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3.5 Case: Reaction styles in a team
Our story will take place in a service industry company, focusing on one particular team of five. The subject of reaction styles came up in a training session the team were participating in and the result was two thinkers, one feeler and two doers. The head of the team was a doer and that seemed to be causing some challenges, especially for the thinkers as the manager spent their time running around and only communicated tasks in a brief manner. After the team explored and discovered more insights into differences in reaction styles, it became clear that the two thinkers had opposing reaction sequences. One was a rather easygoing thinking-feeling-doing person and the other a more active thinking-doing-feeling person. It also became apparent that the feeler was a feeling-doing-thinking person, which made them quite emotional and impulsive from time to time. Finally, it was understood that both of the doers had a doing-feeling-thinking reaction sequence, thus both valuing fast decisions on the go.
Communication Skills The Reaction Sequence When people are in their trap, they behave differently. It is good to remember that when a manager is under stress, it usually has an impact on the over all health of the team. If we begin by observing the manager who has row six: doing-feeling-thinking as their reaction sequence, and thus becomes very frenetic under stress, we must also be aware that the same sequence applies to the other doer in the team.
We must then note that although whilst one thinker becomes very anxious due to stress and cannot get anything done, the other thinker starts acting out. Meanwhile, the feeler, who like the second thinker is also caught in a doing trap, runs around the anxious thinker without clearly expressing themselves and instead acts impulsively. Needless to say, this team becomes very dysfunctional under stress.
So the question is, how to help in a situation like this?
Most importantly, you will need to know how to use your balancer and start with yourself, and once you have your stress under control, you can also begin helping out your fellow work colleagues.
When thinking about the team in question, what could be done?
1. What are the particular communication challenges faced by this team?
2. Who will be the toughest person for the doer manager to handle?
3. How could the team find the right course for communication?
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Communication Skills The Reaction Sequence
Here some answers that might apply.
1. One major team issue is how to improve communication when all three reactions styles are present. The thinkers value a clear and logically approach. On the other hand, the feeler appreciates personal interaction and a good atmosphere, whereas the doers desire getting things done and decisions that are made without hesitation.
2. The manager was especially challenged by the thinkers, as this reaction style is the least natural response of the manager. The hardest employee would have been the thinking-feeling-doing person as this sequence is totally opposite to them in terms of reaction style. The manager would need to really try and slow down, taking time to explain things calmly, clearly and with much more patience than with anyone else in the team.
3. It is actually a good thing to have all three reaction styles present in a team. This is because each reaction style gives a different perspective and enables things to be seen and achieved from different angles. On the other hand this diversity can pose a threat to communication. If the manager stays in their comfort zone, e.g. if they communicate too briefly or too fast, then there is a risk for misinterpretations to arise. The thinkers would have a hard time to understand as information would be lacking and the feeler might feel overlooked if there is no personal touch to how things are communicated to them. Therefore, it is necessary for the manager to take all the reaction styles into account when communicating information, particularly during a stressful period at work.
Hint:
A good team has a mix of different skills and personalities. The results are great when all three reaction styles have their say, as this allows for a versatile approach to be achieved when dealing with a variety of issues and finding solutions for them.
Picture 5. A thinker, feeler and doer in a meeting.
Communication Skills Four steps to efficient communication
4 Four steps to efficient communication
For good communication to be possible, the preferences of all individuals involved need to be considered and this ability and awareness demands good people skills. It is possible to improve as communicators by acknowledging a few ground rules. First of all, there is not one reaction style that is better than another. On the contrary, we actually need to depend on all three of them if we are to succeed. They are all necessary for us to create a fully functioning connection and build trust with one another.
The four steps to efficient communication are:
1. Presence 2. Listening 3. Talking 4. Trust