Everyone has different means of communication when it comes to the workplace and it’s important to know which love language is yours to help avoid any work conflicts
All of us at some point will have come home ranting about a colleague, but finding out your work ‘love language’ may help you understand your work peers a little better.
We all know how important it is to get along with those we work with, whether it’s to help career progression or just simply for an easier life, but a study found that 85% of people have dealt with a colleague they have found “annoying”.
According to occupational psychologist Ann Bicknell, people at work can be split into two categories – ‘people focused’ or ‘task focused’ and most conflicts come from people not knowing which one they are.
Ann told Stylist that one of the biggest conflicts in a workplace is about what’s more important – the outcomes and fairness or the numbers and constraints. She said task-focused people are more concerned with “processes, data and detail” as they will request evidence and numbers up front.
People-focused workers will look at a broader outcome and explore how things will affect their colleagues. Ann said: “They place a high value on fairness and equitableness and may like to talk about social impact before discussing financial or data-driven detail.”
So when it comes to bolstering their careers, task-focused people should concentrate on “warmth and patience”. Ann explained: “Task-focused people have a tendency to be very ‘bish bash bosh’ in their communication style, but people-focused people tend to need a bit more of a dialogue or to be warmed up to an idea.”
So whether you are task-focused or people-focused, there are ways you can improve your communication at work to help further your career. Ann said firstly you need to find someone who can give you some constructive criticism. But she said make sure it’s someone you trust so you don’t take it the wrong way.
Another piece of advice the expert gave was to ask for anonymous feedback. “This is something anyone could do if they feel comfortable asking people to fill in a short survey.” She said it’s helpful to ask people questions such as “what do I ask about the most” and “what’s most important to me?”. Also, questions asking if people believe in you will help give you a new, deeper sense of self-awareness.
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