Business styles

Business communication is a type of interaction between people about professional activities. Business communication always has a specific goal that the interlocutors are trying to achieve during a conversation. In addition, during such communication, information, knowledge and experience are exchanged.

Examples of business communication are relations between colleagues, the head and subordinates, business partners, competitors, the head of the organization and representatives of regulatory bodies, the manager and the owner of the company. Moreover, any business communication has a certain style color, which determines the choice of methods and methods of communication to achieve the goal of the conversation.

Business communication styles are certain sustainable sets of communication methods or actions that aim to produce a result. A business style of communication is a kind of mask or a developed model of behavior, thanks to which the participant of communication not only tries to achieve the intended goals, but also reinforces ideas of himself as a good leader or a high-class specialist.

Factors affecting style formation:

• personal characteristics;

• business communication skills;

• specific situation of communication (communication with colleagues, supervisor, subordinates, partners).

Let us briefly review the main typologies of business communication styles.

The typology was created on the basis of research and experiments conducted by the psychologist Kurt Levin and his students in the 30s of the twentieth century to identify management styles. According to this typology, there are three styles of business communications.

The main characteristic of this style is the sole decision making by one communication participant. At the same time, these decisions concern not only the issues of the activity of this subject, but also the general with other participants of the activity. With this type of communicative interaction, one participant acts as the subject of interaction (determines the goals of communication and independently predicts its results), and the other as an object (an authoritarian influence is directed at it).

This style is distinguished by autocratic communication, when all actions are dictated by only one person, the other parties do not take part in the discussion, even matters relating to themselves, the initiative is not encouraged. An authoritarian style is realized through dictatorship and constant control. When manifestations from the object of the impact of disagreement arise long conflicts.

This type of interpersonal business communication involves the orientation of the subject of communication on the communication partner. Characteristic features of the style are striving for mutual understanding, making a partner, jointly discussing problems and finding ways to solve them, trusting, encouraging initiative and creativity, creating favorable conditions for self-realization. The main methods of influencing a partner in such an interaction are a request, motivation to complete the task, a recommendation.

The liberal communication style is intermediate between the previous two. The subject of communication in this case is extremely minimally included in the dialogues and joint activities with other participants, but only in order to shift the responsibility from themselves to other people. He communicates quite formally, without trying to understand the essence of the issue. The basis of this style is non-interference, due to the lack of interest in common problems.

People who implement this style of business communication, constantly hesitate, hesitate, try to shift the decision to others. The vagueness of goals, lack of control, passivity and lack of interest make business communication with this style unmanageable.

• Authoritarian - The subject of business communication is committed to constant domination, suppression of partners. This style is inherent: lack of desire for understanding of partners, “communicative attack”, lack of respect for someone else’s opinion, demand of consent from other participants, stereotyping of communication.

• Dialogic style involves communication on an equal footing, which is based on trust, mutual understanding and mutual respect, openness and cooperation, emotional expression and self-expression of all participants in communication.

• Alterocentric. It is focused on the systematic concentration of the subject’s attention on other participants in business interaction, sacrificing their interests in order to satisfy the partners ’aspirations.

• Manipulative involves the use of communication partners for their own benefit, that is, other participants of communication act only as a means to achieve the goals of the subject of business relations. With this style of business communication, the desire to understand a partner may have a specific goal - to get information about his intentions and use it to his advantage.

• Conformal style implies the orientation of the subject of communication to imitation, submission, adjustment to a partner, unwillingness to be understood.

• Indifferent Style is a practical complete rejection of business, productive and diverse communication and an attempt to replace it with a quick solution to only business problems.

If the two previous classifications used the individual psychological characteristics of the subject of communication as a guide, then L. Petrovskaya’s main factor determining the types of styles is the situation of communication itself. According to this classification there are the following styles of business communications.

• Ritual stylebased on common intergroup communication. The task of the partners of such communication is to satisfy the need for belonging to any group, sphere of relations, maintaining social ties. With this style of interaction, the partner acts as a necessary element for the performance of the ritual, and its problems, interests and personal characteristics are not taken into account. Ritual communication is most common in organizations with a stable team, whose members have known each other for a long time.

• Manipulative communication genre involves the use of partners to each other as a way to solve certain problems. At the same time, partners try to demonstrate to each other the advantages and attractiveness of their goals so that the partner helps him to achieve them. The winner in this interaction is the one who is better at mastering the art of manipulation. The manipulative style is not always bad. This is the way to solve many problems.

• Humanistic communication style is based on the ability of partners to understanding, empathy, empathy and the ability to put yourself in the partner's place. Such communication does not set business goals and follows from the specific situation. It is auxiliary in solving professional problems, helps to establish contacts and build relationships.

In addition to the classifications considered for formal business communication, there are other typologies: S. Sheina, V. Latinova, V. Kan-Kalika.

5 important rules of business communication you will learn from the following video.