We all use many forms of communication, but most of us haven’t spent much time understanding the different forms of communication. Which form of communication we use the most and whether or not it is effective.

Understanding the different styles of communication is essential if we’re aiming to develop the effectiveness on how we interact with people on both professional and personal aspects especially when motivating your team.

Have you ever conducted a business meeting before where you can tell that your listeners’ attention is somewhere else? Are they checking their phone, answering emails, or doodling on their notepad? If so, it is possible that the style of communication you are using at that time may not be suitable for those people or situation.

We have found that by varying our communication styles, we are much more effective in our presentations and reach a broader audience. To help you, we are going to review 4 styles of communications to help you learn which styles you might need to incorporate into your meetings and training. See how you could potentially change the pattern in the way you approach or deliver your statements for better results. The very best presenters incorporate elements for all communication styles to make sure that they are capturing everyone's attention.

 

ANALYTICAL COMMUNICATOR

Analytical communicators are often the people who like real numbers, hard data, or any tangible proofs to confirm certain information given to them. Most of them are not rude; rather they are just as likely to become more of a critic than a listener especially if they cannot find specific answers from any given statements to prove your point.

One of the examples for this type of communicator is if you mentioned to the group, “Guys, I appreciate your hard work! The results went massively high compared to the last quarter!”

Analytical communicators would more likely to react as, “What does ‘massively high’ mean?”

To best capture, their attention, instead of generalizing your statement, try to phrase your ideas in a way the best resonates with them like, “Great job! The total result of our closed sales has increased 20% since the last quarter!”

In short, try your best to avoid emotional or expressive languages since analytical communicators are data-driven, but they are perceived to have the informational intelligence to contribute and help the team.

 

PERSONAL COMMUNICATOR

Unlike analytical communicators, personal communicators' style works somewhat the opposite. They tend to value emotional statements and would generally try to use the style to gain or build relationships with others.

As with our first statement example say when you mentioned to the group, “Guys, I appreciate your hard work! The results went massively high compared to the last quarter!”

Personal communicators would be generally happy with what you said, or you can increase the emotion a little by saying, “Kudos to everyone! Our total result for closed sales have increased 20% since the last quarter, and that’s the first time in two years we’ve done that! Thanks to everyone!”

When speaking to personal communicators, they are very relationship-focused and like to know how they have or can impact the results.

 

INTUITIVE COMMUNICATORS

Intuitive communicators are not difficult to handle. They are generally like to focus more on the bigger picture and don’t like to get too bogged down in the nitty-gritty. Try to avoid or eliminate the details and cut right to the chase. You’ll find that these people talk less and are more about results and the end goal rather than the step by step. They are also not interested in small talk and “fluff.”

As with our first statement example, a way to change the statement to appeal to Intuitive Communicators would be “We are 60% of goal so far this year, and we only have another 30,000 units to go for this quarter.”

In most cases, this style of communication would often be popular among bosses and clients. So it’s best to understand the right approach by giving them important information first. Avoid small talk and irrelevant data which allows them to tune out of the presentation.

 

FUNCTIONAL COMMUNICATORS

This type of communicators can be the most favorable amongst all. Functional communicators are good listeners and patient. They tend to welcome most of the information given in the process, and they like thinking through each of the details provided. They rarely miss single information when implementing important plans or procedures.

Functional communicators will find comfort with ideas presented to them, but in most cases, these communicators are not fully compatible with intuitive communicators. They won’t rock the boat in a meeting, but do well when they are included in the meeting in some way.

 

When we train at Hire Smart Virtual Employees, we make sure that all our training appeals to all types of communicators, so we have the best results.

Having a hard time finding which communication style works best for your business? Consider hiring a virtual employee from us to help you in the areas of your business that could help you expand and grow.

Feel free to book an appointment with me today and let's talk about how we can best help you.

As a business owner or manager, you must always present your staff with performance goals examples to help grow your staff, as well as justify position changes like, transfers, promotions, and salary adjustments. Ideally, these goals should be tied to the overall business goals and should be achieved before the staff member can be promoted or considered for a higher-level job.

Apart from helping determine career paths for your staff, these goals also help you know what is expected in the position. Much like the key performance indicators (KPIs) we have discussed in another article, these performance goals help your staff understand the overall behavior you are looking to achieve.

Here are some examples of performance goals that should be measured:

Productivity

It is important that productivity be measured. This is a critical performance goal. Obstacles that hinder employees are usually discovered through evaluating employee performance, which can then be corrected with training and development. It becomes part of the goal-setting stage within most performance appraisals. These appraisals are tools that can be used to determine effective methods to increasing productivity – including changing processes or procedures to help make the job easier.

Accountability

Another performance goal is to hold staff accountable for their job responsibilities. Accountability determines the outcome when performance goals are not met. It helps you determine if employees are performing the job they have been hired to do. The consequences of non-performance should be well thought out and should escalate as more goals are not met. Accountability allows your staff to understand the consequences of not meeting expectations. As with anything, however, the standards should be what most people can achieve for the position.

Motivation

One of the most important performance goals examples is motivation, which prepares employees for bigger or additional responsibilities either within their current roles or for promotional opportunities. Motivation focuses not just on employees’ monetary gains, but rather, employee recognition that is not necessarily in cash. It is best served by recognizing and appreciating talent through assigning high-level duties and tasks and giving employees the opportunity to demonstrate their leadership skills.

SMART Goals

Setting goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-sensitive (SMART) is crucial in creating a path to reaching employees’ performance goals. Having goals set out in this manner prevents confusion and difficulty in holding them accountable.

Creating performance goals

While there are clearly some basic goals and objectives that need to be done for each position, it is always best if a manager and employee can work together to create goals that are specific to the job and position. Collaborative goal setting helps ensure that the staff is engaged and invested in to the company’s goals.

Importance of performance goals

Performance goals examples are important because they help people determine how well they are performing, which then helps them plan their next moves as far as their careers are concerned. For the employee, it can get them promoted, get a pay raise, or get assigned bigger responsibilities. For the company, it ensures that the staff is motivated and productive. In short, it’s set up for success in that the position is done right and on time, so that the overall company goals are met.

For more tips on how to create performance goals, visit our site or book an appointment with us.