![]() |
Management Information |
|
|
Communicate To The Four Main Personality Types
You probably know this already, but there are generally held to be four main personality types, which I call: Extrovert, Amiable, Analytical and Pragmatic . Let's take a moment to consider each of them in the workplace. Extrovert: someone who probably has a messy desk; who leaves projects 75% completed then gets distracted by new, 'more exciting' projects; someone who communicates their ideas with enthusiasm and charm; makes instant decisions; hates 'paperwork' and the 'dull routines' of life, such as filling in order forms, checking bank statements, etc.; is usually 'fashionably late' to meetings, events and parties (and they love entertaining clients!); always has interesting screen savers. Amiable: someone who is the 'peacemaker' in the office; is always striving for a 'win-win' in everything in life; someone who probably isn't terribly ambitious and striving, but is very happy to support and encourage others who are; someone who cannot say "No" very easily and so are probably on every committee going (whether they actually want to be or not); is more likely to make a decision on the spot if only to stop you 'hassling' them, otherwise will take weeks to make a decision (if at all, as they prefer others to make the decision for them); like to know what others are doing (in case they themselves are doing something inappropriate or foolish). Analytical: 'GadgetMan' - has multiple PDAs in case one fails; has several computers for the same reason; adores punctuality; when they tell you they recently bought something they won't round the number up but will tell you to the exact dollar and cent how much they paid; loves playing with spreadsheets, charts and projections; will never make a decision on the spot; will buy a car based on fuel economy, servicing costs, resell value, depreciation and other factors, never 'because it's a lovely shade of blue'. Pragmatic: a 'take charge' person; their view is the way things will probably get done; they listen to others' points of view out of courtesy or intellectual curiousity, but will still do things 'my way' ; doesn't take business rejection personally; not interested in how 'exciting' a project might be, only interested in how much money it will cost/make and how soon it can be implemented/built; very often the Pragmatic likes the colour ' Red '; doesn't have any photos of family or friends on their desk (too unprofessional); has a neat, organised desk. Now, sales trainers have for years been pushing the line that we 'buy with emotion, and justify that purchase with logic'. But having seen a few Analyticals in my years I don't actually believe that to be the case. An accountant friend of mine in England never purchased anything because of emotion - he always poured over spec sheets from various manufacturers, weighed up the costs involved, considered his options. And because he was also part-Amiable he then let his wife make the final decision, based on his input. Which raises an important point. No one is ever a 'pure' type. We are all a mix of the four personality types to some degree or other. Yet we also have a strong preference for one particular type. I'm an Extrovert with a leaning towards the Analytical. I couldn't begin to count the number of my own marketing projects that I have half-completed here in my office; each one almost ready to roll but just in line behind the latest 'more exciting' idea I've just had. Yet I also love getting deep into Dreamweaver and working out how to tweak my website pages for greater speed, better search engine optimisation, tidy up loose bits of code, and so on. But that's beside the point... The real purpose of this page is to let you know that your business communications - whether they are email, web page, pdf brochure or even initial word of mouth introduction - need to appeals to the different needs of the four personality types. How do you do that? By making sure that your communication has a reasonably equal amount of the following: * Facts and figures to appeal to the Analytical and Pragmatic * Enthusiasm and excitement to appeal to the Extrovert * Testimonials to appeal to the Amiable Get that right and you have a greater chance of getting your message across. When you match consumer psychology with effective communication styles you get a powerful combination. Lee Hopkins can show you how to communicate better for better business results. At Hopkins-Business-Communication-Training.com you can find the secrets to communication success.
MORE RESOURCES:
Management - Google News |
RELATED ARTICLES
Change or Die! To Change Your Organization, Hire a Business Coach It is a common business axiom - change or die. As a small or mid-sized business owner or a manager, there will be times you will need to make changes in your organization but may not be sure how to go about it. Virtual Assistance: A Money Saving Opportunity For Employers What is a Virtual Assistant? A Virtual Assistant is a highly skilled, independent entrepreneur who provides business services in a remote or virtual environment. Some have used terms like telecommuter or working from home. People Skills: Eight Essential People Skills Being able to communicate effectively with others requires people skills, and here's eight essential ones:1. Understanding people People not only come in all shapes and sizes, but they come with different personality types as well. What Your Employees Want You to Know (But You Might Be Afraid to Ask) This is a challenge for every company owner and manager. You have tremendous plans for growth and expect a lot of your employees. Motivating Employees - Ten Ways to Start You Off Yet there is a place for those external 'raft-build's', 'away days' and 'paintballing'! Just get them in context; there is work to do up front to leverage those experiences and get the best value from them. Just build great relationships in your business or organisation, one-to-one - then have the fun day out and grow even more!"Motivation is like food for the brain. Better Management Performance - The Easy 3-Step Way Managers make three mistakes when they try to run businesses. They do too much, they don't trust their people and they don't have enough skills. The Golden Key to Meeting Success We all attend many meetings. I'm sure you have been to some great meetings and some poor ones. 3 Tests To Hire The Best Question: What's the easiest, cheapest and quickest way to have profitable, productive, and honest employees?Answer: Hire profitable, productive, honest people! Unfortunately, managers often hire underachievers or losers. Fortunately, pre-employment tests give managers a simple-to-use, quick, customizable way to hire the best. Online Business Peace of Mind Is your online business disaster-proof? Online businesses face a unique set of challenges. Unlike our offline counterparts, we must worry about hackers, credit-card fraud, loss of data, virus attacks, websites going down and more. Year 2010: Permanent Employees No Longer Required Jack Welch joined a conference that was held in Duke Fuquay Business School where he was invited to promote his new book called "Winning". He told audience about how culture is important in a company. The High Cost of Employee Turnover Among Project Managers Imagine for a moment this scenario from a frustrated Senior Manager of a large pharmaceutical organization: "Our organization has experienced a large turnover among project managers in the past year. This creates problems providing ongoing quality and service to our stakeholders. Problem Solving When problem solving, you may recognize that you were working on a symptom instead of the problem. An analysis of the more clearly defined problem may require an alteration to the objectives or the ideal solution. Five Steps to Increase the People Power in Your Business Take some bold steps and help your employees and business partners open up to real change and help them start thinking again to the longer term. Send a message that you are ready to commit to new ways of thinking and that that includes a commitment to the success of your employees in the changing workplace. What Every Manager Should Know About How to Reduce the High Cost of Employee Absenteeism Employers pay a high price for absenteeism, often more than they may realize, in terms of both financial and production losses and employee morale. Managers may view the tasks of finding a substitute employee as a short-term inconvenience; however, absenteeism frequently has more serious long-term effects. ISO 9001 Registration - 8 Steps for Success You've made the plans, built the quality system and conducted the audit. So how do you register your company as ISO 9001 conformant? And how can you be sure you're getting the most value for your investment? Here's how the process works. Success in Business Means Managing Negative Emotions You may have the MBA but if an internal critic constantly berates you, or you have feelings of self-doubt, low self-confidence, fears of rejection or other negative emotions your chances of success may be quite limited.More and more executives are beginning to realize that the next frontier in maximizing their chances for success is to start focusing on building personal internal skills that go beyond the business training that they have already received. Keeping Meetings On Track We all have been in meetings with certain people who get our blood pressure to rise or just make us feel what a waste of time. Here are some of those people and hints on how you can maintain keep the meeting on track without coming across as a dictator or inept leader. The Paradox of Job Enrichment Ellen was a clerk working for a large insurance company. One day, she spotted a glaring discrepancy in a form she was typing. How To Conduct Effective Meetings Before you call your next meeting, the FIRST step is to decide if it is really essential. To determine that, ask yourself the following:· Is this meeting essential? · Can we do without it? · Can we accomplish the task without a meeting? · Can it wait another week? · Can we get things done with few meetings?Then, if you have decided a meeting is the best way to accomplish your objective, the following tips can help you conduct more effective meetings:1. Great Hires: Avoid Costly Mistakes Picking people for a job is like going to the store to buy apples. Before you go, you ought to know whether the apples are to be eaten fresh, make into applesauce, baked into a pie or made into juice. |
| home | site map |
| Web Site Development - Search Engine Marketing: Dream Team Media |