Introduction
The uniqueness of individual differences goes beyond personal appearances to personality. Personality entails how different people act and react in given situations. The personality style of an individual is more natural but also influenced by many other factors such as cultural orientation, interaction with other people and challenges faced. The unique aspect of personality has encouraged many scholars to research on it since it creates an opportunity to identify the strengths and weaknesses of people. Daily interactions with people require effective communication which is vital at the workplace. This is crucial in ensuring a healthy work environment, resolving conflicts, offering motivation, learning to be professional and creating teamwork. This should be the thesis statement and you cannot write the words “this paper” because it then announces what your stating in the thesis, please delete those words and put a more clear thesis statement, everything else is good but the beginning of this sentence need to be reconstructed (be sure that you check the guidelines of a thesis statement). Personality styles differ to a great extent and affect the interactions and relationships between people particularly in the workplace. This will be illustrated through the evaluation of Susan’s personality and communication styles compared to three of her colleagues who have different personalities. Several ways of improving Susan’s relationship with her colleagues will also be discussed.
Personality and Communication Styles of Susan
Susan is generally extroverted, confident, flexible, and able to comfortably adapt to different situations. She loves working with others, has a good teamwork spirit; and loves correcting mistakes. As a result, do you need a comma before or after hence? she is actively involved in problem-solving and conflict resolution at her workplace. She is also persistent and able to remain calm even in situations of high pressure. Furthermore, she is very independent and sure of the actions she takes. In addition, she is very assertive and able to make decisions, has coping mechanisms for unexpected situations, is very optimistic and has exceptional leadership skills. This influences her working since she likes working with people and this exposes her flexibility to situations and maintenance of positive motivation (Siberg, Bakker-Pieper, Vries, Gameren & Vlug, 2009, p. 200).
Jourdain (2010), states that people with a personality such as Susan’s have very good leadership abilities due to their willingness to take control and charge of situations and like making things right. Moreover, they tend to be actively involved in solving problems or resolving conflicts. They are also very dependable at work and take responsibilities assigned to them seriously due to their persistence, independence, willingness to take chances even in doubtful situations as well as their accountability. However, Susan’s personality can be weaknesses to some extent. This is because of her stubbornness that arises from sticking to her opinions, willingness to make decisions at all times and the thought of not wanting to give up especially if she seems to be losing to the opinions of others.
Interactions with Three People in the Workplace
At work, Susan has to communicate and interact with her colleagues. Her interactions include with her boss, the accountant of the company, and her assistant in the secretarial department. Her boss has a melancholy temperament. He is more of a dictator because he does not like excuses given for failure to meet his expectations, orders things to be done fast and in his way. He is a very poor listener, very demanding, critical, and can be intimidating. The accountant of the organization, on the other hand, is a detailed person. He has a phlegmatic temperament with an introverted personality. He loves detail, is indecisive, is usually unwilling to take actions, impatient, is easily unmotivated and is slow in communication. He is also critical and negative about almost everything. The assistant secretary is a young lady with a sanguine personality. She has the know-it-all personality. She is not attentive to detail, loves heated debates and conflict situations, is disorganized, talks a lot, is very judgmental of the opinions of the others and likes public attention.
Dealing with People of Different Personalities
Susan finds herself in a situation in which she has to deal with people of very different personalities. DuBrin (2004) suggests that Susan needs to identify effective ways of communicating with each of her three co-workers who have different personalities and styles of communication and handle this situation professionally (p. 234). In this case, she can request for a short meeting with her boss and bring to his attention how intimidating attitude affects her work negatively. Additionally, she may incorporate humor to discuss his demands that are almost always unrealistic. In dealing with the accountant, Susan needs to portray the need for peace and put emphasize on the need for teamwork without portraying a bossy attitude. Rather, she should be patient and give him the opportunity to air his views and be sure to create a warm atmosphere for him to be motivated. Susan needs not to pressure the accountant, but learn to be patient with him while creating an environment of equality and give him all the details he wants in addition to being a good listener (DuBrin, 2004, p. 283). She however needs to confront him about his criticism in a calm way and not show control or intimidation but in an encouraging manner by reasoning with him about the matter. On interacting with her assistant, Susan needs to schedule a meeting and make it interesting, jovial and fun then point out the issue of too much talking and joking. She needs to explain to her that her habits make her unable to concentrate on her work. She should also encourage her on building teamwork with the others. She needs to confront her on her know-it-all attitude and suggest that she needs to give others an opportunity to air their views. Further, Susan needs to confront her about the effects her criticisms have on her work and emphasize on the need for her to work efficiently. However, Susan needs to recognize and appreciate the efforts made by her colleagues in understanding each other’s personality differences (Jourdain, 2010, p. 2).
Conclusion
This report has focused on evaluating and reviewing the personality of Susan together with the interactions she has with people of different personalities in her workplace. Further, the report has given recommendations on how Susan can enhance her interaction with her colleagues and ultimately increase her productivity.
Reference List
- DuBrin, A. (2004). Applying Psychology: Individual and organizational effectiveness (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall.
- Jourdain, K. (2010). Communication styles and conflict. Journal of Quality and Participation, 9, 1-3.
- Siberg, R., Bakker-Pieper, A., Vries, R., Gameren, K., & Vlug, M. (2009). The content and dimensionality of communication styles. Communication Research, 36(2), 178-206.