Have you ever heard of a DiSC assessment? It's a test that gives you insight into your communication style. Through our HR company we recently all took the test and sat down for a training/analysis session to talk about the different styles and what it means to us. Here's a crash course on the different communication styles:

• Dominance – relating to control, power and assertiveness
• Influence – relating to social situations and communication
• Steadiness – relating to patience, persistence, and thoughtfulness
• Conscientiousness (or caution) – relating to structure and organization

Now, of course, we all have a blend of these but you generally have one or two primary traits. For example, I was a 'Di' (big-D little-i) . It was really great to be able to better understand why someone communicates the way they do and how your can cater to their style to get to common ground. Every day, we all are constantly adapting to the person we're interacting with in what I visualize as a communication dance. Our group also started thinking about how our company as a whole conveys a certain style (the consensus was were very forward thinking but process oriented). Our clients have a style, too! Some clients are direct, straight forward and get right down to business. Others would rather have more casual conversations. If possible, I'd highly encourage your department or organization to take the DiSC assessment, it was an enlightening experience for our team.