Surely you are familiar with the situation when the same team either turned into a community of unmotivated people into an exemplary team, or, on the contrary, broke up into many working groups, where everyone puts their goals above all else?
Or maybe you know when a company introduces a useful tool, and even follows the project methodology, uses tools for implementing changes, but everything goes awry and after a month it is clear that nothing good will happen?
The problem is communication. In our communication practice, this is generally the secret ingredient. For example, when managing projects, we focus on this direction, and not on formal tools. We talked about this in more detail in our article on project management and book .
In project management, communication is generally a separate component. You also have to communicate with immature customers who themselves do not know what they want (it doesn’t matter whether the customer is internal or external). You also need to find a common language with a team that is not subordinate to you and your project is just a separate burden for them. And communicating with suppliers is not always a pleasant experience.
And this series of articles will be devoted specifically to communication. There will be 3 articles in total. In them we will talk about working with communication, tools, bottlenecks, and share our own experience and practical recommendations.
Content:
Communication is the same manager’s tool as project management , product management, change implementation , building business processes and lean manufacturing or working with motivation .
If you look at it globally, then a manager generally has 2 key functions - decision making and communication. And when making decisions without communication, it is generally difficult to implement. And communication takes up to 90% of a manager’s time. At the same time, communication is an integral tool in any management cycle.
We also highlight communication management as a separate tool of our systematic approach.
The principle of communication control is very similar to the control cycle and PDCA :
planning;
holding;
reaction tracking;
adaptation.
Moreover, each communication, regardless of its duration and level, consists of 4 stages:
making contact - meeting, greeting, exchanging business cards, etc.;
orientation - determining how loyal we are to each other, whether we are of the same blood, how safe the interaction is, how much our interests coincide;
solving an issue - solving our problem for which we communicate;
completion - summing up what we agreed on, what actions we are taking and when.
And the danger here is that people, as a rule, form a general impression after the first communication and skip the first stages in the future. Therefore, it is better to conduct the first contact in a positive atmosphere and make the interlocutor feel as comfortable as possible.
If you look at communication from an engineering point of view, the entire communication process can be represented in the diagram below
But as we understand, the human factor arises in communication within a team or between teams:
mood and events prior to your communication;
different priorities of information processing channels;
psychological characteristics of a person and his experience through which he “drives” information and builds his attitude;
cultural characteristics to communication style;
environment and human comfort during communication.
In addition, taking into account the fact that communication is directly related to the human factor, it is necessary to take into account how human motivation works. We also wrote about motivation in a separate article .
Additionally, it is necessary to consider whether this is group communication or individual communication.
Key barriers to communication include:
psychological (different perception of another person, lack of contact during communication)
semantic (phonetic and speech)
physical (inappropriate or uncomfortable environment and time, disruption of comfort in the process of communication)
Psychological barriers to communication
Initially distorted perception of another person:
social stereotypes and prejudices, including cultural and ethnic ones: “all men”, “these non-residents”. This also includes labels - a negative assessment assigned to a person: “loser”, “hysterical”, “he’s kind of strange”;
own attitudes and scale of values: for example, a negative attitude (“the glass is half empty”);
Causal attribution: attributing good things to oneself and bad things to others.
Lack of contact during communication:
differences in temperament and psychotype, age, cultural and ethnic differences;
emotional excitement, resentment, desire to throw out emotions or put others in their place;
inattention, inability to listen, desire to speak oneself;
difference in the manner of communication (volume, tempo, delivery, etc.);
incorrect channel for transmitting information (attempting to tell visual images with images, lack of numbers and data for digital, etc.), level of adjustment.
Semantic barriers to communication
Speech barriers:
the use of words that are incomprehensible to the interlocutor: professional jargon, inserts from other languages, terminology;
too much information transmitted;
unstructured presentation of information;
a large number of filler words and garbage.
Phonetic barrier:
speech rate is too fast or slow;
unclear pronunciation of sounds, poor articulation;
monotony: no semantic pauses or accents;
features of the voice or pronunciation that distract from the meaning of speech.
Physical barriers to communication
Everything is quite simple here:
uncomfortable environment from the very beginning (noisy, hot, stuffy, on the go, too late or early, etc.);
violation of conditions during communication.
Communication can be divided into:
descending, horizontal, ascending;
formal and informal;
written and oral;
verbal and non-verbal.
3 levels of communication
1. Descending
This is communication from superior to subordinate. For example, setting tasks, orders and instructions, feedback, evaluation of subordinates, stimulation, support.
In general, the way this communication is structured can tell a lot about the type of culture in the company and possible problems in the company. Ask yourself, how do you and your managers communicate with your subordinates? Do you allow rudeness and personalization? Or, on the contrary, is everything too soft and you don’t consolidate any agreements, everything remains in words?
The key disadvantages here are:
often incorrect communication due to lack of objective information and suppression of feedback. Personal qualities of a leader;
different levels of preparation and awareness of strategic objectives and the real situation;
different language of interaction (syntactic and terminological).
2. Horizontal
This is communication between employees of the same level and teams/divisions to solve problems, implement projects, and execute processes.
The key here is whether your departments can come to an agreement among themselves or are they just scribbling paperwork? Is there a clear understanding of who should communicate with whom on routine issues? How are non-standard issues resolved?
For example, in one of our projects, excessive informal and unstructured information caused a huge number of problems: any sales manager could call the production manager at any time and inquire about the status of his order. As a result, the production manager simply could not leave his office. The first thing we did was clearly indicate who from the sales department is the contact person and at what time calls the production manager, as well as to what email, at what time and what information the manager sends at the end of the day.
Also, as an additional anti-crisis and temporary tool, we created a common table in the cloud, distributed areas of responsibility, and taught who and where to look.
As a result, this became one of the factors for a 3-fold increase in productivity.
3. Rising
This is communication from subordinates to managers, for example, reports, certificates, requests.
Used for: feedback on assigned tasks, determining current problems of employees, level of motivation, escalating problems, adjusting projects, etc.
Key Limitations:
incomplete information due to employee concerns and fear of being “injured”;
the problem of “jumping over your head”;
unavailability of management.
This is a type of communication underestimated by many. Think about lean manufacturing and kaizen in particular. And in our practice, the most valuable ideas come from below. For example, there is such a direction as business intelligence. One of the rules of this direction says: “About 60-70% of all necessary information about competitors is inside your company. The problem is that people don't want to share it." But why? Firstly, they are often simply afraid of losing their position or being fired. Secondly, in most companies they simply don’t listen to people. Managers at the middle and top levels either think they are smarter or are busy with political wars. Thirdly, there are simply no communication channels, no electronic submission forms, no local TOP so that he can receive direct communication. Actually, this is also one of the DAOs of lean manufacturing. The combination of digital tools, formal and informal approaches, a calm and respectful attitude of the owner with regular visits “to the fields” works wonders.
Level adjustments
Adjusting from below is a demonstration of a weak position. Characterized by flattery:
emphasis on the fact that the interlocutor is taller than you, a lot depends on him
admiration for talent, genius, that you would like to be like him.
As an example: “When you appear, I am lost in your magnificence.” But here, in order not to sound vulgar, you need to understand what a person has in his soul that he considers underestimated by others. And already talk about it.
Hearing these manipulative phrases, a person often begins to feel sympathy for such a sweet but unhappy opponent, wants to help, and take responsibility.
Adjusting side by side is a demonstration of equal status, partnership, and a common goal. Characterized by compliments. For example: “Your department works like clockwork, I can’t even imagine how you achieved this? I would like such employees. Share your secret?”
Adjustment from above is a demonstration of a patronizing position, readiness to help. It is beneficial when communicating with a subordinate and the need to recruit him to solve your problems and obtain reliable information. Characterized by praise for their actions for your benefit. Through praise, there is reinforcement of the correct actions that you want to be consolidated in behavior.
At the same time, there are physiological adjustments:
under the body: gestures, facial expressions, posture, movements;
to the voice: volume, manner of speaking, intonation;
to the rhythm: breathing, blinking;
for speech: characteristic expressions, stylistics.
They are effective when adjusted from below or nearby.
Main types of communications
Written:
formal (project passport, reports, minutes of meetings)
informal (notes, personal messages)
Oral:
formal (meetings, briefings, meetings)
informal (personal contacts, group chats)
Nonverbal communication:
formal (presentations, graphics)
informal (facial expressions, gestures, gaze, manners)
Here it is necessary to find a balance between each of these types of communication. Let's look at the example of project management. There are the following formal communication tools:
kick-off meeting within the team;
meeting and discussing the project with the customer;
daily planning meetings (for Agile / Scrum);
weekly/monthly meetings;
meetings following the results of stages/sprints;
meetings to present project results and discuss them;
retrospectives - discussion of mistakes during the period of work on the project.
But, besides this, there is also informal communication during the project. And we recommend focusing on it. Experts in their field are not afraid to express their opinions privately and offer solutions. The main thing here is to direct conversations in a constructive direction, and not slide into chatter.
A study conducted by K. Davis shows that from 75% to 95% of information transmitted through informal channels (the so-called “grapevine”) is true, since rumors are generated by reliable information.
Therefore, we recommend that, although you do not get carried away by rumors, you always keep your finger on the pulse and have an informal leader or a gossip among your comrades. As a result, by listening between the lines, you have all the necessary information.
Practical examples
Case Study #1
The first practical example is related to the love of some companies, especially young ones, to use only informal communication and neglect formal tools: we hold meetings, for example, project meetings, and meetings, but do not prepare any protocols or at least notes, we make key decisions, but everything is only verbal. We encounter this situation quite often. What happens in such cases?
There is no point in describing a single project in detail, since everything follows the same scenario everywhere. Meetings are unstructured and fruitless. Yes, interesting discussions take place for 1-2 hours for 5-10 people with the cost of a working hour being 1-2 thousand rubles, but agreements are not fixed, there are no deadlines, and there is no responsibility for the result. In addition, the meetings begin to overlap in topics, and as a result, the same thing is discussed several times a week. As a result, there is no result, and people get annoyed. This gives grounds for political intrigue and parasites to thrive. You can always refer to a misunderstanding, to “well, we talked” or “it seemed to me...”, but in the end everything will either fall on the shoulders of the director/owner, or 1-2 employees who care, or there will be no result . Well, the most intelligent people will not stay in the company, as they will burn out very quickly.
In such a scenario, horizontal communication can work well, but only if it is a small team of charged like-minded people, but downward and upward communications are almost always disrupted. However, sometimes it is possible to organize a strong bottom-up approach, that is, to receive information “from the margins” if the first person realizes this and uses the DAO of lean production.
As a result, in young companies and teams, especially digital projects, it is necessary to make full use of flexibility and informal communication, but back it up with at least basic tools of regular management practices and focus on minimizing the number of meetings and increasing their efficiency. What we talked about in Chapter 6.
Case Study #2
The second example is typical of corporations, where, on the contrary, all decisions and all the focus is on formal instruments: orders, letters, memos. Both in digital projects and when implementing, for example, lean manufacturing, the same story arises: protocols, road maps, diagrams are prepared. This, of course, has an absolute advantage - you always clearly know what is needed and what they want from you; at the end of each meeting there is a clear protocol and action plan. However, people do not understand what it is and why. You and I already know from the first book that in order to remove resistance, sometimes you just need to explain in human language what they want from them, why, what the final goal is and why it is safe for them. In addition, this approach disrupts the mechanism for collecting information from the grassroots, from the performers. As a result, the most valuable information is lost from performers who cannot take part in planning the project, but must implement it, which additionally becomes a source of resistance and demotivates people. At the same time, as you and I already know, it is at the initiation and planning stage that it is most important to identify problem areas and errors. At each subsequent stage of the project, elimination increases exponentially and opportunities decrease. Letters and memos will always be refined and politically correct, which means you will never learn about the mistakes of the project. In addition, the meaning of the whole idea is distorted. And for expensive digital projects this is sometimes suicidal.
And right now, some companies are going through this rake, trying to implement continuous improvement systems based on lean manufacturing. Somewhere a project was implemented that showed good results, again, on paper, because it is impossible to report a failure, and the central apparatus begins to scale it up for everyone. But how? Letters and memos, despite the fact that the responsible managers in the same central offices do not understand the essence of the project, since they were not trained in lean production, and cannot or do not know how to obtain objective information. Plus we add here the lack of design competencies and the result is a very interesting cycle:
first, by order, a road map as a carbon copy from another organization;
then the methodology is written from under the template from the central apparatus;
and next year, perhaps, there will be diagnostics and adaptation.
At the same time, there are people on the ground who understand what needs to be done and how, but they cannot convey their ideas through this formal channel. As a result, the central apparatus begins to think that there are fools in the regions who do not understand anything and do not want anything, the project increasingly disappears into paper, and an excellent initiative is discredited and an inert culture is additionally formed that is impervious to changes.
Case Study #3
This is an example from life where the bias was in the area of informal communication.
The contractor initially had excellent relations with the customer and partners. But global problems occurred and the delivery of materials went beyond the deadlines.
All communication with both the customer and partners was conducted informally. As a result, the materials were delivered, but still everything moved into the stage of legal disputes. And because of communication without formal reinforcements, the performer had no chance to defend himself and he lost 12 million rubles.
Case Study #4
And the final example is precisely balanced work with informal and formal communication.
Everything is quite simple here. Our core is informal channels, personal communication with performers and stakeholders. This allows you to receive objective information on shortcomings or risks, and receive proposals for refinement and improvement. At the same time, the project itself is supported by an order, a charter, minutes of meetings with decisions, deadlines, responsible people, or at least just meeting diaries (if we are a small team). That is, you, as a manager, provide support to the project manager and 90-95% of the work and information exchange is informal, and 5-10% is documented. This is how we get the combined effect:
decisions and responsibilities are assigned, people receive clear deadlines and understand what needs to be done;
Informal communication works, thanks to which responsible people can convey their ideas and concerns. Upward and downward communication works. It is easier to work with resistance and misunderstanding; all problems are identified at an early stage and their elimination sometimes costs nothing.
Of course, there is a bottleneck here too - the project manager must be a good communicator, and not a directive manager, plus he must be interested in the final result. This is either his KPI, money, or career prospects.
This is how our partners work when implementing continuous improvement systems, eventually becoming informal leaders and everyone goes to them so that they can simply explain the essence. At the same time, they also have resources, expert and authoritative power, thanks to which they can coordinate the entire project without orders through the director. That is, the burden on the director is also relieved. That's how I worked. For example, when introducing changes, the regulator was able to unite the heads of departments of 4-5 subsidiaries, understand the bureaucratic language and prepare a reasoned position and proposals through formal channels. And during a global IT project, I also became the center of communications, and we solved almost all problems within a day, people had trust, and in order to provide the history of the project and reports for the central office, the necessary memos, orders, letters and orders were prepared.
Main channels of perception
Visual - the visual channel of perception predominates: shape, location, color.
People with dominance of this channel:
They use gestures in the upper part of the body, they seem to be drawing.
They remember easily what they see, but with difficulty what they hear, so they prefer to read it themselves rather than listen.
when communicating, they choose words that denote what can be seen: color, shape, size, distance, etc.
Auditory - the auditory channel of perception predominates: sounds, melodies, their tone, volume, timbre, purity
These people:
use gestures in the middle part of the body;
prefer to receive information by ear;
prefer words that denote everything that can be directly heard - for example, rattles, rustles, silence, sounds, melodic, talk.
Kinesthetic - tactile sensations predominate, as well as gustatory senses: touch, taste, smell, sensation of textures, temperature.
These people:
use gestures below the midline of the body.
when they sit down, they make themselves comfortable, they also prefer comfortable clothes;
have a slow rate of speech and information processing;
love to be touched themselves and to be touched.
use words that denote taste, smell, movement, temperature: for example, warm, cool, grab, feel, hold, etc.
Digital - logical thinking, analysis of meanings and numbers dominates.
For any person, all channels work, but there is a dominant one.
Psychotypes of people
DISC
DISC is a behavioral model that has 2 criteria, 4 “pure” and 6 “mixed” personality types.
2 criteria:
A person’s perception of the surrounding world (hostile or favorable).
A person’s reaction to specific situations (degree of activity).
4 basic personality types:
D ominance - dominance. A “red” personality is a self-confident person who is able to control emotions. For the “reds” it is important to show themselves, to constantly demonstrate their own importance, to have control over what is happening, to dominate the weaker, to achieve goals at any cost.
I influence - influence. “Yellow” individuals strive to gain recognition. For Type I people, it is important how they look and what others think of them. They are subject to outside influence. “Yellows” prefer to achieve goals beautifully, and at the same time they love it when they get the laurels of a winner.
S teadiness - consistency. “Green” individuals prefer stability, consistency, modesty, convenience and comfort for others. They do not stand out from the crowd, are punctual and predictable. For the "greens" the most important thing is consistency: no changes are desirable, only conservatism
Compliance - compliance. “Blue” personalities are called scrupulous, precise, neat. Type C people prepare an action plan in advance and strictly follow it. Each point is a corresponding action. Unlike the “reds,” the “blues” achieve their goals not expressively, but systematically.
Mixed personality types
As a rule, two types with similar characteristics are mixed in one person. Either both patterns are expressed equally, or one predominates over the other.
DI-ID
Red-yellow, yellow-red: mastermind. Such a person loves to be among people, communicate, convince people of something and win them over to their side. An excellent diplomat, prone to manipulation. The main fear is loss of control and influence.
How to establish contact: friendly communication, attention to facts, clear actions, reminders of the successes achieved.
IS-SI
Yellow-green, green-yellow: connected. Easy to communicate, attentive, kind. Loyal to friends and flexible when changes happen. They love stability, are overly trusting, and avoid conflicts.
How to establish contact: communicate as openly and friendly as possible, avoid aggression towards them, talk about their importance.
SC-CS
Green-blue, blue-green: coordinator. Reliable and diligent, you can rely on such people. They love stability and planning. The main fear is unexpected situations, lack of logic.
How to establish contact: laconic conversations to the point. Do not impose, give the opportunity to think everything over and make a decision in a calm atmosphere.
DC-CD
Red-blue, blue-red: performer. Prone to perfectionism, aggressive in the process of achieving goals. They love changes, quickly adapt and assimilate innovations. Weakness: the desire to improve or repair something that does not need it.
How to establish contact: do not put pressure, do not rush, respect and support silently. Be careful about saying that everything will get better.
IC-CI
Yellow-blue, blue-yellow: controversial. A complex combination of opposing personality types. They strive for success and share it with their friends. They achieve goals while inspiring others to do the same. Sometimes intolerant, sometimes overly emotional.
How to establish contact: be patient, allow initiative, listen carefully and support.
DS-SD
Red-green, green-red: persistent. The most complex behavioral model. Such people are characterized by the “excellent student syndrome,” when it is important to become the best in any activity. Subject to mood swings and excessive initiative.
How to establish contact: be restrained, do not talk in vain, express thoughts logically and consistently. Don't block the path, adapt.
After the diagnosis, the predominant personality type of a particular person becomes clear. It’s worth starting from this when building constructive interaction. Compliance with certain rules will allow you to win over a friend of any behavioral model. The basic rules for establishing contacts are quite simple.
If your new acquaintance is “red”: make an appointment in advance, but be prepared to be late and not feel guilty about it. Filter your compliments, don’t shower them excessively. Share necessary and verified information, tell political stories and jokes “on the verge of a foul.”
If a new acquaintance is “yellow”, remember that they do not attach importance to time frames and never arrive at the appointed time. Don't get mad about it, be flexible and adapt to them. You are greedy for compliments, so feel free to praise a wonderful outfit, hairstyle and great shoes. Don't interrupt or talk too much, leave it to the yellow one.
A new acquaintance is “green”: he will come to the meeting on time and will be happy to discuss everyday issues. Don't try to deceive him, tell the truth. Be prepared for the fact that the “green” does not trust you, but will not show it.
"Blue" new friend: always arrives on time with amazing accuracy and expects the same from you. He prefers facts, so speak to the point, without going into too much detail. He may miss certain phrases because he is closed off and forgets himself. It is better to get straight to the point if the meeting is business.
You don’t always want to adapt to a person, especially if he doesn’t inspire sympathy. However, business and work will not bear the desired fruits if you do not bend to certain circumstances. Diagnosing a person’s behavior is a great way to establish contact and promote your proposals.
PAEI
We use this tool most often in practice. It allows you to determine a person’s psychotype based on 4 elements, understand a person’s priorities and how to present information to him. For a detailed dive, we recommend the book “Development of Leaders. How to Understand Your Management Style and Effectively Communicate with Those of Other Styles” by Isaac Adizes
In short, there are 4 basic functions:
P - production of results for which the organization exists. Responsible for "What to do?"
A - Administration that ensures performance. Responsible for "How to do?"
E - entrepreneurship, through which change management occurs. Responsible for “When and why to do it?”
I - integration, unification to ensure viability in the long term. Responsible for "Who should do it?"
The functions themselves are mutually exclusive.
Conflict between (P) and (E)
Production (P) and entrepreneurship (E) conflict because (P) requires quick returns, while (E) seeks to provide them in the long term. The reverse is also true: (E) threatens (P). Entrepreneurship involves change, and this jeopardizes the fulfillment of the (P) function. There comes a time when you need to stop making plans in order to start implementing them.
Incompatibility (P) and (A)
(P)/(A)-incompatibility is a struggle between form (effectiveness) and function (effectiveness). If you want to achieve high performance (P), then you can hardly count on efficiency. This is why young companies that constantly “put out fires” and face unforeseen problems are disorganized and ineffective. They are forced to put up with the fact that organization and order have to be postponed until later. The opposite is also true: while being highly efficient, you will eventually lose in effectiveness. In other words, by overdoing (A), you will reduce (P). This is exactly what happens in bureaucratic systems, where every detail is planned and every change is strictly controlled.
Incompatibility (A) and (I)
(A) is detrimental to (I) because it forces the organization to rely on mechanical rules and procedures. Such an organization will be less focused on internal and cultural values. Making laws is easier than forming value guidelines. It only takes a few months to create a law. It takes a lifetime to form a new moral code. Moreover, sometimes (A)-rules can contradict (I)-values. The more attention you pay to (A), the weaker (I) becomes. And vice versa: the stronger (I), the less your need for (A). However, this is a positive incompatibility. If (I) inhibits the development of (A), this is desirable.
(P) threatens (I), (I) threatens (P)
(P) displaces (I). When there is an urgent need to produce results, that is, to ensure the fulfillment of the (R)-function, it is quite forgivable to become a dictator for a while, without paying special attention to integration and the needs of individual stakeholders. It is also true that (I) undermines (P). People who are united by (I) relentlessly adhere to the criteria of their own value system, which damages their ability to (P). Even if it is a matter of life and death, they will never break the rules.
Fight between (E) and (I)
(E) thirsts for change, strives to create and make changes, while (I) seeks harmony, agreement and integration. What (I) seeks to unite or keep together, (E) seeks to dismantle into parts. Excess (I) and deficiency (E) prevent you from adapting to what is happening and speeding up.
Conflict between (E) and (A)
Entrepreneurs (E) are radical, administrators (A) are conservative. Administrators strive to tighten controls to maximize efficiency and try to achieve this by minimizing variation. Entrepreneurs live to create the disruption and change that is necessary to achieve long-term performance. Thus, (E) poses a threat to (A) because too much change interferes with systematization, routine, and order. Of course, the opposite is also true: (A) is dangerous for (E). Procedures, rules and regimented behavior hinder change.
Therefore, each person may have a different combination of these functions, but there are always 1, 2, or at least 3 dominant functions. This should be taken into account when communicating with native speakers.
When dominating:
A person prefers to do everything himself; his desk is often littered with documents. The key argument in the conversation is that the crisis, the fire, cannot be postponed. It is necessary to give clear instructions on what to do and where to run
And people love order and minimizing risk. The key argument in the conversation is that we have assessed various options and take responsibility. It is necessary to provide well-developed solutions and justifications in a secure manner.
E person is creative, the final decision should be his. This is an idea generator that flies over everyday tasks. In a conversation, it is necessary to bring him to the point that he has made a decision. With these people you need to focus on the prospects and potential benefits.
I person tries to minimize the risks of conflicts, strives for consensus and collective decision. With them you need to focus on teamwork and stability.
7 radicals V. Ponomarenko
According to the approach developed by Viktor Viktorovich Ponomarenko, there are 7 radicals, that is, strong character traits due to which a person begins to use the same behavior algorithms in different situations.
You can fully familiarize yourself with the concept in the book " Practical characterology. The 7 radicals technique"
Thus, the presence of leading radicals in a person can be determined by:
appearance (physique, clothing, accessories and jewelry, facial expressions, gestures, gait, facial features);
behavior and habits;
design of space (home, office, car, desk and even smartphone and computer screens).
Basically, each person has 1-2 radicals that are clearly expressed, while the rest are “mixed” in different proportions. This coincides well with the observations of I. Adizes. As a result, an individual set of personal qualities is formed, unique for each person. But reading the leading radicals makes it possible to predict human behavior and build a communication strategy with him.
Identification of Dominant radicals allows us to understand:
a person’s attitude towards work and other activities;
presence of talents and inclinations for something;
areas of growth and weakness;
communication features;
styles of behavior in crisis situations;
hidden character traits;
patterns and regularities of behavior.
At the same time, it is necessary to remember that the first radical is not so easy to read, since it is responsible for shaping a person’s goals, what he will go towards. Basically, from the outside it is easier to distinguish the second and third, since they are already responsible for choosing ways to achieve the goal, that is, they have an external manifestation.
And so, 7 radicals:
paranoid (purposeful);
hysterical (demonstrative);
epileptoid (stuck and excitable);
schizoid (strange);
hyperthymic (cheerful);
emotive (sensitive);
anxious (fearful).
A brief description of radicals and recommendations for interacting with them is available in the presentation attached
1. Make sure that upward, downward and horizontal communications work in the company/division. At the same time, there is no imbalance between types of communication
A balance of formal and informal types, using all levels, is necessary. So, horizontal communication should be 70%, and upward and downward communication should be 10-20%. Also, informal communication should be about 80%, and 20% formal (emails, memos, orders, instructions).
For example, you need to agree on something verbally in order to discuss details and objections. And agreements are consolidated through formal channels (letters, protocols, etc.) Trying to agree on something in writing is reckless. As practice shows, resolving the issue using formal tools is doomed to failure.
The same applies to interaction with clients and partners: we negotiate and resolve issues informally, and reinforce them with formal letters.
2. Make sure that the company/division has a clear understanding of who interacts with whom and on what issues
That is, there is a transparent organizational structure with a division of tasks , and the described business processes , regulations and rules clearly indicate who interacts with whom, meetings are held in accordance with regular management practices. We wrote about how to conduct meetings in this article .
3. Be mindful of what information you give downstream and what you give horizontally
That is, what do you give to your subordinates and what to your colleagues? This directly affects your credibility.
4. Think about the interlocutor, his level of training, as well as his level of maturity in the current situation
When you communicate, you need to remember that:
the listener passes information through a personal filter, i.e. compares it with his life experience, existing knowledge, values;
moments that are insignificant from the listener's point of view are missed;
unusual words are replaced with familiar ones, incomprehensible words are replaced with understandable ones, so exclude professional terms and jargons
the listener processes information based on his logic. If the text contradicts logic, the listener begins to somehow connect or complement the sentences, and this is a space for disruption of communication and distortion of meanings;
the listener usually remembers the “fried” facts, those that excite emotions. They either crowd out other information or drop out if they are socially disapproved;
that what can be interpreted in two ways, the listener will certainly interpret it that way.
5. To properly prepare before communication, it is better to answer the following questions:
Is the information being conveyed clear to the interlocutor? Are there any ideas or words in the message that he does not understand?
Will the interlocutor clearly understand my message? Does it have any contradictory implications?
What is the psychotype of the interlocutor? What's the best way to give him information?
Is my message overloaded with information? Does it comply with the “7 ± 2” principle?
The “7 ± 2” principle - a sentence should contain 7 ± 2 words, a paragraph should contain 7 ± 2 sentences, etc., since this is the volume of a person’s short-term memory
Even for formal types of communication, it is better to avoid unnecessary stress. And in general, try to remove unnecessary things. So, for example, if you are planning to train people, then eliminating unnecessary things saves not only time and money for the organization, but also reduces staff resistance. After all, we are always “scared” to open a useful book with 1000 pages; it’s much easier to even just start reading one with only 100
Did I tell him what he should do with the information received from me: just listen, take note, give feedback, take action?
Will my interlocutor be motivated by my message according to the principle of “HMD”?
The principle of HMD, “What will this give me?” is a voiced or unvoiced question that arises in people when they hear any proposal
6. When communicating, keep it simple and clear.
use clear words
exclude filler words and verbal garbage (mmm, uh)
avoid jargon and abbreviations
use simple sentences rather than complex and complex sentences
7. When preparing and conducting communication, structure the information
The big enemy of successful internal communication, along with reticence, is inconsistent delivery of information.
Break it down into points: “first, second, third” or “first, then, finally”
Emphasize the main thing: with intonation, with the words “Pay attention”, “This is important”, “The most important thing”
Take logical breaks
8 When communicating, remember:
the designated goal and desired result, comparing them with who our partner is, whether he has the necessary resources and powers for this;
correct structuring by level and types of communication, adjustment, selection of the right channel;
removing barriers;
plan B and the conditions for transition to it;
the psychological type of the interlocutor (what points he understands) and the culture of the company and department.
9. During communication, make the presentation of information lively and pleasant.
Avoid gerunds and verbal nouns - they make speech formal and boring
Use more verbs - it creates dynamics, captures attention and motivates action
Use positively colored words, do without a particle
10. When making group communications and presentations, try to cover all main channels: visual, auditory, digital.
For this, the design and content of the presentation are important, as well as the speaker (his voice, appearance, presentation).
11. Do not delay communication and do not allow an information vacuum
Communication on important information should be scheduled before a “kitchen of rumors” is formed and employee uncertainty about this situation appears.
12 . Remember the stages of communication , the stages of entry and orientation can form stereotypes and the next time the interlocutor will go through them on “autopilot”