G. The choleric temperament translates into the bold or direct style of communication. People with this style
are brief in their communication – the fewer words the better. They are big picture thinkers and love to be
involved in many things at once. They are focused on tasks and outcomes and often forget that the people
involved in carrying out the tasks have needs. They don’t do detail work easily and as a result can often
underestimate how much time it takes to achieve the task. Because they are so direct, they often seem
forceful and can be very intimidating to others. They usually would welcome someone challenging them.
But most other styles are afraid to do so. They also thrive on change, the more the better.
H. A well-functioning team should have all of these communication styles for true effectiveness. All teams
need to focus on the task, and they need to take care of relationships in order to achieve those tasks. They
need the big picture perspective or the context of their work, and they need the details to be identified and
taken care of for success. We all have aspects of each style within us. Some of us can easily move from one
style to another and adapt our style to the needs of the situation at hand-whether the focus is on tasks or
relationships. For others, a dominant style is very evident, and it is more challenging to see the situation
from the perspective of another style. The work environment can influence communication styles either by
the type of work that is required or by the predominance of one style reflected in that environment. Some
people use one style at work and another at home. The good news about communication styles is that we
have the ability to develop flexibility in our styles. The greater the flexibility we have, the more skilled we
usually are at handling possible and actual conflicts. Usually it has to be relevant to us to do so, either
because we think it is important or because there are incentives in our environment to encourage it. The key
is that we have to want to become flexible with our communication style. As Henry Ford said, “Whether you
think you can or you can’t, you’re right!”