Communication & Decision-Making Essentials

Communication Style Basics

• How we interact & exchange information with others
• Common classification: 4 primary styles
  • Passive: withholds feelings (e.g., “It doesn’t matter to me”)
  • Aggressive: loud, demanding (“I’m right, you’re wrong”)
  • Passive-Aggressive: surface calm, hidden anger (“Sure, your way… the stupid way”)
  • Assertive: states own needs while respecting others (“I feel frustrated; let’s solve this”)

Personality-Based Styles

• Director
  • Goal-driven, fast decisions, crisp speech
  • May appear insensitive or intimidating
• Thinker
  • Task-oriented, methodical, “by the book”
  • Deliberate speaker, lists & structure
• Expresser
  • People-oriented, animated, rapid speech
  • Thinks out loud; can be imprecise
• Harmonizer
  • Relationship-focused, loyal, avoids conflict
  • Soft-spoken; may over-commit or procrastinate

Alignment of Cues

• Style + verbal + non-verbal = rich information
• Misalignment raises risk of
  • Lack of clarity
  • Miscommunication
  • Poor decisions
• Consistency of words, tone, gestures is critical

Communication & Decision Making

• Communication underpins each decision phase
  • Understand incoming information
  • Clearly share issues, concerns, facts
  • Present ideas during deliberation
  • Convey final decision & rationale