It assesses preferences in verbal and non-verbal communication, helping individuals understand their strengths and areas of improvement in interpersonal situations. As an Analytical communicator, you like communicating with hard data, real numbers, and you tend to be suspicious of people who aren’t in command of the facts and data. Understanding the communication styles of others—and your own—can make your world and your workplace better, more effective, and more empathetic places.
- Far too many miscommunications stem from one person, usually under stress, blurting out a stream of anger filled words.
- Some individuals might favor a direct and concise style, while others might veer towards a more elaborate way of expressing their thoughts.
- Using a self-assessment, like the free Zendesk communication style quiz, can be a valuable tool for gaining insights into your own and others’ styles of communication.
- Below, we’ve included a few best practices for identifying your typical style.
Rossi is high-power in the video above, but lacks assertiveness and falls into the passive-aggressive trap. They can get some power because many passive-aggressives crave power.So the more Machiavellian ones can find sneakier and more indirect ways to win. The passive-aggressive types mix elements of both the passive and aggressive style. Founded in 1932, and online since 1995, we’ve helped countless students reach their goals with flexible, career-focused programs. Our 300-acre campus in Manchester, NH is home to over 3,000 students, and we serve over 135,000 students online.
The Benefits Of A Communication Style Assessment
Recognizing their behavior and fostering an environment of transparency can help to reduce misunderstandings and improve collaboration. Encouraging passive-aggressive communicators to come out of their shell starts at the team level. If you haven’t already, make sure your team members build interpersonal relationships and get to know one another outside of the project or task context. Understanding and respecting individual communication styles is also key to successful workplace communication (Long et al., 2021).
Figure 2 shows that the majority of participants were Asians at 73.3%, and the other 26.7% of the participants were American. The results of the survey garnered a better understanding of how college students prefer in-person communication over online conversation. Because they are already effective communicators, your responsibility as a manager is to let go of some control, step back, and allow them to lead. Empowering assertive communicators will help them to feel even more confident in their voice, and might help them to step in leadership or high-impact roles. Passive communicators usually aren’t confrontational, and they may even come off as submissive.
Online Students
The digital transformation of communication has brought about significant changes in the linguistic practices of individuals, particularly young adults. The incorporation of multimedia elements such as images, videos, and emojis attempts to bridge the gap in emotional expression that the lack of physical presence creates. However, these elements, while helpful, often fall short of fully replicating the subtleties conveyed through face-to-face interactions.
Connect With The Expressive On Your Team
Assertive communicators are not afraid to express their needs and ideas but do so without violating the rights of others (Steinberg, 2007). In the workplace or at home or in our social lives, we all have to do a little bit of everything. But most of the times, one style is dominant and defines how we generally communicate. Understanding your communication style can be beneficial in various settings, including professional development.
Their nonverbal communication may include things like crossing their arms while avoiding eye contact. As a general rule, the assertive communication style is the best general approach for baseline daily behavior. “Different communication styles emerge in an interaction,” LaFave said, “but accurate understanding of the style comes with time and patience.”
“Someone with an aggressive communication style may come across as hostile and authoritarian, alienating others and creating a harmful work climate,” said LaFave. But sometimes, a more aggressive style can be helpful in a specific situation. She said the same aggressive communicator can be the perfect fit for a different project or organization needing to optimize time and resources. Originally developed by Merrill and Reid, this communication style quiz is designed to help you understand your communication style and the wide range of different styles out there. We’ve adapted the quiz to be more relatable and accurate for the modern workplace.
After all, you don’t want to deal with an uncomfortable situation or lose a personal or customer relationship because of a communication breakdown. To work with a passive-aggressive communicator, it’s important to address issues directly but tactfully. Encourage open dialogue, focus on problem-solving, and make sure that expectations are clear.
It makes you deeply empathic and high in emotional intelligence, with enough self esteem to recognize that people have different communication styles. If you were a passive aggressive communicator, or simply lacking real communication skills, you wouldn’t change your style to fit your audience. Instead, you’d use your preferred style, and then when the audience reacted poorly, you’d blame them for “not understanding you.” But that’s NOT what you’re doing.
After completing the quiz, you’ll receive a detailed analysis of your communication style, identifying your strengths and areas you might want to work on. The aim is to provide insights into your communication style, so there’s no need for formal preparation. The Communication Style Quiz is a tailored assessment designed to evaluate an individual’s preferences, strengths, and potential areas for growth in both verbal and non-verbal communication. As an Intuitive communicator, you like the big picture, you avoid getting bogged down in details, and you cut right to the chase. You don’t need to hear things in perfect linear order but prefer instead a broad overview that lets you easily skip right to the end point. For example, some people, like Functional communicators, will tell you things step-by-step (they start with https://match-truly.com/about/ A, then go to B, then C, then D, then E, etc.).
