Whether you are in sales, a programmer, or a stay at home mom, we all need interact with people to some degree. One approach to interaction with others is to enter all conversations believing that everyone thinks like you do. Doing so will quickly prove to be irritating to those involved and unproductive.
Unproductive? Well, sure. Your unwillingness to bend a conversation around someone's traits and concerns could equate to a chat between two people speaking different languages. For example a Vice President at your company is concerned with profit and loss much more than how queries are written by Joey the IT guy. If you want to have a conversation with a VP, learn to speak in his or her words!
Nevertheless, titles are not the best or only way to judge interests and communication styles. In addition, what if you're not at work and have no idea what the person's title is?
Along these lines is a nice article written at Success Connections. The author summarizes a method of reading people and then references several other resources that can help you brush up on your communication.
"When it comes to relating to and communicating with people in our lives, most of us have specific preferences as well. Some of us like it short and sweet, some like lots of information, some like it in between."To dig deeper into your communication style, read Learn to Read People at Success Connections.
Photo: Chez Pim
