Submitted by jhack on
in
Forums
BLUF: How to be effective in a group discussion when all DISC profiles are present?
One on one, it's best to align one's style to the listener. But what do you do when you have to communicate to all styles?
Background: a long-time colleague and I will engage in spirited debate in meetings. We're both high D (and we both know that), have great mutual respect, and are passionate about creating a great product. Of course, we don't always agree. Recently, it was pointed out that our “debating” was experienced by some of the high S and high C folks as too much conflict, and alienating. We're going to try to dial it back.
More generally, are there any guidelines for communicating when you have a room with all the DISC profiles? How can you effectively engage the D's without alienating the S's? And how to win over the C's before the I's go back to doing email?
John Hack
Assign a facilitator
John, I've seen some good facilitators get more discussion out of a group than normal. I think the trick, if there is one, is to stand back a bit (figuratively). This lets you draw out comments from the people with more reserved profiles. It also allows you insert some meta-communication qualifying how the "debate" should be interpreted by others who may be less comfortable with that level of directness. A facilitator can craft questions that play to individual DISC strengths: (To a high C) "How would the implementations of option A and B differ?", (To a high S) "What response can we expect from our customers if we go with option X?" As an authority figure you may also want to withhold your opinion a bit to get a more robust discussion going. And if discussion is what you want, give positive feedback about it.
Hope that helps - Sam