"As long as I do a good job that's all that matters to me" undermines team cohesiveness and co-operation.

"Problems are result of other people's mistakes" is also unhealthy.

"If someone 'stuffs up' it's their problem" is really not helpful to anyone.

Such values induce competition, not co-operation and collaboration. These team values destroy teamwork!

Positive team values ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are 5 key values that aid co-operation and cohesiveness within a team:

* We are all in this together The performance of team is seen as more important than individual performance. Note that blaming styles of communication lead to individual performance becoming paramount object, resulting in little or no team work.

* No member is more important than another When individuals consider themselves more important than another ('superior communication') then communication breaks down and competition takes over. But when everyone is seen as an equal, communication is open and there are high levels of co-operation and collaboration.

* Open, honest communication is essential When you are thinking of a reply, instead of really listening to other, you are engaging in 'dishonest communication'. Similarly, when you see something done that is not acceptable but you 'are polite' and ignore it you are equally being dishonest with your communication.

There is no room for dishonest communication in teams.

Open and honest communication requires use of listening and empathy. Listening to understand gives us other person's perspective—it allows us to hear their experience. Empathy reduces need to judge behaviours and beliefs of others. By listening and empathising we model open and honest communication.

* Everyone needs open access to information Information facilitates collaboration and co-operation, and effective decision-making requires all information. Decision-making always has an element of uncertainty attached to it, but having all information available makes decision-making easier.

* We all need to focus on team's goals, aims and mission Without a clear and sustained focus minor distractions become major blockages.

Managing personal criticism ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is always discomforting to be on receiving end of criticism. It hurts! Ouch!

But there are ways of managing your feelings when someone 'has a go at you'.

1. Listen to understand: Listen with your ears, your eyes and your senses

Engage your mind and disengage your emotions — pack them up (remember, YOU are in control of what you think and feel)

Be flexible and accommodate another view of problem or issue

Evaluate, discriminate and judge decision you make

2. Don't go into 'defensive' mode

3. Use an 'I message' — such as, "When I am just simply criticised I feel angry and hurt and disregard information. However, I would welcome constructive feedback."

Now, sales trainers have for years been pushing line that we 'buy with emotion, and justify that purchase with logic'. But having seen a few Analyticals in my years I don't actually believe that to be case. An accountant friend of mine in England never purchased anything because of emotion - he always poured over spec sheets from various manufacturers, weighed up costs involved, considered his options. And because he was also part-Amiable he then let his wife make final decision, based on his input.

Which raises an important point. No one is ever a 'pure' type. We are all a mix of four personality types to some degree or other. Yet we also have a strong preference for one particular type.

I'm an Extrovert with a leaning towards Analytical. I couldn't begin to count number of my own marketing projects that I have half-completed here in my office; each one almost ready to roll but just in line behind latest 'more exciting' idea I've just had. Yet I also love getting deep into Dreamweaver and working out how to tweak my website pages for greater speed, better search engine optimisation, tidy up loose bits of code, and so on.

But that's beside point...

The real purpose of this page is to let you know that your business communications - whether they are email, web page, pdf brochure or even initial word of mouth introduction - need to appeals to different needs of four personality types.

How do you do that?

By making sure that your communication has a reasonably equal amount of following:

* Facts and figures to appeal to Analytical and Pragmatic

* Enthusiasm and excitement to appeal to Extrovert

* Testimonials to appeal to Amiable

Get that right and you have a greater chance of getting your message across.