Being professional begins and ends with the way you communicate with others. So how do you communicate? What is your Behavioral Style? You must first understand yourself before you can understand how you communicate and interact with others.
Business Communication Tips: Understanding Your Behavioral Style
There are four basic types of behavioral styles:
- Realtors: These people like establishing personal relationships. They want to know what others think. And they are team players.
- Socializers: These people like being involved, have high energy, and are enthusiastic.
- Thinkers: These people like organization, getting things right, and problem solving.
- Directors: These people like control, are competitive, efficient, and decisive.
So why type of behavioral style do you associate best with? Relators and Socializers are more people oriented, while Thinkers and Directors tend to be more independent.
Understanding yourself better will help you better communicate with your coworkers and clients.
More Business Communication Tips
- Being Assertive: When being assertive, it is important to get your point across without sounding to negative. To accomplish this, we recommend the IRA approach. I stands for “I need.” R stands for “the reason.” And A stands for “the appreciation.” For example, an assertive message might look like this: “I need you to be to work by 9am when our customers first arrive. Thank you.”
- Saying No: Saying no is not always easy for managers and other business professionals to do. Fortunately, we have another formula that may help. USA. The U stands for “understand. The S stands for “the situation. And the A stands for “an alternative.” For example, a message saying no might look like this: I understand that you are more comfortable in tennis shoes. However, our company dress code states that you must wear dress shoes. Perhaps you can purchase some sole inserts to make your dress shoes more comfortable.”
- Showing Appreciation: Finally, and perhaps most importantly, is showing appreciation. A good boss will not only point out what his employees are doing wrong or could improve upon, but he/she will also praise their employees for a job well done. For this, we use the ART formula. A stands for “appreciate.” R stands for “reason.” And T stands for “thank you.” For example, a message showing appreciation might look like this: “I really appreciate the hard work and long hours you put in to finish this project. Thank you so much.”
Remember, business communication is not an exact science. It takes practice.
If you have any questions about Business Communication Tips please contact Advanced Communication Solutions by calling 1-800-750-3624 or visit BuyTelephoneSystem.com today! You can also follow Advanced Communication Systems on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.
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