Why Your Style Isn’t Landing

When your communication style doesn’t connect, it can derail trust, clarity, and team morale. Misalignment often comes down to delivery rather than message content. Recognising the signs - like frequent misunderstandings, disengagement, or hesitation to ask questions - helps you course-correct.

Understanding different communication styles - Analytical, Functional, Intuitive, and Personal - can make all the difference. Each style has unique strengths and challenges. For example, Analytical communicators value data and logic, while Personal communicators prioritise relationships and emotional connections. Tailoring your approach to your audience’s preferences ensures your message resonates.

Key takeaways:

• Spot the signs: Misunderstandings, delayed responses, or disengagement signal a mismatch.
• Know the styles: Analytical (data-driven), Functional (process-focused), Intuitive (big-picture), Personal (relationship-oriented).
• Adapt delivery: Match tone, format, and level of detail to your audience’s needs.
• Stay self-aware: Reflect on feedback and adjust in real time to maintain clarity and trust.

Effective communication isn’t about perfection, but progress. Small adjustments in how you engage can significantly improve understanding and collaboration.

Adapting to Communication Styles: The #1 Leadership Skill You Need

Spotting When Your Style Isn't Working

Communication breakdowns rarely go unnoticed. They often leave behind subtle clues - like a shift in body language during meetings or conversations that lose steam before reaching any real conclusions. At other times, the signs are more pronounced, such as repeated requests for clarification or team members who seem increasingly disengaged.

Warning Signs of a Style Mismatch

There are several tell-tale signs that your communication style may not be hitting the mark:

• Frequent misunderstandings: If you find yourself constantly re-explaining decisions, it’s a sign your messaging might not be landing as intended. This isn’t necessarily about complex ideas - it’s about how you present them to your audience.
• Non-verbal cues: Pay attention to body language. Avoided eye contact, fidgeting, or distracted behaviour can signal a disconnect. Similarly, if people keep asking for written summaries after verbal discussions, it might mean they process information differently than the way you’re delivering it.
• Delayed email responses: Slow replies can indicate that your communication style doesn’t align with your audience’s preferred pace or approach.
• Hesitation to ask questions: When team members seem reluctant to contribute ideas or ask for clarification, it may be because your style leaves them uncertain about how to engage without risking misunderstanding.
• Recurrent requests for clarification: If you’re repeatedly fielding the same questions, it’s a clear sign your delivery could use some fine-tuning.

These signals suggest that your approach may not be meeting the needs of your audience. Recognising them is the first step towards adjusting your style and fostering better communication.

Why Self-Awareness Matters

Self-awareness is crucial for identifying and addressing communication gaps before they escalate. As Harvard DCE points out:

Knowing your personal communication style - and adapting that style to the needs of your team - will help avoid misunderstandings and keep your team operating at peak effectiveness.

Understanding your natural communication tendencies can help you spot when they’re not working in a particular context. For instance, you might favour detailed explanations when your audience is looking for concise, actionable points, or prefer informal check-ins that don’t resonate with everyone.

The real value of self-awareness lies in its proactive nature. Instead of scrambling to fix misunderstandings after they’ve caused confusion, you can adjust your approach ahead of time. As Mary Sharp Emerson, Digital Content Producer at Harvard DCE, explains:

Honest self-assessment is the first step to necessary change.

Developing this awareness means actively seeking feedback from your team about their communication preferences and being open to learning how your messages are received. By recognising your own habits and patterns, you can experiment with alternative strategies to ensure your communication is clear, effective, and aligned with your audience’s needs.

The 4 Main Communication Styles

Understanding how people communicate can help avoid unnecessary misunderstandings. Mark Murphy, founder of Leadership IQ, has identified four key communication styles that are common in UK workplaces: Analytical, Functional, Intuitive, and Personal. This framework sheds light on why your approach might not always land effectively with your audience. Each style has its own strengths and limitations, influencing how you connect with your team and whether your message resonates.

It’s important to note that no style is inherently superior. As Murphy puts it:

"No one communication style is inherently better than another. But picking the wrong style for a particular audience, whether it's one person or a thousand, shuts down listening and can spell trouble."

In other words, the challenges you face in communication might not stem from what you’re saying, but how you’re saying it - and whether it aligns with your audience's preferences.

Breaking Down the 4 Styles

Analytical communicators are all about data, logic, and evidence. They prefer conversations grounded in facts and often ask detailed questions to ensure clarity. In meetings, they’ll likely want to see metrics, research, or evidence backing up proposals. Their methodical approach ensures decisions are well thought out. However, their focus on facts can sometimes make them seem detached or overly clinical, which may not sit well with those who value emotional connection.

Functional communicators excel in structure and organisation. They thrive on detailed plans, timelines, and step-by-step processes. These individuals are often natural project managers, bringing order to complex tasks. Their attention to detail helps keep initiatives on track, but it can also lead to frustration when dealing with colleagues who prefer discussing the bigger picture before diving into specifics.

Intuitive communicators focus on the broader vision and key outcomes. They prefer concise, high-level summaries and are less interested in the finer details. Their ability to see the bigger picture allows them to inspire and bring fresh perspectives to the table. However, their preference for brevity can sometimes leave others feeling they lack the detailed information needed to move forward confidently.

Personal communicators prioritise relationships and emotional connections in their interactions. They’re the ones checking in on how decisions affect people and ensuring everyone feels heard. By fostering trust and inclusivity, they create environments where teams feel valued. However, this people-focused approach can sometimes slow decision-making or make it harder to address tough conversations.

For a quick comparison, the table below provides an overview of these styles.

Communication Styles Comparison Table

Why Communication Styles Matter

Effective communication isn’t just a “nice to have” - it’s a core driver of productivity. Research shows that 97% of workers believe communication impacts their daily productivity, while 70% say they’d achieve more with better communication at work. On top of that, 86% of professionals cite communication errors as a leading cause of workplace issues. Aligning your style with your audience isn’t just helpful - it’s essential for creating a more productive and harmonious workplace.

What Blocks Good Communication

Even when you understand different communication styles, certain obstacles can still get in the way of effective team interaction. Here are some of the most common challenges leaders encounter.

Common Challenges Leaders Encounter

Poor listening habits often derail communication. In UK workplaces, surface-level listening frequently results in misunderstandings and overlooked details. Many leaders fall into the trap of speaking before truly hearing others, neglecting to ask thoughtful questions, which only widens the gap.

Overuse of jargon creates barriers. Relying too heavily on technical terms, acronyms, or trendy buzzwords can confuse or alienate your audience, leading to disengagement.

Emotional disconnects occur when your tone or delivery fails to align with the expectations or feelings of your audience. This mismatch can make your message feel insincere or out of touch.

How to Fix and Prevent Communication Breakdowns

Once you've identified communication barriers, it's time to act. Being intentional about how you engage with others and staying open to adjustments when things go off track can make all the difference. Here's how to align your communication style with your audience's needs and avoid breakdowns.

Matching Your Style to Your Audience

If you've noticed a mismatch in communication styles, the next step is tailoring your approach to suit your audience. Take time to understand their preferences. For instance, a colleague who focuses on results will likely value concise updates with clear next steps, while someone who prioritises relationships might appreciate more context about how decisions affect the team as a whole.

Pay attention to how your colleagues prefer to receive information. Some may favour face-to-face discussions, while others might process written communication better. Adjust your delivery to fit the situation. High-stakes conversations, such as those involving redundancies, call for a formal and empathetic tone, whereas brainstorming new product features can be more casual and collaborative. The way you deliver a message can either foster trust or create resistance, even if the content remains the same.

It's also important to consider cultural nuances. In many UK workplaces, for example, indirect feedback - phrased as "I wonder if we might consider..." - is often more effective than blunt instructions.

Making Your Messages Clear and Contextual

When communicating, start by explaining the reasoning behind your decision before jumping into the details of what’s happening or how it will unfold. People are more likely to engage when they understand the "why." For example, instead of saying, "We're changing our meeting structure", try: "We're streamlining meetings to give everyone more focused time for deep work - a change many of you mentioned in your feedback."

Use specific examples to make your points more relatable and tie them to shared goals. For instance, rather than saying, "We need better collaboration", you could explain how sharing campaign briefs earlier could boost conversion rates, linking individual actions to broader team objectives.

Keep your language simple and avoid unnecessary jargon. Your message should be clear enough for someone who wasn’t part of the original discussion to understand. Once you’ve delivered your message, look for opportunities to refine it based on feedback.

Reading Feedback and Body Language

Pay close attention to non-verbal cues during conversations. Signs like crossed arms, lack of eye contact, sudden silence, or people glancing at their phones can indicate that your message isn’t landing or that you've lost their attention.

Ask specific questions to gauge understanding. Instead of a vague "Does that make sense?", try asking, "What questions do you have about the timeline?" or "How do you think this might impact your current projects?" These prompts invite meaningful dialogue rather than a simple nod of agreement.

Create an environment where people feel comfortable sharing honest feedback. Some team members may hesitate to admit confusion or disagreement, especially in group settings. Following up individually or using anonymous feedback tools can help uncover concerns that might not surface publicly.

If you notice signs of confusion or frustration during a conversation, adjust on the spot. Pause to clarify points if you see puzzled expressions or acknowledge someone's concerns before moving forward. This kind of responsiveness shows that you're committed to being understood, not just heard.

After important discussions, reflect on the outcomes. Are people following through on agreed actions? Are you getting repeated questions about the same points? These are clues that can help you fine-tune your communication for future interactions.

Progress, not perfection, is the aim. Each conversation is an opportunity to learn what resonates with different individuals and situations. Over time, these insights will help you strengthen your connections and improve how you communicate with your team.

Conclusion: Closing the Communication Gap

Communication breakdowns aren't failures - they're chances to grow as a leader. The key difference between those who connect effectively and those who struggle often comes down to recognising when their approach isn't hitting the mark and being willing to adjust.

As mentioned earlier, self-awareness and adaptability are crucial. Being adaptable sets apart good communicators from exceptional ones. While your style might resonate with some, it won't suit everyone. The best leaders build a toolkit of communication strategies and shift gears depending on the needs of their audience.

It's also worth keeping in mind that communication is a two-way street. Every interaction offers insights into your team - what motivates them, what worries them, and how they prefer to engage. Over time, these lessons help you fine-tune your approach.

Focus on progress, not perfection. Missteps are inevitable, and that's okay. What's important is your commitment to recognising when things go off track and taking action to address it. Whether that means pausing to clarify, following up with someone who seemed unsure, or asking more precise questions, small adjustments can make a big difference.

Great leaders view communication as a skill to develop, not a fixed trait. By staying curious about how your messages are received and being open to change, you can bridge communication gaps. Adjusting your approach shows that you value different communication styles - and that respect lays the foundation for trust, which is at the heart of effective leadership.

FAQs

How can I understand my communication style and adapt it to connect better with others?

To understand your natural communication style, consider how you usually express yourself and manage disagreements. Most people tend to fit into one of four primary categories: passive, aggressive, passive-aggressive, or assertive. Each of these styles reflects different behaviours, such as how openly or cautiously you share your thoughts and handle conflicts.

When communicating with different audiences, it's helpful to observe how others express themselves. Pay attention to their tone, speed, and preferences, and adjust your approach accordingly. Using active listening, straightforward language, and a flexible tone can help ensure your message is clear and avoids potential misunderstandings. Finding this balance can make your communication more impactful and engaging.

What can I do if my communication style is causing misunderstandings in my team?

If your way of communicating often leads to misunderstandings, there are several practical adjustments you can make to improve clarity and connection:

• Focus on active listening: Pay close attention to what others are saying, without jumping to conclusions or formulating your response too quickly. By truly understanding their perspective, you build trust and address the real issues at hand.
• Keep it simple: Avoid overloading your message with unnecessary details or jargon. Use plain, straightforward language, and make sure your tone reflects your intentions.
• Shift the tone of feedback: Instead of pointing out problems bluntly, try framing your thoughts as constructive suggestions. This approach encourages collaboration and creates a more positive environment.

Another helpful strategy is to summarise key points during or after discussions. This ensures everyone is on the same page and avoids confusion. Practising through role-playing exercises can also sharpen your communication skills, giving you the chance to test and refine your approach in a safe setting. Small changes like these can make a big difference in fostering better understanding and teamwork.

Why is it important to understand how my colleagues prefer to communicate, and how can I learn more about their preferences?

Understanding how your colleagues like to communicate plays a key role in building trust, strengthening teamwork, and reducing misunderstandings. When you adapt your approach to match theirs, collaboration becomes easier, and everyone feels valued and understood.

Start by paying attention to how they naturally interact - do they lean towards emails, prefer quick chats, or enjoy in-depth discussions? If you’re unsure, don’t hesitate to ask them directly or create space for open conversations about communication preferences. These discussions can bring clarity and pave the way for stronger, more effective working relationships.

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• What’s Your Leadership Communication Style - and What Is It Costing You?
• The Gap Between What You’re Saying and What People Are Hearing
• The Four Communication Styles For Leaders, Managers and Organisational Influencers