The DiSC communication model provides a useful framework that categorizes the key inbound communication styles into four main types: dominant, influencer, steady, or conscientious.
How to communicate with Dominant people
Dominant people love efficient, big-picture conversations. Project managers, directors, CEOs, in fact, anyone in charge of a team or at the top of the career ladder are usually dominants. They’re action-focused, excitable, ambitious, and respond well to a challenge.
Do
- Be as direct as possible when speaking to them. Get straight to the point, and stay on-topic.
- Prepare before you speak to them. They like to have a plan of action, so expect to answer questions on the spot.
Don’t
- Take offense when they respond with blunt answers or seem a little impatient. It’s not personal; they just want to take action as quickly as possible, and they like to be direct.
- Waste their time by making promises you can’t fulfill.
- Bother with niceties, such as weekend plans, lavish compliments, or profuse apologies. If they had a motto, it’d be “Less talk; more action.”
How to communicate with Influencers
Influencers (also known as socializers and initiators) love working with other people. They’re the chatty ones in your office. You can count on them to make immediate friends with the new starter, show guests around, and share their hot take on the latest trends. They work well in short bursts, are easily trusting, and emotionally honest. But a word of warning: they often lack focus and commitment, so they’re better off working on shorter projects.
Do
- Be friendly, playful, and let your sense of humor shine. They respond well to casual conversations.
- Support conversations with a written follow-up. They can be a little forgetful, so having written notes to refer back to keeps them focused and grounded.
- Give them the freedom to express their emotions and creativity.
- Recruit them to shape the culture of your team.
- Be prepared to give them a gentle nudge if they get off track.
Don’t
- Take their optimism as fact. They often overestimate their own abilities and those of the people around them which can, if not monitored, lead to disappointment later on.
- Be overly serious, curt, or stifling in conversation.
- Expect them to focus on smaller details.
How to communicate with Conscientious people
Conscientious people (also known as ‘analyzers’) tend to be slow and steady. They are detail-oriented and highly competent. Sure, they’re not the chattiest people, but they can always be counted on for precision and accuracy.
Do
- Give lots of detail up-front, and support in-person conversations with notes for them to refer back to. Conscientious workers get frustrated by a lack of clarity or direction, so be as thorough or organized as you possibly can.
- Give them clear goals and direction, so they can be left to get on with the job independently. They’re usually pretty introverted, and would rather plug in their headphones and knuckle down than float around the office asking questions or engaging in lengthy brainstorming sessions.
- Give them the opportunity to learn new skills, or show off their own.
Don’t
- Rush them. They will triple-check every scrap of information before making a decision, and nothing you do or say will make them abandon their commitment to accuracy.
- Package feedback as criticism, which could leave them feeling very demotivated.
- Engage in personal chit-chat prior to every work-based discussion. This doesn’t mean you should never do this, it just means you should pay attention to their cues to see if they’re interested in a longer conversation. If they’re responding with monosyllabic answers, then nip it in the bud and move onto business.
- Take their quieter demeanor as a lack of enthusiasm. They’re enthusiastic on the inside; they just don’t want to waste too much time expressing this when they could be working.
- Interrupt them in person with questions. Focus is a prized state of mind for these hard workers. Instead, try sending an email, or drop them a quick note via your team’s chat app. They’ll really appreciate it.
How to communicate with Steady types
Steady people (also known as ‘harmonizers’) are calm, loyal, and kind. They work well with other people and are particularly good in roles that require a high degree of support and empathy. They’re quick to adapt to other people, and prefer to blend in than shake things up.
Do
- Expect them to ask follow-up questions and ask for more details.
- Be relaxed and approachable. Encourage them by praising recent work they’ve done, and feel free to chat with them about their weekend before getting down to business.
- Practice active listening, and encourage them to open up by responding to their statements with relevant questions.
Don’t
- Rush them. Like contentious types, they like direction and being focused, and are naturally risk-averse.
- Assume they support your idea just because they haven’t voiced opposition. Instead, try to ask them explicitly, preferably in a one-on-one setup so they can think about how best to express their answer without the pressure of immediacy thrust upon them.
Final thoughts
Working with different types of people is something we all have to do. But rather than avoid the challenge, wouldn’t it be nicer if we all saw this difference as an opportunity, rather than a hurdle? Sure, it’s great working with people you click with immediately, but there’s also a real sense of reward to be found in successfully communicating with someone you wouldn’t naturally gel with. Be a social chameleon: flex around your teammates’ communication styles and watch the conversations (and productivity) flourish.
