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Dealing with difficult colleagues, bosses and clients: Using the DISC language to enhance your workplace relationships – Part 2
Last fortnight we began our 4-part series on how to improve your relationship with difficult people in the workplace by using the DISC language. To briefly recap the story, you will recall that my client Julie was experiencing tremendous difficulty with her new boss (who had only just taken over the reigns three weeks prior), and was seriously considering handing in her notice.
Using the DISC profiling assessment (the DISC language) Julie recognised the characteristics of her boss’ behaviour and communication preferences and by adapting her communication and behavioural approach when dealing with her boss, was successfully able to restore a seemingly impossible relationship.
Geoff’s story – a boss having difficulty in communicating with his Personal Assistant
In this fortnight’s article, we move to the second letter in the DISC language – being the ‘I’ Factor. Just to recap, the I Factor stands for Influence; how a person influences others to their point of view. People who are high in the ‘I’ Factor are enthusiastic, trusting, talkative, sociable, optimistic and confident. They like to be involved in just about everything, use lots of gestures and facial expressions when speaking, and wear their heart on their sleeves, so you’ll certainly know when you have challenged them.
Geoff was a senior executive in a large manufacturing company and came to see me due to issues he was having with his newly hired personal assistant - Rebecca. She had come highly recommended from his peers, had delivered some impressive results throughout her career, and was highly skilled in her work. However, her constant talkative and somewhat boisterous attitude (which Geoff had initially thought was her trying to fit into the organisation) was in fact her natural style. Four months on, she was often found chatting in the corridors with other staff, was causing meetings to run over schedule due to the small talk and conversation she elicited with other staff members, and, at times, tended to act impulsively.
Geoff, being high in the D Factor, was a very results oriented person and didn’t really make time for what he claimed was ‘idle chit chat’. Rebecca’s behaviour and communication style was completely foreign to Geoff, and not wanting to lose a skilled team member (should she decide to leave due to the possible build up of friction between them) he asked for some ideas on how he could solve these communication issues.
Adapting and enhancing your communications and relationships with someone with a high ‘I’ Factor
Geoff’s description of Rebecca’s communication style pinpointed her as someone with a high I Factor – standing for influence.
To optimise his communications and ultimately his working relationship with Rebecca, following were some dos and don’ts that were recommended to Geoff.
When communicating with Rebecca, it was important for Geoff to:
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Give her an opportunity to talk about her ideas, other people and her emotions;
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Assist her in developing ways to transfer talk into action
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Share his ideas and experiences with her
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Recognise and thank her for her accomplishments
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Give her an opportunity to motivate and influence others
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Show her that he accepted her
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Explain the details however not to dwell on them
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Communicate with her in a friendly and jovial manner
When speaking to Rebecca, Geoff no longer:
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Stopped her from speaking (if he thought it irrelevant and not ‘problem solving’ focused), but rather allowed her to share her thoughts
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Prevented her from minimising her interaction with others, by encouraging her to take her breaks in the lunch area with other staff so that she could enjoy the company and conversation of other staff
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Discredited her ideas, but rather encouraged her to share her thoughts and successes when she felt she had something to contribute
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Fired instructions at her, telling her what to do
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Required her to complete the highly detailed work
Adopting the above strategies allowed Geoff to enhance his overall interactions and communications with his personal assistant Rebecca, who was continuing to deliver great results within the workplace.
Geoff even began to develop a new-found respect for Rebecca’s ‘talkative’ behaviour, as she was an excellent relationship builder. Allowing Rebecca to bring her natural, strong influential communication skills to the table enabled the establishment of some strong alliances with key stakeholders he had been trying to ‘woo’ for over 12 months.
Recognising and allowing Rebecca to leverage her strengths and talents had allowed her to feel more comfortable within the workplace and had also opened the door to some positive and lucrative business opportunities - a true win-win situation!
Next fortnight we’ll identify how to enhance your communications/interactions with someone who has a high ‘S’ Factor. Stay tuned!
If you would like to learn more about the DISC language or how to overcome difficulties in your collegial, customer or even personal relationships feel free to contact me on info@a-e-c.com.au
Till next fortnight!
To your success!
Annemarie
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Last Sunday evening, my youngest daughter, Nicole sang a solo in the youth service at our church. To see her up on stage in her element was such a joy! She has had a passion for singing, dancing and acting from a young age, and is very much involved in school plays and creative events. My eldest daughter, Danielle is the complete opposite. She has a passion for anything sporty, is currently studying Cert. II in Sports & Recreation (specialising in Basketball), and is an avid ‘Hawthorn’ AFL follower (much to the disgust of her father). To see both of them so involved and excelling in each of the areas they love is fantastic. Here is a picture of both my girls! Nicole [left] and Danielle [right].
