Have you prided yourself on being a skilled communicator, only to realize you just cannot get through to a particular colleague? Why is it so? Is it you or them? How come you seem to click with some coworkers but cannot find common ground with others?
The answer often lies in our personality types.
Effective communication in the workplace means understanding how different personalities interact with coworkers differently. Even though we often hear about the golden rules of effective communication, the truth is — there is no cookie-cutter approach. For example, handling conflict with someone who is highly sensitive is totally different from communicating with a narcissistic co-worker.
Do you want to learn how to communicate effectively with all your coworkers?
Then you need to understand how different personalities impact your interactions. This article will show why you need to understand the different types of people at work to communicate with them productively.
Why Is Good Workplace Communication Important?
The importance of effective workplace communication cannot be overstated. You could have economics, business strategy, and marketing plans working in your favor. If communication fails, none of it will matter. Communication is an integral part of any business’s success.
Research has confirmed, over and over again, that when people are satisfied with workplace communication, their job satisfaction is also high.
Increasing your and your team’s overall job satisfaction merely by advancing your communication skills? It sounds almost too good to be true. However, scientific studies found a robust correlation between the two.
Another important merit of effective communication in the workplace is its ability to boost employees’ productivity.
Good communication within the organization makes the employees’ productivity increase, as confirmed by research. Conflicts are mitigated, people feel heard and understood, instructions are passed down effectively, and talents are utilized. Thus, your ability to communicate effectively with people in your workplace can make or break your chances of success.
But how to become an effective communicator?
Have you already taken courses on communication and still have a hard time with certain people? How so, you may wonder? Why is it that you cannot find common ground with some coworkers? There is one element you might not have considered. Not everyone is the same.
Yes, that is common sense. However, how often have you paid attention to how different personality types are also different types of communicators? And to what extent are you using this piece of information in practice?
Let’s see why different personality types at work communicate differently.
Different Personalities, Different Communication Styles
What is personality?
According to the American Psychological Association’s dictionary, it presents “the enduring configuration of characteristics and behavior that comprises an individual’s unique adjustment to life, including major traits, interests, drives, values, self-concept, abilities, and emotional patterns”.
From this definition, it becomes evident that we must expect our and others’ personalities to impact how we communicate. When we talk to someone, we speak to them from our past experiences and how we see ourselves in the world. Our values and drives guide us. The responses to what others say stem from our emotional patterns. We put forth our abilities.
In other words, we communicate as a whole personality. And there are many different personalities. Holland’s model, for example, talks about six main personality types. The combination of Holland’s codes in a single person results in many potentially different personality types in the workplace. And as many different types of communicators.
Suppose you are, for example, a Realistic personality type. In that case, your communication is likely to be assertive, practical, direct, and to the point. However, you might have a Social Holland code coworker, for example. These are people who tend to bend over backward to help others to the point of impracticality. They will talk about emotions, needs, and ideals — and you might find that irrelevant, even though you are both trying to solve the same problem. The meeting of such different personality types is likely to lead to a communication breakdown.
That is — unless you learn to search for and understand various traits and types of communication while talking with different personalities.
Tips for Communicating with Different Personality Types at Work
Obviously, we cannot expect others to take a personality test — and let us know the results so that we can tailor our approach to them. Still, we may learn to communicate effectively with different personalities by following several basic principles:
Understand who you are as a person.
Know what drives you, how you respond to different situations, and what your main traits and abilities are. In other words, learn your own personality type. By doing so, you will get in touch with your own motives and communication habits. You will learn how and why you react to what others say.
Consequently, you will gain better control over how you communicate with others, especially if you have a personality that's bigger than life (which may be a bit overwhelming for more introverted co-workers).
Recognize your differences.
Naming the obstacle to effective communication is the first step to bridging the gap. You might be more introverted, for example, and your coworker is very outgoing. Instead of thinking of ways to avoid any unnecessary interactions with them, say this to yourself: “John has a need to share with others and connect; I need more privacy.”
Merely acknowledging your differences will help you express and meet your needs. This opens channels for effective communication.
Be objective.
When we are different from someone, we tend to label them. This is completely normal, but it can also cause problems down the road because nothing is being resolved. As an example, you might not be a fan of short deadlines, stress, competition, and pressure.
On the other hand, you might have a manager or a coworker who is a Type A person and seems to enjoy the tension. You might be tempted to think of them as “that aggressive and competitive person that’s making my life chaotic and stressful”. Yet, try to see them objectively and depersonalize your feelings. You might find it easier to accept them for who they are — and find a way to communicate effectively.
Ask questions.
When someone has a very different personality from ours, we might feel confused about how they communicate. To move forward in your working relationship, try to ask directly what their motives are, why they are saying something, and what they hope to achieve.
Also, express your own intentions behind what you are saying. Such a direct look into the eye of your dissimilarities might break the cycle of unproductive communication at the workplace.
Learn and practice.
Commit to continual learning about different personality types and how they communicate. Get informed about how different personality traits impact workplace interactions. When you put this knowledge into practice, you will learn to tailor how you engage with others.
In turn, your communication with different personalities will be incomparably more fruitful.
Advance Your Communication Skills to Advance at Work
Working with different personalities is unavoidable.
This is so even if you are a sole proprietor or mostly working with things and products (as an artist, engineer, sound technician, or builder). You are still communicating with different personalities, including your clients, managers, audience, promoters, or buyers.
As you have discovered in this article, learning how different types of people communicate is a must if you truly want to advance as a professional. Introducing the element of personality type will take your communication skills forward by ahundred miles.
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Unhappy At Your Job? It Could Be Because Your Career Doesn’t Match Your Personality!
