Week 96: Finding Your Communication Style – #AlphaFemaleFriday

Week 96: Finding Your Communication Style – #AlphaFemaleFriday

“ WEEK 96 / 133 – 133 WEEKS TO SUCCESS “

In the same way that we may talk to our partners one way and our colleagues in another, we change our communication styles depending on the person we are speaking to or the situations we find ourselves in. Using cold, hard facts on their own without background and context seems awfully sterile while droning on and on without any sort of game plan is excruciating. Combine four types of communication styles and you’ve got DFAI: Data, Feelings, Action, and Ideas.

The same message can be delivered in different ways according to which style you feel best fits the situation or person at hand. If you’re talking to someone who is analytical and straight-to-the-point, it may be better to simply say, “Operations costs have increased by only 3% since last year while profits are up 10% over last year.” Numbers. Facts. Figures. If you’re talking to someone who needs time to warm up to someone, it may be better to use feelings to get your point across: you’ll be happy to hear that there’s been a very minimal operations cost increase this past year, and profits have soared year-to-date! Emotions. Values. Beliefs.

If you’re talking to someone who is like the human version of the Energizer Bunny and like to get things do, you’ll want to have a bulleted, executive summary in place. “Since costs have only increased by 3% this year and profits have improved by 10% over last year, we’ll be able to allocate 5% of that extra revenue towards new business.” Sometimes you may find yourself with a big picture thinker. They’re the visionary types with exciting ideas. They want to hear your thoughts and those thoughts better be unique.  With fewer costs since last year and more money coming in, I’d love to propose a company outing to Camp YadaYada to boost team morale, reward them for their hard work, and ensure less employee turnover.

Cheers,

Kelly

@AlphaFemSociety tweets by @KellyRGonzales

About:

Each week, I take a tip from Lois P. Frankel’s book, Nice Girls Still Don’t Get the Corner Office, and explore how each of these tips affect myself and other women in similar positions on the road to becoming the women we want to be. There are far and few between who are a few steps behind me, and many more who are far advanced. I found that Lois P. Frankel’s advice applied to novice, intermediates, and experts alike. It helped me see that I was already doing right, served as a reminder to keep on doing what I was doing and how to keep that momentum going. The book also showed me areas where I could improve, and gave realistic tips to jump on board. There are a total of 133 tips, and explore one tip per week in a program I call: 133 Weeks to Success.

Join the movement using the hashtag #133WeeksToSuccess with posts which are posted every #AlphaFemaleFriday.