PERSONAL COMMUNICATION STYLES

SELF-SCORING

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 PERSONAL COMMUNICATION STYLES

PART A EXPRESSING YOURSELF

There are six situations outlined below. You may feel they are
not ones which would occur for you; imagine what you would do
if you were in the situation. For each of them there are five
responses listed. You have 10 points to allocate for each
situation. You can spread these in any way you choose. If you
think that one option would be your response most of the time,
you can give all 10 points. Should you think you might use two
options, share the points accordingly. In extremes, you could
allocate 2 points to each option.

Example:
a) 6
b) 0
c) 2
d) 0
e) 2

Or any other mix provided it totals 10 pts

PART B RESPONDING

You are asked to share 5 points between two options - again in

any balance you like. You must have a total of 5 for each
situation. Even where you feel neither option is right, score it for
what you would do if they were your only choices.

Example:
A) 3
B) 2

Or

A) 5
B) 0

Or any other combination that totals 5 pts.

© PersCommStyle/www.solutions4training 2 +44 1483 480656

PART A.

1. There have been some changes to a project you have been

running. You deal with these changes by:

a) Giving them clear instructions about the changes and what

you expect each person to do.

b) Telling the team about the changes, their implications and what
will need to be done. You will listen to concerns - without asking
for their ideas.

c) Telling the team about the changes and their implications. You
then ask for responses and ideas and include these before
making your final decision about the way forward.

d) Telling the team about the changes and their implications. You
ask the team for suggestions about how to deal with these and
arrive at an agreed way forward.

e) Telling the team about the changes and their implications. You
let the team work out what these mean and develop a plan to
deal with them.

2. You are working against some tight deadlines. In order to get

things done in time you will:

a) Ask your team to look at their work and to ensure that they
plan to meet their deadlines.

b) Give direct instructions about what each person has to do

and by when.

c) Explain the situation to your team and ask for suggestions

about what you can all do to meet the timescales. You ensure
that you gain commitment that everyone will do their part.

d) Tell everyone about the situation, clearly explaining the

implications. You acknowledge things might be difficult.

e) Explain the situation and what you need to achieve. Check

how the group feel and ask for ideas.

© PersCommStyle/www.solutions4training 3 +44 1483 480656

3. You are reviewing a project/task with your team. Your
approach is to:

a) Give an overview of how you feel it went and ask for their
feelings and opinions.

b) Prepare and give a clear presentation of the outcome, what

went well, what could have been improved and what will be
done differently in future.

c) Ask the team to review how it went both individually and

collectively. Check what have they learned and how will they
use it? The team develop the action plan.

d) Tell the team what you felt the result was and what will be
done in the future.

e) Present the overview of the project and encourage

discussion about how they did things, what they will do
differently etc.

4. You are required to set some new performance targets for

your team. How will you do it?

a) Tell the team the new targets. Discuss ways of achieving

them, encouraging their ideas.

b) Tell the team the targets, what they mean and what tasks
they will carry out to achieve the targets.

c) After telling them the targets, check how they feel and
respond to any concerns.

d) Explain the targets and the reasons for them. Ask the team
to look at these and develop the actions plans/work
processes to achieve the targets.

e) Think about what message you will put over and plan to
do it carefully. Deliver it, giving the reasons and
acknowledge the team may have some concerns.

© PersCommStyle/www.solutions4training 4 +44 1483 480656

5. Due to a re-organisation there will be some changes in the way
your team work. You will manage these by:

a) Encouraging the team to get together, look at the new

procedures/processes and work out how to implement them.
(You may not agree with these - but you will let the team
try them)

b) Explaining the changes. You then ask for ideas from the team
about how they can implement these and get an agreed plan to
do so.

c) Telling them about the changes, the reasons and the

implications . Explaining how you want the team to work in
order to adapt to the new processes.

d) Explaining the changes and the reasons for them. You allow the
team to express their thoughts about these and acknowledge
their concerns. You then get their support for the way forward.

e) Telling the team about the new processes and how you want
them to work to fit in with these.

6. There have been some problems in interactions between your

team and some others. You tackle this by:

a) Telling them to change and respond to the other teams better.

b) Encouraging the team to address the issues and to find workable

solutions.

c) Telling them about the situation, clearly and concisely. You are
direct about your feedback and what you want them to do
differently.

d) Explaining the situation, encouraging discussion amongst the

team and agreeing some specific steps to improve things.

e) Explaining the situation and agreeing it needs to change. You

explore the team’s thoughts about why the problems occur,
before suggesting ways of changing things.

© PersCommStyle/www.solutions4training 5 +44 1483 480656

PART B.

When dealing with others you:

1. Consciously work to develop rapport A

Assume it will happen naturally B

2. Are open to their ideas A

Want to get them to accept your ideas B

3. Convince them to support/implement your ideas A

Seek their ideas about the situation B

4. Carry on, aiming to achieve your outcome A

Explore how they feel about things B

5. Take time to find out about them A

Do not feel the need to be personally involved B

6. Prefer to focus on what needs to be done A

Consciously take time to listen to what’s been happening B

7. Use others’ ideas to build upon A

Stick to your own ideas B

8. Feel you know what you are doing and have no need to
change A
Listen to, and act upon, their feedback B

9. Pay attention to their response to you A

Find yourself focused on what you want B

10. Argue with conviction, not shifting your position A

Are willing to be flexible to gain agreement B

11. Enjoy listening to their opinions A

Prefer to get on with what you want to achieve B

12. Want them to get on and do what is needed A

Find it easy to empathise with their situation B

© PersCommStyle/www.solutions4training 6 +44 1483 480656

 SCORING

PART A Enter your scores in the table below:

Situation Instruct Inform Consult Involve Empower

1 a b c d e
2 b d e c a
3 d b a e c
4 b e c a d
5 e c d b a
6 a c e d b

TOTAL

PART B Enter your scores from the boxes on the table below:

Responsive Non- Receptive Non-

responsive receptive
1 A B
2 A B
3 B A
4 B A
5 A B
6 B A
7 A B
8 B A
9 A B
10 B A
11 A B
12 B A

TOTAL

RESPONSIVE RECEPTIVE

© PersCommStyle/www.solutions4training 7 +44 1483 480656

 PERSONAL COMMUNICATION STYLES

PERSON BEING SCORED

___________________________

© PersCommStyle/www.solutions4training 8 +44 1483 480656

 PERSONAL COMMUNICATION STYLES

You are asked to score this for the person who has given it to you.

PART A EXPRESSING

There are six situations outlined below. You may feel they are not
ones which would occur for them, however imagine what you think they
would do if they were in the situation. For each situation there are five
responses listed. You have 10 points to allocate for each situation.
You can spread these in any way you choose. If you think that one
option would be their response most of the time, you can give all 10
points. Should you think they might use two options, share the points
accordingly. In extremes, you could allocate 2 point to each option.

Example:
a) 6
b) 0
c) 2
d) 0
e) 2

Or any other mix provided it totals 10 pts

PART B RESPONDING

You are asked to share 5 points between two options - again in any
balance you like. You must have a total of 5 for each situation. Even
where you feel neither option is right, score it for what they would do if
they were the only choices.

Example:
A) 3
B) 2

Or

A) 5
B) 0

Or any other combination that totals 5 pts.

© PersCommStyle/www.solutions4training 9 +44 1483 480656

PART A.

1. There have been some changes to a project your colleague has

been running. They deal with these changes by:

a) Giving clear instructions about the changes and what they

expect each person to do.

b) Telling the team about the changes, their implications and

what will need to be done. They will listen to concerns -
without asking for the team’s ideas.

c) Telling the team about the changes and their implications.

They ask for responses and ideas and include these before
making their final decision about the way forward.

d) Telling the team about the changes and their implications.

They ask the team for suggestions about how to deal with
these and arrive at an agreed way forward.

e) Telling the team about the changes and their implications.

They let the team work out what these mean and develop a
plan to deal with them.

2. Your colleague is working against some tight deadlines. In

order to get things done in time they will:

a) Ask their team to look at their work and to ensure that they
plan to meet their deadlines.

b) Give direct instructions about what each person has to do

and by when.

c) Explain the situation to their team and ask for suggestions

about what they can all do to meet the timescales. They
gain commitment that everyone will do their part.

d) Tell everyone about the situation, clearly explaining the

implications. They acknowledge things might be difficult.

e) Explain the situation and what they need to achieve. They

check how the group feel and ask for ideas.

© PersCommStyle/www.solutions4training 1 +44 1483 480656

3. Your colleague is reviewing a project/task with their team.
Their approach is to:

a) Give an overview of how they feel it went and ask for

feelings and opinions.

b) Prepare and give a clear presentation of the outcome, what

went well, what could have been improved and what will be
done differently in future.

c) Ask the team to review how it went both individually and

collectively. They check what has been learned and how will it be used
in future. The team develop the action plan.

d) Tell the team what they felt the result was and what will be
done in the future.

e) Present the overview of the project and encourage

discussion with the team about how they did things, what
they will do differently etc.

4. Your colleague is required to set some new performance

targets for their team. How will they do it?

a) Tell the team the new targets. Discuss ways of achieving

them, encouraging their ideas.

b) Tell the team the targets, what they mean and what tasks
they will carry out to achieve the targets.

c) After telling them the targets, check how they feel and
respond to any concerns.

d) Explain the targets and the reasons for them. Ask the team
to look at these and develop the actions plans/work
processes to achieve the targets.

e) Think about what message they will put over and plan to
do it carefully. Deliver it, giving the reasons and
acknowledge the team may have some concerns.

© PersCommStyle/www.solutions4training 1 +44 1483 480656

5. Due to a re-organisation there will be some changes in the way
your colleague’s team work. They will manage these by:

a) Encouraging the team to get together, look at the new

procedures/processes and work out how implement them.
(They may not agree with these - but will let the team
try them)

b) Explaining the changes. Asking for ideas from the team

about how they can implement them and get an agreed plan
to do so.

c) Telling them about the changes, the reasons and the

implications . Explain how they want the team to work in
order to adapt to the new processes.

d) Explaining the changes and the reasons for them. Allowing

the team to express their thoughts about these and
acknowledging their concerns. Getting their support for the
way forward.

e) Telling the team about the new processes and how they want
them to work to fit in with these.

6. There have been some problems in interactions between your

colleague’s team and some others. They tackle this by:

a) Telling them to change and respond to the other teams better.

b) Getting the team to address the issues and to find workable

solutions.

c) Telling them about the situation, clearly and concisely.

Being direct about their feedback and what they want the
team to do differently.

d) Explaining the situation. Encouraging discussion amongst

the team and agree some specific steps to improve things.

e) Explaining the situation and agree it needs to change.

Exploring the team’s thoughts about why the problems
occur, before suggesting ways of changing things.

© PersCommStyle/www.solutions4training 1 +44 1483 480656

PART B.

When dealing with others your colleague:

1. Consciously works to develop rapport A

Assumes it will happen naturally B

2. Is open to their ideas A

Wants to get them to accept their ideas B

3. Convinces them to support/implement their ideas A

Seeks their ideas about the situation B

4. Carries on, aiming to achieve their outcome A

Explores how they feel about things B

5. Takes time to find out about them A

Does not feel the need to be personally involved B

6. Prefers to focus on what needs to be done A

Consciously takes time to listen to what’s been happening B

7. Uses others’ ideas to build upon A

Sticks to their own ideas B

8. Feels they know what they are doing and have no need to change A
Listens to, and acts upon, others’ feedback B

9. Pay attention to people’s response to them A

Stays focused on what they want B

10. Argues with conviction, not shifting their position A

Is willing to be flexible to gain agreement B

11. Enjoys listening to their opinions A

Prefers to get on with what they want to achieve B

12. Wants others to get on and do what is needed A

Finds it easy to empathise with their situation B

© PersCommStyle/www.solutions4training 1 +44 1483 480656

 SCORING

PART A Enter your scores in the table below:

Situatio Instruct Inform Consult Involve Empower

n

1 a b c d e
2 b d e c a
3 d b a e c
4 b e c a d
5 e c d b a
6 a c e d b

TOTAL

PART B Enter your scores from the boxes on the table below:

Responsive Non- Receptive Non-

responsive receptive
1 A B
2 A B
3 B A
4 B A
5 A B
6 B A
7 A B
8 B A
9 A B
10 B A
11 A B
12 B A

TOTAL

RESPONSIVE RECEPTIVE

© PersCommStyle/www.solutions4training 1 +44 1483 480656