Personality and Communication Styles in the Workplace

Personal Personality and Communication Style

I would describe myself as having a fairly direct personality. I prefer instructions to be communicated clearly before I embark on a task, and I try to be equally clear when communicating with others. What a person knows matters more to me than who they are. I try to maintain a reasonable divide between my personal life and my work life. I would not call myself reserved, but I do strive to be professional. I am friendly and enjoy small talk, yet there are certain boundaries I do not cross regarding the subjects I raise at work. I have friends at work, but I do not socialize with them outside of the office.

I am a moderately extroverted person. I enjoy working and engaging with people rather than staring at a screen all day; however, I also need some time to recharge. I like work to be enjoyable, but I take it seriously. I believe this is why I have often succeeded in leadership positions. I am professional and courteous, and I take a genuine interest in people, but I do not blur the line between personal and professional dealings or get drawn into office politics. People appreciate that I say what I mean and mean what I say. I follow the rules, and I am fair.

Challenging Workplace Interactions

My preference for clear direction has occasionally created friction between myself and others, even though most managers appreciate my style. One manager, however, seemed to expect all of her employees to intuitively know what she wanted. She acted as though giving clear direction was beneath her, yet became extremely upset when employees did not do exactly what she desired. She was highly emotional and set no clear expectations for how employees should behave. She also appeared to play favorites, and it was frustrating to observe that certain workers were held to different standards than others. Being judged harshly based on gut impressions rather than facts was difficult enough, but watching her favor certain colleagues over the quality of work was particularly discouraging.

Colleagues who over-share in the workplace present a different kind of challenge and can make it difficult to stay productive. I often feel compelled to show sympathy, but I dislike condoning negative attitudes or the use of office time for personal matters. One such colleague frequently allows her personal life to infiltrate the workplace — conducting personal business by phone or online during work hours and regularly submitting reports late. It is frustrating when I need something delivered on time and cannot rely on her to do so. She is, however, genuinely friendly and kind toward me, which makes it difficult to raise concerns, knowing she is not a bad person at heart. Still, her tendency to prioritize personal conversations over tasks sometimes results in longer hours for me because of her delays. Her habit of sharing gossip about others is also something I prefer not to be involved in. As research on organizational communication suggests, when personal and professional boundaries are not maintained, overall team performance often suffers.

A third colleague presents yet another challenge: he is sharp and cutting in his words and dismissive in his attitude toward others. He does good work, but his persistent negativity makes him unpleasant to be around, and I privately hope to be assigned as few joint projects with him as possible, despite his competence. He can be articulate, but he frequently complains about managerial policy, and I have no desire to appear to endorse that kind of backbiting. It is also difficult to stay enthusiastic about a task when someone is constantly expressing complaints.