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It's All About Style

I'm a terrible sister. The fact that I haven't talked to my sister in months in no way means I don't care about her, her life or my nephew's latest Evel Knievel stunt. I blame a lot of things for my lack of talk-talk with my sister -- crazy schedules, current addiction to social networking sites, Harry Potter. But I think the real reason is much more psychological (aren't all the good reasons psychological?).

Communication style.

I'm a writer. She's a talker. I pick up a pen and paper or a keyboard. She picks up the phone. I think to talk. She talks to think. We are opposite communicators and therefore we have trouble connecting. This happens in all facets of life. Your boss. Your coworker. Your friends. Your lover. People communicate differently and unless you can give them information in the medium they digest it best, they probably will only get half the story. But if you can pick up on and cater to those communication styles, you are much more likely to get your point across and in a way the end-user can understand it.

A few more examples to hit it home:
I have a good friend who thrives on email -- because he has to. He doesn't type as fast as he thinks, so if he has to email more than two or three sentences, he will pick up the phone and call.

I had a boss who I could pop in her office any time and ask her a question, or shoot her an email with an update on a project. Her phone rang constantly from coworkers and vendors. But if I wanted her to really look at something, I had to print it out and put it on her desk.

Communication style. Communicate on a person's wave length and they are much more likely to get it and get it the first time. And don't be afraid to tell people how you prefer to communicate. If you need someone to send you an email with project specifics or call with a new phone number, tell them instead of missing the due date or misplacing the phone number and having to ask for them again. They will appreciate it, too.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Nice blog! And how true. You would think for a writer, I'd be great at picking up pen and paper, but honestly it's the last thing I do. I'd rather pick up the phone any day! Unless, of course, it's for work, and then I like the paper trail :-)
August 8, 2007 at 2:17 PM
Carrie Watkins said…
You know, I think that's part of why I have to write everything down. I have such poor short-term memory, I have to have the paper trail on everything. Maybe I can blame my pack-rat tendancies on that, too...hmmm...

Thanks, Angela! I'm glad someone reads this :)
August 15, 2007 at 9:50 PM
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