Whether youre a first-time manager or a seasoned pro, dealing with your team members can make you feel like youre a detective trying to solve a mystery. One moment, you may think that you fully understand your teams needs, and the next moment you might feel like you said the wrong thing and you cant figure out why one person was okay with what you said while the other is at a standstill.

Sound familiar? In any situation, life or business, it takes a sharp eye for knowing how to best communicate to motivate and coach your team, and delegate for maximum results. You are like a detective on a quest to solve the mystery of communicating with others.

As most detectives can tell you...follow the clues. People are complex beings, yet they provide clues which can give insights on how to best manage a person. If you learn to pick up on the subtle nuances of behavior, you will quickly see that you can begin to solve the mystery of communicating with others.

If you were to analyze your team, you would likely see a clear distinction between who is extroverted and who is introverted. These clues are pretty obvious. Extroverts generally are fast-paced, energetic, rushed, driven, involved in multiple activities, and optimistic. You can usually tell when extroverts have walked into a room because they know practically everyone and if they don't, by the time the meeting is over, they will likely create new friendships with those they just met. As you read this article, Im sure you can readily identify these people on your team.

On the other hand, introverts are quiet, can appear shy, move at a slower pace, seem resistant to change, are involved in one task or project at a time, and can ask several questions to help them process their conclusions. Introverts are the ones that can sneak into a room without anyone noticing that they arrived. They can sometimes be found behind the scenes.

The clue to identify here is that people are naturally drawn to being outgoing or reserved. When managing your team, it is important to build on peoples strengths. If someone is introverted and you want to put them on a project that requires high visibility and heavy interaction with others, you may have to spend more time coaching this person or you can decide to work with the person who is a natural fit for the project.

The second clue to help you communicate better with your team is to look at their personality inclination. Find out if you are working with someone who is task-oriented or people-oriented. This will help you have the right players in place in order to maximize performance at work. Whats the difference between tasks and people? The best way I can describe this is to tell you about my husband and me. If you were to ask him which he prefersstaying at home doing things, working on his to-do list, or planning stuff vs. going out to a party to socialize; he would undoubtedly take the first option. No questions asked. He thrives on tasks. I, on the other hand, much prefer to interact with people, to create deeper connections with others to understand how they feel, and build strong relationships from the interaction. Polar opposites!

This doesnt mean that people-oriented team members cant get the job done. It means that they primarily focus on the relationship as the strong point to accomplishing results. The task-oriented person thrives on checking things off the to-do list and is an excellent driver for leading projects. However, sometimes this person can forget to stop and check in with others along the way. Consequently, this can result in others feeling isolated or undervalued because of the lack of interaction.

The important clue here is to understand that the majority of people tend to value relationships as the predominant motivating factor to performance as opposed to straight tasks.

Other clues to take into consideration as you communicate with others are to look for factors pointing to the specific personality styles of your teammates.

You may find some people are naturally drawn to leadership positions. Some may like authority, power, and decisiveness. The best way to communicate with these team members is to do the following: challenge them to deliver a deadline, stress how their leadership will contribute to big picture goals, give quick, bottom line answers, and stay on task with the business at hand.

Other team members prefer to inspire, ignite projects, and influence others. You can communicate best with them by socializing, recognizing their achievements, and giving them time to speak their ideas. Also, you will want to establish a creative, fun atmosphere for their success. Both of these team members are outgoing.

On the other hand, you may find introverted team members who are shy, supportive of others, and prefer not to have change in their environment. Here's how to best interact with them: show appreciation for their contributions, tell them you are there to support them, and be clear about how they can best contribute to the team for the overall good of the company. If you are someone who is task-driven, be careful not to come across as too pushy or insensitive. These team members need to feel they are part of something greater.

Lastly, you can have a co-worker who is extremely cautious, questions everything, and can competently handle details. How do you communicate with this person? You will want to give time to process the details, be as thorough as possible when explaining a task, and praise them for their excellence in quality work.

Either way, all personality styles are valuable to the team. Each person has a blend of characteristics. Depending on the projects you have to work with, you will want to tune into the clues provided by your co-workers.

Once you figure out the clues, you will be well on your way to solving the mystery of communicating with others. You will be more effective in motivating others, coaching your team, and your delegation efforts will yield positive results. You will earn your Management Detective badge.

Copyright 2006, Christina M. Santiago

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