Are you harvesting your entire communication orchard crop? In the Talk2Me© system, half of the field is an orange grove called Instigator communicators, and the other half of the field is an apple orchard called Empathizer communicators. We tend to stay with our own communication type and think our opposite type is a fruit! Hey, both apples and oranges are fruits, you know what I mean? Your opportunity is to pick the ripening fruit from the area of the orchard where you’d ordinarily consider it trespassing if you were to go there!
HOW DO YOU DELIVER QUALITY FEEDBACK TO SENSITIVE TYPES?
How do you deliver quality feedback to sensitive employees or people – the Empathizer communicators? How do you harvest your entire crop instead of sitting on a three-story high pity pot? Recall the sage advice that you can’t compare apples and oranges? Well, that stands true with communication tools or keys that unlock doors to sensitive communicators, too. (No, you don’t have to nurture crap just to get things done.)
Your Empathizer (E-type) apples will prefer this type of feedback to help them feel good and embrace change…
▪ INPUT. Give the E-types the option to have their say and give their input. Don’t be unapproachable.
▪ COOPERATION. Listen to the E-type’s idea to see if it is something you can implement. Let the guy or gal go with it.
▪ STROKE OR PRAISE. Provide a steady diet of praise. Some people want to hear when they’re doing a good job.
▪ THE COMPLIMENT SANDWICH. Combine positives and negatives. Start off with a positive statement, state the negative concern, and then end with another positive statement.
▪ LISTEN/RESPECT/TRUST. Respectful listening builds trust. Listen Up! That’s why God gave you two ears and one mouth. Show respect, and E-types will learn to trust you.
▪ DO NOT CALL THEM NAMES. Talking down (i.e., calling an idea or person “gay,” even in jest) drives fearless motivation into the ground.
▪ SCRAPPY VS. CRAPPY FEEDBACK. I speak up…and you speak up…and no one is drowned out. That’s how you give feedback to E-types!
▪ PRAISE EVERYONE FOR CONTRIBUTIONS. To encourage others to replicate successful strategies, point out the positive results that your team member (spouse, child, friend) is producing. Positive feedback is a guidance system that tells us when we’re on course.
▪ TALK TO PEOPLE. Find out what’s going on in their lives and follow up the next day. Invest yourself in opening up new communication avenues.
▪ CONVEY WORTH. Convey the worth and importance of an employee’s work to the overall operation’s success. This has to be done through genuine praise in little doses.
▪ ENCOURAGE. Encourage the attributes you like to see.
▪ REASSURANCE. E-types can become discouraged during tough times, so let them know they’re not alone.
THE LET’S TALK FIELD OF COMMUNICATION
Do you hang around with or hire those who are like you, to make it easier and communicate better? Instead, let’s harvest the half of the Let’s Talk Field of Communication that you ordinarily wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot ladder. Want to double your communication profits? Now you’ve got the CliffsNotes about how to speedily harvest your apple orchard, also known as Empathizer-type communicators, if you dare to care to.
THE UNKNOWN IS JUST LESS KNOWN TO YOU
Now, don’t start flipping out thinking you’ve got to change a bushel basket full. Not so! The talking point: The unknown isn’t unknown, just less known to you. The four T2M talk quadrants are one-half of the brain, too. Why not use new neural pathways? And remember that your communication toolbox should include blue and orange tools to make your harvest go faster.
ABOUT “TALK DOC” DENNIS O’GRADY, Psy.D.
Dennis delivers Talk2Me© Leadership Communication workshops which provide a Communication Toolbox full of positive communication tools to set people up for success. Dr. O’Grady can be reached at (937) 428-0724 or at www.drogrady.com.