Communication styles: description of styles, functions, principles of organization

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Communication is the basis on which the society is kept. If people did not interact with the help of verbal and non-verbal signals, everyone would live separately from everyone else, evolution and sociology would not have arisen as sciences, we would not have become humanity and would not even know this word. Fortunately, all this is not so, and every person, no matter how a hermit he considers himself, interacts with society in one way or another. For information on how exactly this can be done, read the article.

Small introduction

Communication is a term that in the English-speaking segment sounds like communication or communication. We do not pronounce this long and complex word, since our language has a simpler synonym. Nevertheless, its essence does not change from this - communication gives people the opportunity to interact and develop together. With its help, we not only find friends and partners, we also adopt the experience of our ancestors, studysomething new, written by those who lived long before us, we learn new things by watching news feeds, etc.

In a word, without communication, everything would collapse, cease to have the usual meaning for us. Indirectly or subconsciously, every person understands this, although he rarely thinks about this phenomenon. But what is even less often thought about is communication styles, that is, how exactly we communicate and what information we prefer to perceive and what we reject. Is there really a certain framework for the transmission and perception of material within the framework of a familiar society? Yes, and we define them ourselves.

What does it depend on?

Every person is unique. He has his own character, his own experience, and against this background, his attitude to the world around him is formed. This attitude turns into interaction with society, and, as a result, becomes a communication style for a particular person. A similar phenomenon can be traced both in the domestic sphere and in the working one, and there are cases when a person is one in his behavior here and there, and it happens that he seems to be bifurcated.

For example, an experienced and seasoned lawyer in a business environment behaves extremely dryly, extremely professionally, he is perceived exclusively as a busy and strict person. But when he comes home, he becomes a sweet, caring, cheerful and fairy tale-reading dad and gentle husband. He allows himself to compliment, smile, laugh and even fool around. This means that a person is extremely professional in his work and understands that his familyactivity does not involve "lisping".

But at home he is himself - everything is fine, and he is "white and fluffy". A completely different situation will occur in the life of a woman who works as a kindergarten teacher, but at the same time she has problems on the personal front. She will be very kind to the children at work, but at home she can be extremely cold and emotionless.

Main classification

In fact, one or another style of communication inherent in a particular person depends not only on his profession or "weather in the house", but also on many other factors, such as upbringing, life experience, character, and also nationality. That is, it is the information embedded in the genes, and the influence of the society in which a person grew up. For example, if a Russian is born in Russia, then, as they say, everything is one in him - both genetic memory and environment.

If an Italian is born in Russia, he will become a mix of the cultures of these two countries. From all this diversity, the so-called basic styles of communication were derived, which can be applied to a person who comes from any cultural environment. There are four of them, and we will now consider each separately.

Purposeful

Such people, as they say, will go over their heads, but they will always achieve what they want. Incredibly strong personalities who do not make mistakes: they call them experience, and if they stumble, they immediately get up and move on. Generally not susceptible to criticism and bullying: they have a goal and theyachieve. Purposeful communication style is inherent in people who love order and prosperity.

They always dress modestly, strictly, but at the same time very expensive, they do not like excess accessories, they choose one, but worthy. They speak and communicate in the same strict, concise and purely business-like manner. Their catchphrase can be considered: "Have a minute?" - after which you will immediately receive a huge amount of information in a compressed form. Among purposeful people, there are rarely beggars or misguided individuals - these are two mutually exclusive factors.

Initiator

This is a style of interpersonal communication in which a person is extremely active, loud, looks bright and constantly comes up with something new. These are often called "clowns", "jesters" or "the soul of the company." Moreover, this pattern of behavior can be the basis of both business relationships (for sure, you have met such an overly bright and violent, but brilliant artist at least once in your life), and serve as the foundation for building love and friendship.

Such people look exactly the same as they behave - bright, bold, sometimes even tasteless. They always speak very loudly, they can afford to go beyond the bounds of decency, while they are replete with ideas, they see something of their own in everything, based on impressions. Their words and thoughts seem crazy but brilliant.

Emotional

This communication style is a mirror image of the previous one. In it sothere is no order, linearity and clarity, but at the same time a person ceases to be bright and loud, but becomes calm, melancholy, thoughtful. People who have a "cute mess" going on in their heads and in their words. In communication, they can be inconsistent, jump from one topic to another, often think and fly away into their fantasies right in the middle of the dialogue. These are creative individuals, but due to lack of ambition, they rarely reach the top.

Analyst

This style of mass communication can be compared with a "gray mouse", which says almost nothing in response. But at the same time it is difficult to guess what is going on in her head. Analysts are people who love order and minimalism, and it is in this "genre" that they communicate with everyone around them.

They are always dressed strictly and angrily, while not very expensive. When communicating with you, they will ask short leading questions, and in response to yours they may remain silent, and all because at the moment they are analyzing the information received. Like the representatives of the previous style, they rarely achieve career heights, as they do not have enough ambitions.

At work

Professional activity is one of the key areas of our life. As was cited in the example above, it happens that a person transforms for successful self-realization in work, and it happens that he "pulls into the office" all his life baggage. Whether this is good or bad depends on the profession and the team, so you need to look at the situation individually.

However, in the field of work, styles of business communication have been defined, in which communication between superiors and the team is implied. There are only two of them, and each of them is correct to one degree or another. It’s just worth focusing on employees, their views and the essence of the work performed.

Authoritarian

Decision-making is coordinated only by the authorities, while the executive team only carries out the instructions of those who are above them. In this type of communication between subordinates and bosses, there is a control factor, a system of punishments and rewards.

Such a concept as an initiative on the part of employees is unacceptable - it is only important to accurately and routinely fulfill their instructions. Gradually, this type of communication in a working society is dying out, but for some areas of activity it is the only source of existence.

Democratic

This kind or style of communication is manifested in the framework of work, which involves a collaborative approach to solving problems. The boss has the last word, but in the process, to certain decisions and arguments, the team comes by the method of meetings, the method of finding a compromise, through mutual communication. As a rule, this type of business communication is inherent in those organizations in which people enjoy their work, are interested in the success of the campaign and in personal growth.

Read between the lines

We found out how people with different communication styles communicate with each other in a particular environment. Well, notit is worth forgetting that we all share with the world additional information about ourselves and about our opinion regarding a particular issue using non-verbal signals. On a subconscious level, they are perceived by others and make us in their eyes who they consider us to be. If your speech completely coincides with the process of thinking, there is no dissonance and there will not be, you will look convincing even in the eyes of inveterate skeptics.

If the style of your communication is falsified - you decided to stay in a different skin, or you are already used to constantly changing roles, people may notice it. As a rule, the styles of non-verbal communication do not differ in structure from the types of verbal communication. However, if they do not fit together within the same personality, it is difficult for us to interact with such a person.

Conclusion

Our communication style defines us as a person in the eyes of others. Before we utter the first word with this or that intonation, as we express our opinion or have a dialogue, we will be judged only by appearance. This is just a picture that will soon melt in the minds of people who knew us. Reinforce it with your communication style and you will be remembered for a long time as a holistic and very interesting person.