Have you ever thought about your working style when communicating with your business contacts, employees, friends and family? Working styles are extremely useful in communication at all levels. Understanding and thinking about your working style and that of the person you are dealing with will help you immensely. There are five main working styles which are summarised below. Most people have characteristics from more than one style but generally everyone has a predominant style.

Which is your predominant style and what characteristics do you have from other styles? Think about your business and personal relationships, especially those where you experience difficulties in communication? You may find that the reason for this is that you have contrasting working styles. Communication can be significantly improved by being aware and adapting to the other person's working style (e.g. If you are a 'Hurry Up' you may need to talk slower, explain things in detail and watch out for signs of stress when you are dealing with a 'Be Perfect'). Why not try this out and see what impact it can have in your business and personal life?

Hurry Up
Motivation - To complete a task in the shortest possible time.
Strength - The amount of work they can complete.
Characteristics - Respond well to short deadlines, tend to delay jobs until urgent, look for the quickest way to complete each task, dislike preparation and checking, seem to enjoy having too many things to do and rushing around, can appear impatient, often fast thinkers who speak rapidly and interrupt without listening properly and like information in bullet points and verbally.

Be Perfect
Motivation - To get everything exactly right.
Strength - Reliable accurate work.
Characteristics - Prepare thoroughly, plan and pay close attention to detail, written work tends to be very good although lengthy, check facts carefully and has contingency plans for potential problems, constantly apply high expectations to self and others, can become paranoid and highly stressed by mistakes and tend to speak more slowly and carefully using longer and less familiar words.

Please Person
Motivation - To please others and encourage harmony.
Strength - Ability to function in a team.
Characteristics - Understanding, considerate and intuitive, will endeavour to draw in quieter members of the team, aim to please others preferably without having to ask what is required, dislike confrontation and conflict, dislike saying 'no' and can find it difficult to challenge, tend to take criticism personally, often smile and nod a lot in agreement tending to phrase opinions as questions, procrastinates over decisions and has good listening skills.

Try Hard
Motivation - The effort required in the initial stages of a new task.
Strength - Ideas, concepts, initiating tasks and getting things off the ground.
Characteristics - Like a steady supply of new and interesting tasks, a tendency to boredom with mundane detailed aspects of any task, highly inquisitive and like to explore and discover, positive approach to problems, follow up all possibilities of a task and may pick up on aspects missed by others, communication is often strained and difficult and often volunteer for any task which seems interesting.

Be Strong
Motivation -To stay calm under pressure and present an image of strength and control.
Strength - Ability to cope and remain calm.
Characteristics - Excellent in a crisis, energised under pressure, think logically when others are panicking, consistent steady workers with a strong sense of duty, firm, fair and even-tempered with an ability to give constructive criticism, can remain emotionally detached enabling them to deal with difficult people, appear to be able to make unpleasant decisions without guilt, communication style is often expressionless and unemotional, hate admitting weaknesses, often view failure to cope as a weakness and dislike asking for help.

This article first appeared in the May 2007 edition of the Makin It Happen - Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management newsletter.

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