“Communication Works for those that Work at It” (John Powell)

Summer is most definitely here and is alive with the smell of suntan lotion, meat sizzling on the bbq, the buzzing of bees and, if you are very lucky, the feel of sand in between your toes, whilst on a summer holiday!

It is interesting to note how people behave and communicate when they plan and book their holiday.  When you are in holiday planning mode, what is your approach when talking to your family or friends who might join you on your adventures?

• I’ve made the decision, this is where we are going this summer.
• I’ve had loads of fabulous ideas of where we could go; let me tell and show you all the different places we could visit.
• Where does everyone fancy going this year? Let’s discuss what everyone wants to do.
• I need to research all the different holiday options. Once I’ve done that I’ll take you through the options so that we can make the best decision about where to go this year.

These are four very different approaches to the simple act of booking and planning a holiday. You may like some, and you may feel uncomfortable about others.

We all communicate differently, and having an understanding of our own preferred style, and how best that works with others, is invaluable in helping us to do so with success.

Leapfrog is experienced in facilitating training workshops which uses the DiSC personality profiling assessment tool as part of a workshop.  The workshop enables you to understand your own preferences and attitude when you communicate, but more importantly understanding the four behaviour and communication styles will also help you to improve the way you behave and communicate with your clients and internally with your colleagues and team.  You will build stronger relationships by recognising others’ styles and then flexing your style when communicating.

The DiSC personality profiling assessment tool identifies that some people are more social and love discussing what they did at the weekend whilst others are more task focused and just want to get on with their work.

When you are at work do you consider:

• How a client or colleague might prefer the information you are sharing with them is presented and even how much information should be shared?  Your colleagues and clients will all have different preferences when it comes to digesting information and considering their preferences may ensure the information lands more effectively.
• How you interact at the beginning of a meeting or at the start of each day with your team? Some people will love the interest, want to share details about their social life and hear all about yours whereas others, amazingly, will not want to hear anything about your personal life.  Deciphering who prefers what will help you to get closer to a person that is important to you.
• What motivates different people you work with?  Some people will be motivated by getting the job done quickly and the results, others by praise and recognition and some by working really hard to do a job perfectly.  Understanding what motivates a colleague or client will again ensure that you build stronger connections with the people that matter.

If building stronger relationships with clients and colleagues sounds of interest, Leapfrog would be delighted to talk further about running a workshop for you. 

That’s all for now, enjoy your summer!