prefer to do most of the time.
I’m energized by…E Extraversion
- External world of people and things
- Talking things out
- Interacting with others
I Introversion
- Internal world of reflection or contemplation
- Taking in information or ideas
- Spending quiet time alone
I pay attention to...
S Sensing
- Practical facts
- Realities
- Past and present
N Intuition
- Insights
- Possibilities
- What could be, the future
I base my decisions on...
T Thinking
- Impersonal logic (if this...then that)
- Objective information
- An outcome that “makes sense”
F Feeling
- Values that center on people
- Information that includes impact on people
- A harmonious outcome that “feels right”
My preferred operating style is...
J Judging
- Organized
- Planned
- Oriented towards goals and results
P Perceiving
- Flexible
- Spontaneous
- Oriented toward gathering information
List the letters circled above side by side in the space provided below. (Example: ISTJ or ENTP)
Yours ______
How is your boss different from you? Which letters are the same? Which do you suppose are opposite? Think about this one before you assign a personality type.
Boss ______
Communication Preferences
INSTRUCTIONS: Check one item from each pair below. Select the item that sounds the mostlikeyour boss.
When trying to come to a decision at work, I prefer to:
Talk to other people to get ideas and test my own.
Do research by myself, and think things through.
Look at facts and draw out the consequences of any action.
Look for possibilities that suggest options.
Consider what feels “right”.
Consider logical implications/ outcomes.
Focus on the specifics.
Look at the big picture.
Make a decision quickly, then stick to it.
Gather information and decide later.
When making a decision at work, my Boss appears to prefer:
Talking to other people to get ideas and test his/her own.
Doing research by him/herself, and thinking things through.
Looking at facts and drawing out the consequences of any action.
Looking for possibilities that suggest options.
Considering what feels “right”.
Considering logical implications/ outcomes.
Focusing on the specifics.
Looking at the big picture.
Making a decision quickly and then sticking to it.
Gathering information and deciding later.
How do your preferences differ from your boss’?
What is one problem that might occur because of these differences?
Case Study: Who Am I Dealing With?
INSTRUCTIONS: Using the Influencing Guide, your team will have 5 minutes to read the case study and 15 minutes to come up with three key things to say and do in the conversation that is about to take place between Robert and Kevin. In your teams ask:
- What should Robert say and do to in order to positively influence Kevin and vice versa?
- What should Robert say and do to help Kevin reach a decision in this matter?
- What should Kevin say and do to avoid being stampeded into a poor quality decision?
Each team will report out what they decide Robert and or Kevin need to say and do to make this decision successful. List exactly what the person should say as a direct quotation. (Consider that there is no union or work rules involved in this issue).
The Case Study
Robert’s boss, Kevin, is a detail-oriented person who likes to see recommendations and data in writing in order to review and consider them. He is also a Feeling Perceiver (FP), which causes conflict between the two men when Kevin has to make a decision. Robert often spends a great deal of precious time compiling information for Kevin to review, only to have Kevin postpone making a decision for many weeks.
Robert has a critical situation going on now. A member of his field services team, John, insulted an important customer two weeks ago. The customer called and reported this behavior. This is the third time John has been involved in this type of situation. He has been written up twice for this in the past, although he is reliable and good at the technical aspects of his job and often acts as a lead mechanic.
Although Robert reported the specifics of the situation to Kevin the day it happened, Kevin has taken no action on the matter.
Imagine that you are Robert (ESTJ) and that you are preparing to have a follow up conversation with Kevin (ISFP) about this matter. How will you positively influence Kevin to move him towards making a decision?
Influencing Guide
Kevin’s Style Profile is ISFP
When the person you want toinfluence is an Introvert do this:
- Allow time during the conversation for the other person to reflect on your ideas
- If the other person needs more time to consider things, arrange a follow-up meeting
- Limit the amount of time you spend “thinking out loud”: too much information may be confusing
When the person you want to influence is a Sensor do this:
- Give enough details for person to “get the picture”
- Talk in terms of results
- Be specific, brief, and to the point
- Talk about what worked in past (results/methods)
- Talk short-term plans/ goals/ actions
- Compliment energy/action
When the person you want to influence is a Feeler do this:
- Show support and concern
- Stress your need for help
- Talk in terms of your willingness to negotiate
- Avoid being overly demanding or aloof
- Express appreciation for other person’s efforts
When the person you want to influence is a Perceiver do this:
- Talk options, but help the Perceiver settle on a limited number
- Avoid being too narrow in terms of a proposed solution
- Allow some time for discussion of possibilities
- Bring the discussion to a conclusion that defines specific actions to be taken and a deadline
Robert should know that:
- Feelers sometimes resist making decisions that are hard on people: being hardon people is a non-preference that causes procrastination. Feelers need reassurance that what they are doing is right for the people involved.
- Because Kevin is a Perceiver, his sense of urgency is different from yours. He may ask for more data before making a decision. It is important that you hear Kevin out and allow him to engage in discussing alternatives.
- At the same time, Kevin is very concerned about the feelings of the customers in the three incidents that have occurred. This conflict between caring about the feelings of the customers and those of the employee may have paralyzed Kevin in terms of coming to a decision. Try to focus on what is best for everyone involved, not just the “facts” of the situation.
Influencing Guide
Robert’s Style Profile is ESTJ
When the person you want to influence is an Extravert do this:
- Bounce ideas around
- Allow time to “talk it out”
- Don’t hold the extravert to everything he/ she says
When the person you want to influence is a Senser do this:
- Give enough details for person to “get the picture”
- Talk in terms of results
- Be specific, brief, and to the point
- Talk about what worked in past (results/methods)
- Talk short-term plans/ goals/ actions
- Compliment energy/ action
When the person you want to influence is a Thinker do this:
- Be logical, organized, specific
- Stress facts, evidence
- Put it in writing
- Avoid becoming too emotional or too personal
- Express appreciation for other person’s efforts
When the person you want to influence is a Judgerdo this:
- Get to the point
- Limit the number of options you present
- State possible consequences of a given course of action wheneverpossible
Kevin should know that:
- Robert is a strong J (Judging type) who needs closure. The logical decision in this situation is to put the employee on probation or move him to a job with minimal customer contact, such as ordering parts. Respect Robert’s need for “wrapping it up” and acknowledge that a decision needs to be made after considering some options.
- Robert is not as good at “possibility thinking” (generating options) as you are because it is a non-preference for a J (who likes to have things decided as quickly as possible). Robert has no patience with generating optionsand wants things decided based on what to him are simple logical facts (T). Be prepared to state some options and narrow to some realistic alternatives. Allow yourself to be influenced by his logic, but not rushed into a poor solution.
- Robert may believe that you are hiding something because you don’t “think out loud” the way he prefers to. Although you may believe you have been open with Robert, are you assuming you’ve given him information that you have, in fact, kept to yourself? Recognize that your preference for introversion leads you to assume you have shared information with people when you have been indirect or unclear about it.
Communication Preferences
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer the questions below about yourself and how you prefer to be communicated with, based on your MBTI.
- How could someone effectively teach you something or instruct you about something?
- For what do you most want to be appreciated and/or recognized? How do you want this appreciation and/or recognition shown?
- When someone wants you to change your behavior/ideas, how should they approach you so that you are likely to respond positively? What behaviors on the other person’s part would most likely get a negative response from you?
- In what ways do other people communicate that really bugs you?
Difficult Communication Problem
INSTRUCTIONS: Think of the most difficult communication problem you have had in the past 6 months. Visualize the event. Put yourself in that setting with the other person involved. Answer the following questions.
- How did it start out?
- What was your intention?
- What didn’t happen that you intended to happen?
- What happened that you did not intend to happen?
- What questions did this experience leave with you?
Communication Problem Analysis
INSTRUCTIONS: Using the data you came up with on the Difficult Communication Problem worksheet, review the problem in relation to type, using the two questions listed below. Consider whether the problem was influenced by the dynamics between:
Extraverting and Introverting
- A person talking too much, too quickly, didn’t appear to be listening, interrupting…
- A person not explaining fully, not giving any verbal or non-verbal clues that your message was received, seeming to be indifferent or disinterested…
Sensing and Intuiting
- A person explains using too much detail, concentrating on specifics instead of seeing the big picture, wanting you to go step by step…
- A person speaking in abstracts, not looking at the here and now issues, not easy to tract, jumping around…
Thinking and Feeling
- A person seeming critical, only sharing what she/he disagrees with, not mirroring feelings, cool, seemingly detached about problem…
- A person seemingly overlooking organizational needs, concentrating on people involved rather than issues, subjective, unable to critically evaluate the incident or problem…
Judging and Perceiving
- A person seeming to push you to a decision before you were ready, seeming to have already made-up his/her mind so not listening to different ideas…
- A person seeming to disregard the procedures, with more questions than answers, bringing up new possibilities, not wanting to be “forced” into deciding, saying “let’s just wait”…
Questions
- Can you identify any of the issues in this problem that may be type related? If so what?
- How might you deal with the situations differently if you were correct about the type issues?
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