When?
The beginning
Why?
Recognizing your personal communication style helps you in interacting with others.
How Long?
25-30 minutes as a team
The Task:
In this exercise, you will analyze each team member’s personal communication style based on a tool developed by Richard Lewis. The idea of this exercise is map out the diverse behaviors and communications styles in your team. With greater awareness you can coach each other to communicate more effectively.
Lewis developed his model based on culture studies but rather than looking at nationality or religion, his model puts emphasis on people’s behaviors in interactions with others. He named his typologies Linear-active, Multi-active and Reactive. The Lewis Model shows world cultures across these three dimensions, but emphasizes that the typical communication styles of individuals do not necessarily follow geographical cultures, but are based on behavioral dimensions.
What to Do:
EXPLORE
Read this article (opens in a new tab). Familiarize yourself with the descriptions of the three dimensions of communication: Linear-active, Multi-active and Reactive.
ANALYZE
Think about how you interact with others; which of the communication styles described in the Lewis Model do you identify with?
You might not fit into just one style:
If you feel that you possess behavioral elements from multiple dimensions, try to think about the dominant dimensions that define your communication style in interactions with others.
Your personal style does not necessarily align with your cultural background or ethnicity:
Your communication style will be influenced by your social and professional environments and the people you interact with the most.
DISCUSSION AND ADVICE
- Create a summary of your team’s communication styles. Discuss the challenges you may have when talking with others with communication styles different from your own.
- What kind of advice could you give to each other to avoid these challenges?
“Encourage everyone to talk in a discussion. When a group allows other team members to speak freely without passing any judgment new ideas may be generated.”
-Baruch Student