Communicating with Style

It's easy for us to assume that other people do things the same way we do, but in many areas of life, including communication, people have very different styles. Understanding these differences can go a long way to assure that our communications are effective. While there are many systems for assessing communication/personality style that can assist in collaborative decision-making, I have found in more than a decade of consulting in organizations that knowing some basic style differences described in the Meyer- Briggs personality type assessment can be very useful. There is a wealth of information that can be gleaned from the formal personality test, but one dimension of the Meyers Briggs that I find especially helpful with group interaction is that of introversion/extroversion. Extroverts tend to think by talking whereas introverts will rarely contribute something until they have thought through their ideas. One implication of this difference is to have all members of a group take a few minutes to write down their thoughts before discussing a topic. This reduces the disadvantage of introvertʼs who need time to clarify their thinking and assures that the extroverts will reflect prior to putting their ideas out. When extroverts don't do this, and simply explore their ideas verbally, the others in the group may attribute more validity to what the extroverts are saying. The group is not necessarily aware that the extrovert is simply “thinking out loud” and may not have the experience and authority that their enthusiasm might suggest. Alternately, their communications can be dismissed as "not knowing what they are talking about" since the ideas expressed have not been thought through before sharing them. Conversely, because introverts, being more reserved about putting out their thoughts, don't do well competing for 'airspace' with their more verbal colleagues, they are often judged by extroverts as not being willing to contribute to the conversation. Simply put, one style of communicators tends to judge the other as talking too much and saying too little while the other is judging that some group members are just not willing to participate. In addition to taking time to organize thoughts, another viable solution is to encourage extroverts to use their desire to communicate by engaging in "process" oriented communications---those communications that help the group interaction--rather than simply talking about the content. This might take the form of asking specific members if they have any ideas (introverts won't just pipe up if they do), asking for comments on an idea that has been contributed, checking for consensus with the group or a number of other moves that encourage the communication of others. Just bringing the awareness of these individual differences and simple action steps can make a huge difference in facilitating effective communication within a group. Action Step:
 Do you tend to be more introverted or extroverted in a group? How might you be more effective in collaborative decision-making knowing your style preference?