What pissed you off today?

[CherryWine]

Originally Posted by Orema

I don’t know if your organization would be open to this, but at my job we took some assessments that helped us communicate better. Didn’t solve all the problems, but it made working with each other easier. We have the exact problem you describe: we sometimes feel like we're speaking with aliens when communicating with teammates. And these are people who thoroughly understand the English language—written and spoken.

Every member on our team at work took a DiSC Profile assessment to understand each other’s style of communication. This assessment is usually used in leadership development, but we took the test to be able to better communicate with each other.

Our team took the assessment and put the results of each person on a large board, posted it where everyone has access to it, and we consult it when necessary. We ask that new members take the test, too.

I think it’s only used as a last resort after you’re frustrated with someone (and we sometimes chuckle when we see someone consulting the chart because we know they’re probably frustrated or maybe even pissed off). But, on the whole it helps. For instance, I know who appreciates my direct way of communicating and I know when I need to have my filters in high gear. I also know and understand that someone who’s analytical may communicate differently than me.

It, or something similar, may be worth checking out if your company has a budget for training. It won’t solve everything and not even most things, but it could be helpful.

Good luck, CherryWine.

Orema, it's funny that you mention the DISC assessment. After some very unprofessional behavior by a supervisor toward a member of the "the powers that be," our entire team was required to take a communications course that included the DISC assessment.

It has probably been about 7 or 8 years since the course, but oddly enough I remember that my boss and I scored the exact same (I couldn't remember what I scored, so I just took it again online and got CDS). Considering we scored the same, you would think that he and I would be able to communicate a little more effectively with one another. However, most everyone (there are 11 of us) in the office has complained about having to decode his emails and having to ask him to clarify himself repeatedly.

That is a fantastic idea about posting everyone's results on a board where we could easily access them when need be. I may actually take this suggestion to our next staff meeting. We have some new members who have joined the team since we last took the assessment, so it would be helpful to understand their style of communication and for them to understand ours.

Many thanks for the great advice, Orema!