DISC personality and leadership communication: building essential reporting skills for professionals. Master the skills of upward communication and reporting, from overcoming psychological barriers to building a closed-loop model, to add support to your career development, improve your superiors’ recognition, and achieve a win-win situation in the workplace.
Have you ever had such an experience or confusion:
- Obviously you have undertaken many important tasks, but the benefits are not as expected?
- Completed the same project as a colleague, but the superior favored him?
- Complete tasks seriously, but the recognition and trust of your superiors have not been significantly improved?
In these scenarios, you may also be in the following psychological state:
- Thinking that completing tasks is enough and unwilling to take the initiative to report.
- I feel entangled or even resisted every time I want to report.
- Psychological shadow caused by not being able to figure out the superior’s style or previous reports being rejected.
- Nervous about reporting due to criticism experience in the novice stage.
In the workplace, we all want to be recognized for our hard work. As Harvey McKay said: It is one thing to do your job well, but it is another thing to be recognized by your leadership. Reporting is an important part of the job, not an unnecessary burden.
So, how to better communicate and report upward? The following four points may be helpful to you:
1. Overcome your inner heart and take the first step towards upward communication
Many people struggle internally but never take action because of fear and worry about reporting. The root cause is mainly the fear of poor reporting results or being criticized, as well as fear of superiors and lack of self-confidence.
In fact, this complex psychological activity is not only unhelpful, but also intensifies the fear of superiors. It is better to start by overcoming psychological barriers and take the first step bravely. You will find that your superiors are not as strict as you thought, and you may even get unexpected suggestions and support during communication.
If you are still struggling, you can try to act bravely after you are fully prepared. This will be the starting point for a new world in the workplace.
2. Get to know your superiors and find appropriate communication methods
While overcoming psychological barriers, it is particularly important to understand the superior’s style and choose an appropriate communication method. Your superiors’ value proposition, drivers, and management style can be observed through daily interactions.
According to the DISC personality test theory, superior style can be divided into the following four categories:
Dominance (Dominance - D type)
This type of superior is highly motivated and focuses on results. Typical language includes ‘What’s the result?’ ‘What is the goal?’ etc.
- When reporting, the conclusion comes first and is direct and clear.
- Emphasize results and reduce description of problems.
- Express tactfully when encountering different opinions.
Influence type (Influence-I type)
Influential superiors are optimistic and cheerful and pay attention to the team atmosphere.
- Respect and agree with the opinions of superiors.
- The report is logically clear and highlights the key points.
- Don’t slack off and implement the tasks assigned by your superiors.
Steadiness - S type
Robust superiors pay attention to details and pursue perfection.
- Support reports with data and facts.
- Pay attention to logic and avoid reporting at the last minute.
- Enhance your professional capabilities to respond to possible questions.
Caution type (Compliance - C type)
Cautious superiors value rules and procedures.
- Reports should be concise and to the point.
- The data is detailed and the time points are clear.
- Follow established procedures and standards.
Although DISC theory divides personality into four types, in reality people usually have a variety of traits and need to respond flexibly.
PsycTest official website (www.psyctest.cn) provides free online tests to help you quickly understand the personality type of your superiors.
3. Know yourself and clarify your demands for upward communication
Superiors need to manage the entire team and cannot pay attention to the detailed needs of each subordinate. Therefore, it is particularly critical to clarify one’s own work maturity and adjust communication methods according to actual needs.
Work maturity is typically divided into four stages, each corresponding to a different communication strategy:
Beginners with high enthusiasm and low experience
Suggestions at this stage: Ask for more advice and confirm goals and expectations.
Learners with medium enthusiasm and ability
Suggestions at this stage: Share phased results and seek guidance from superiors.
Highly enthusiastic and capable performers
Suggestions at this stage: Take the initiative to share experiences and put forward optimization suggestions.
Highly enthusiastic and capable achiever
Recommendation at this stage: Collaborate with superiors to explore new possibilities.
4. Build a closed-loop model of upward communication
Efficient upward communication requires building a closed-loop model, where every step from task confirmation to result feedback is crucial.
1. Clarify tasks and requirements
After receiving the task, first understand the background and goals to ensure that they are consistent with the understanding of the superior.
2. Make plans and communicate difficulties correctly
Develop feasible implementation plans and propose reasonable resource requirements when necessary. For example, instead of saying ’the goal is too difficult’, it might be better to say ’needs channel expansion advice and skills training support.’
3. Implement the communication and reporting plan
Propose multiple alternatives to help superiors make decisions. For example, ‘I have three suggestions, which are…according to the analysis, I think the first one is the best. What is your opinion?’
4. Periodic feedback
Tasks with a long time span require regular feedback on progress, highlighting phased results, and preparing solutions.
5. Feedback results and confirm opinions
After the task is completed, report to superiors in a timely manner and listen to opinions. A good report includes: facts + opinions + action plans + predictions.
American management scientist Sean Bell pointed out that the core expectations of superiors for subordinates include communication, obedience, support, effort, attitude and results. By meeting these elements, your career path will be smoother.
Summarize
The purpose of upward communication and reporting is to achieve better collaboration and promote the achievement of work goals. When we overcome psychological barriers, understand the needs of our superiors and ourselves, and master the closed-loop communication model, we can achieve true win-win results in the workplace. Take the DISC personality test now to improve your workplace communication!
Link to this article: https://m.psyctest.cn/article/01d8XdRA/
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