Communication – Why is it so hard? (Part 2)

Picking up where we left off on my last posting, we were talking about DiSC and how do you know which quadrant or quadrants you are in.  The easiest and most accurate way is to take a DiSC profile.  I am sure there are multiple places where you can purchase the profile.  I purchased mine via Manager Tools.  The direct link can be found here. If you don’t want to purchase the profile or you are curious about the different profiles right now, let me give it a shot.  Remember from the last post, there are 4 styles and they are Dominance (D), Influence (I), Steadiness (S), and Conscientiousness (C).  Let’s start with D first. D’s are comfortable making decisions and they sound abrupt because they tend to do very little small talk and want to get straight to business or the issue at hand.  Basically everything can become a competition (“I can eat more than you.”  “I can walk faster than you.”  Etc., Etc.).  Some examples of people would be George Patton and Margaret Thatcher. I’s tend to be very outgoing and cheerful people.  They seem to know everyone and think out loud.  They also really like to tell stories.  “I remember this one time when…”  Some examples of people would be Bill Clinton and Magic Johnson. S’s are good team players and express concern for others.  They are good listeners and are loyal.  They are warm and personable.  “I just made homemade cookies.  Please sit down and have one.”  Some examples of people would be Mother Teresa and Mr. Rogers. C’s like data and tend to be perfectionists.  They are usually better at planning than the other profiles.  Accuracy is important and they focus on getting the work done correctly.  “Can you provide the documentation for your claims?  I need to double check the work.”  Some examples of people would be Mr. Spock and Dustin Hoffman. As you can tell, there are some very different behaviors that the people exhibit.  This hopefully gets you to thinking how there might be challenges when a “D” speaks with an “S” or an “I” speaks with a “C”.  Of course, there can be challenges even when a “C” speaks with an “S” or a “D” speaks with an “I”. In my next post, I will touch on how you can be a more effective communicator with the different profiles when communicating via email. I would also like to point out that Manager Tools has created 32 podcasts that revolve around effective relationships.  You can find the Effective Relationship series here: http://www.manager-tools.com/effective-communication-skills-and-relationships. If you have any questions or need help with your EPM solution or project management in general, please do not hesitate to call us @ 713-400-9200.