Communication Style Evaluation

Answer the questions on the Communication Style Evaluation in the Leadership and Management in Nursing text (p. 76), and appraise the list of communication skills that follow the questions.

Communication Style Evaluation

In a social situation, do I prefer to talk to others or do I prefer to listen?
Do I ?nd it necessary to use many descriptive terms when speaking, or do I prefer short,
succinct sentences?
Do I prefer cause-and-effect situations as opposed to creative, ambiguous dilemmas?
Do I prefer to be alone or be with others?
Do I prefer to make decisions alone, or do I prefer to work things out with others?
The extent to which you answer these questions highlights aspects of your personal
communication style, but a leader should have some skill in all of these areas.
A leader should be able to listen attentively.
A leader should be able to provide information in a variety of ways€”sometimes with a
great deal of information and at other times with very short and to-the-point sentences.
A leader will be in a variety of situations€”sometimes very structured and at other times
very loosely constructed. A leader needs to develop the skills to be able to communicate
within both types of situations.
A leader is engaged with other people; communication skills need to be developed to deal
with a variety of personality types (including adapting the leader’s personal preferences to
the needs ofthe followers).
A leader understands that decisions sometimes need to be made alone and communicated
to the group, as well as sometimes sharing decision making with the group.