List of Headings
- i A lively personality who encourages others
- ii A cautious and caring personality
- iii A demanding and unsympathetic personality
- iv Personality types summarized
- v The benefit of understanding individual communication styles
- vi The negative effects of poor leadership styles
- viii A physical explanation for personality differences
- ix A preference for rationality and organisation
Questions 1-8
Drag a heading into each box.
1. Hippocrates believed there were four different body fluids that influenced four basic types of temperament. Five hundred years later, his work was developed by another Greek physician, Galen (A.D.130-200). These days there are many self-assessment tools that relate to the basic descriptions developed by Galen, although we no longer believe the source to be the types of body fluid that dominate our systems.
2. When applied appropriately, an understanding of communication styles can help resolve conflict in workplace teams.
3. Hippocrates, and later Galen, determined there were four basic temperaments. A sanguine person was characterised as having a tendency to be cheerful, optimistic and unpredictable. The phlegmatic person was said to be unemotional, nonchalant, persevering and needing direction. The melancholic person was described as softhearted, oriented toward others and slow in responding. Finally, the choleric person was described as domineering, stubborn and self-confident.
4. Because of their enthusiasm and concern about people and relationships, they are great team motivators. Their focus is usually on the bigger picture, which means they sometimes miss the details or the proper order of things. These people find conflict or differences of opinion invigorating and love to engage in a spirited discussion.
5. They focus on facts and technical details. They have an orderly, methodical way of approaching tasks, and their focus is very much on the details necessary to accomplish a task, not on the people, emotions or concerns that the task may evoke.
6. They are good listeners and like to do things for other people - sometimes to the detriment of getting things done for themselves. They want to solicit everyone’s opinion and make sure everyone is comfortable with whatever is required to get the job done.
7. They are big picture thinkers and love to be involved in many things at once, but they are focused on tasks and outcomes and often forget that the people involved in carrying out the tasks have needs. They don't do detailed work easily and as a result can often underestimate how much time it takes to achieve the task.
8. A well-functioning workplace team should have all of these communication styles for true effectiveness. The greater the flexibility we have, the more skilled we usually are at handling possible and actual conflicts.