By Suzanne F. Stevens

Getting buy-in to good ideas can be tough. The unbridled joy of our very own Eureka moment can be sickeningly short-lived when those heads start to shake and our great master-plan never gets off the ground. This failure to launch can happen for a number of reasons, some of them beyond our control, some of them not. The ability to influence someone requires us to change our approach to sharing information. Although the buy-in to our message will stem directly from an individual’s beliefs and motivations, how open they are to receiving the information in the first place may depend on how ready they are to receive the message. We can make life easier for ourselves by understanding how different people prefer to receive information and tailor accordingly. Let’s start by looking at the introduction of our message.

Good things come in Fours

There are a number of bodies of research that put people into different communication styles. This refers to the way in which you prefer to receive information. You may have run across styles based on classifying people into 4 different colours, animals, birds, etc. Each of these models has unique features and interpretations, but all are based on the following assumptions:

1. At work, an individual will focus either on the task at hand or his/her relationships with others (Thinking vs. Feeling);

2. An individual will also have a tendency to either control a situation, or to let the situation unfold on its own (Controlling vs. Easy Going).

The 4 combinations that stem from these assumptions are:

Thinking / Controlling (think: dominant, decisive, and result-driven like Donald Trump)

Thinking / Easy Going (think: methodical, detail-oriented and poker-faced like Mr. Spock)

Feeling / Controlling (think: big picture, fast-paced, allergic-to-detail and optimistic like Richard Branson)

Feeling / Easy Going (think: softly spoken, non-assertive and consensus-searching like Mr. Dressup)

People can adapt to different communication styles, but we all have a preferred method of receiving information. A deviation from our “preferred” method manifests itself in the questions that people ask themselves while they are “listening” to us.

&For the sake of argument, imagine the following scenario. Our four different communicators (Donald Trump, Mr. Spock, Richard Branson and Mr. Dressup) are now all working for a Consulting Engineering firm. Their PM begins telling them that there is a new process that will have to be implemented in order to bring forward a project deadline. Based on different styles we can have a good idea of what their questions might be.

■ It will not be long before Donald Trump thinks: “Yeah, yeah. How does this affect me?”

■ Mr. Spock will ponder: “Hmmm. Did they think to include a full analysis of X because that is sure to affect the outcome in some interesting way?”

■ Richard Branson will be mulling: “Wow. How could this affect our operations in the West? And in Asia? Should we roll this out across the entire organization?”

■ Mr. Dressup is concerned with: “Why are you being so direct? Are you mad at me?”

These concerns will reduce the ability of the receiver to actually hear the message. Controlling the “beginning” of the message can eliminate this potential distraction in the following way:

■ Donald Trump version: “I want to tell you about a new process we are implementing to bring project X in ahead of schedule.”

■ Dr Spock version: “As you know, shortening deadlines is something that we have been looking at for a while. We have looked at a number of different approaches, and we think that we have a change to our system that will give us the results that we need. Let me tell you about it.”

■ Richard Branson version: “Consistent with overriding goal to be at the very forefront of project management, we are implementing a new system that will shorten deadlines. Here is what it involves.”

■ Mr. Dressup version: “I would like to share an idea with you that should make the team’s lives easier”

It is extremely dangerous to assume that people are as easy to figure out as this, but we will all tend toward one communication style, as will the people that we are working for and with, as well as those working for us and against us. Sensitivity to the beginning of the message gives you a better chance at not losing their attention.

Any change that we can make to increase the effectiveness of information sharing can help deliver efficiency and competitive advantage throughout an organization. This brief examination of communication styles, however, is only the tip of the iceberg. The ability to influence also requires that we understand what makes people tick. In the next newsletter, we will explore skills to help us understand how individuals make decisions at a rational and emotional level. The more we understand, the easier it becomes not only to launch the good idea, but move people to action.

Ignite Excellence is a leadership and sales development company specializing in influential communications. We help our clients to influence, differentiate, engage more people and more business. If you would like more information please contact the President & Founder of Ignite Excellence Inc. - This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it