What type are you?

The South Yorkshire Police have come up with an interesting way of working out how to deal with people – they’re categorising them into ‘types’.

To help officers analyse the kind of people they are dealing with, they have been advised that there are four basic "social styles" – each linked to celebrities. So, they now need to ask themselves if they are dealing with a Jeremy Paxman or a Lenny Henry, a Lorraine Kelly or a Madonna.

How do they do this? They analyse the person’s behaviour and what they say. For example, the ‘Lorraine Kelly’ is an “amiable” person, motivated by security, who may have a “stabilising effect on others” but “can be seen as indecisive and unwilling to take risks”. They may say something like:  “I hope I'm not going to get anyone into trouble.”

By contrast, the Jeremy Paxman is an “analytical” individual, motivated by respect, who may say “Could you clarify the situation for me?”

The South Yorkshire force has adopted this for their call handlers, so they can effectively deal with the people they are talking to. They are also being encouraged to use this method on each other.

I’m not sure whether the entire population can be slotted into just four categories, but there is something useful to learn here for businesses. If we are to communicate effectively with each other as member of a team, our clients and our suppliers we need to be on their wavelength, we need to talk their language.

If what we say, or the way we say it, jars or is out of kilter, it can have a negative effect. If we ‘gel’ then we are more likely to get results. It’s all to do with adapting our behaviour and our language to resonate with the other person.  Communication is a calibration of understanding and if the other person doesn’t “get it” we have communicated. If – by putting those people into categories helps us do that and improve our communications with them, then surely it is worth the effort? Treating people the way you would want to be treated is not enough; we have to treat people the way they wish to be treated...

In case you were wondering about the other two, here are the definitions:

The ‘Lenny Henry’: an “expressive” individual motivated by recognition, who “loves to be one of the gang” but can seem ill-disciplined and abrasive. They may tell the police “This is an absolute nightmare for me”, or “Let's get the party started”.

The ‘Madonna’: a “driver” who is motivated by control and is more interested in the results than in how they are achieved. They may ask police “What details do you need and when?” or “What time frame do we have on this?”

Whether these are accurate portrayals of these celebrities, who can say!