Effective communication shapes every aspect of team success, from morale to productivity. Yet most leaders are only somewhat familiar with the four core communication styles of high-performing teams and their impact on team dynamics. Understanding these communication styles is essential for leaders to adapt their approach, elevate team effectiveness, and create an environment where ideas are freely shared.
This article introduces you to these four communication styles while laying out a path to developing assertive communication as the ideal standard. Tools like The Predictive Index (PI) and Nonviolent Communication (NVC) are invaluable for this journey. With The Predictive Index, you can identify your natural communication tendencies and gain insight into those of your team members. With Nonviolent Communication, you’ll learn the skills to develop assertive communication, cultivating clear, respectful, and open dialogue across the leadership team.
Understanding and building upon these styles will strengthen team trust, foster accountability, and ultimately create a healthier, more productive culture.
Why Communication Styles Matter for Your Team
Each individual has a preferred communication method, which can vary based on personality, experience, and context. Understanding and identifying these four communication styles helps you anticipate how team members will likely respond in different situations and adapt to them accordingly.
Not only do communication styles shape how individuals interact, but they also affect the team as a whole. Certain styles promote trust, accountability, and openness, while others may lead to tension and misunderstandings. Through this article, you’ll explore each style’s unique impact on team dynamics and find ways to encourage assertive communication as the foundation for a productive, high-functioning team.
Step 1: Recognize the Four Communication Styles
Knowing each communication style’s strengths and challenges can help you understand your approach and improve your interactions with others.
Assertive Communication is widely recognized as the most effective style, helping create clarity, respect, and trust. Assertive communicators express their thoughts, feelings, and needs clearly and directly, balancing honesty with empathy. Assertive communication emphasizes active listening, “I” statements, and constructive dialogue, fostering mutual respect. This style is instrumental in addressing team dysfunctions like the absence of trust and fear of conflict by creating an environment where everyone feels safe to express ideas. Covey’s The Speed of Trust reinforces assertive communication’s value in building credibility and respect, essential to high-trust, high-performance teams.
Aggressive Communication involves expressing one’s needs and opinions with little regard for others, often leading to tension and discomfort. Aggressive communicators dominate conversations, use a demanding tone, and appear confrontational. While this style can be effective in certain situations, it discourages participation and undermines trust. This can lead to fear of conflict and lack of commitment as team members become defensive or hesitant to contribute. According to Covey, respect and empathy are cornerstones of trust, often missing in aggressive communication, eroding collaboration and team effectiveness.
Passive Communication is marked by a reluctance to express needs or opinions, allowing others to make decisions for the group. Passive communicators often avoid conflict to keep the peace, but this approach can lead to misunderstandings and unmet needs. Over time, passive communication contributes to a lack of commitment and avoidance of accountability as team members may withhold input, feeling less engaged or invested in decisions. Covey emphasizes that trust requires clarity and transparency, which passive communication lacks, leading to ambiguity and a risk of reduced engagement across the team.
Passive-Aggressive Communication expresses frustration indirectly, creating confusion and mistrust within the team. Passive-aggressive communicators may use sarcasm, vague comments, or even silent treatment to avoid confrontation while expressing dissatisfaction. This style allows unresolved issues to persist and fosters an environment where team members avoid accountability rather than address problems openly. Passive-aggressive communication often lacks integrity and consistency, essential to trust in Covey’s model. Team cohesion suffers, and trust weakens without alignment between words and actions.
By understanding these communication styles, leaders can recognize different team tendencies, encourage assertive communication, and proactively address barriers to trust and collaboration.
Step 2: Identify Your Dominant Communication Style with Predictive Index
The Predictive Index (PI) is a valuable tool for identifying dominant communication styles and how each style might manifest within your team. PI can assess personality traits like dominance, extraversion, patience, and formality, influencing how people communicate under various circumstances.
Assertive Communication is typically associated with individuals high in dominance and extraversion who are comfortable expressing needs and ideas directly.
Passive Communication is common among those with high patience but low assertiveness, often deferring to others.
Aggressive Communication is often seen in individuals with high dominance, though this style should be managed carefully to avoid team friction.
Passive-Aggressive Communication may appear in individuals with high formality who struggle with open confrontation, and Manipulative Communication may arise in individuals with high extraversion who prioritize their own goals.
Using PI, leaders gain valuable insight into each team member’s communication tendencies, allowing them to foster more effective, assertive communication.
Click here to take a FREE Predictive Index Behavioral Assessment.
Step 3: Cultivate Assertive Communication Through Nonviolent Communication (NVC)
Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is a powerful method for developing and reinforcing assertive communication throughout your team. Created by Marshall Rosenberg, NVC teaches individuals to express their needs and emotions without blame while actively listening without judgment. NVC practices, such as “I” statements and constructive feedback, help shift communication patterns away from aggressive or passive styles, supporting a balanced approach.
By implementing NVC, teams experience the benefits of open dialogue and empathy-based communication.
NVC promotes trust and reduces friction, helping team members feel valued and empowered to contribute. With NVC as a foundation, your team can move toward assertive communication—creating an atmosphere where trust, clarity, and mutual respect are at the forefront.
Step 4: Addressing Team Dysfunctions with Communication
Each communication style directly impacts team dysfunctions as outlined in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Here’s how the five styles connect to Lencioni’s framework and Covey’s trust-building model:
- Assertive Communication tackles the absence of trust and fear of conflict by encouraging honest, respectful dialogue.
- Aggressive Communication contributes to fear of conflict and lack of commitment by discouraging participation and creating defensiveness.
- Passive Communication leads to a lack of commitment and avoidance of accountability by withholding input and avoiding decisions.
- Passive-Aggressive Communication fuels avoidance of accountability and fear of conflict by masking issues instead of addressing them openly.
Step 5: Building Trust and Efficiency Through Communication Mastery
Covey’s Speed of Trust emphasizes that trust is essential for team morale and efficiency. Teams that communicate assertively and transparently make decisions more quickly, resolve conflicts constructively, and respond to change with agility. Recognizing and adjusting communication styles will remove barriers to collaboration and build trust at every level.
Nonviolent Communication further amplifies assertive communication by giving team members the skills to address challenges openly and empathetically. With NVC, the leadership team can engage in assertive, clear, and constructive conversations that strengthen mutual trust and support high performance.
Key Takeaways for Your Team
As your team works to improve communication and reduce dysfunction, keep these points in mind:
- Assertive communication is ideal for high-performance teams: It builds trust, reduces dysfunction, and aligns with Covey’s and Lencioni’s frameworks for high-performing teams.
- Predictive Index and Nonviolent Communication are valuable tools: Use PI to assess communication tendencies and apply NVC techniques to foster empathy and open dialogue.
- Adaptability is key: While individuals have dominant styles, flexibility allows them to adapt their approach to suit different situations, building stronger and more cohesive teams.
Ready to Transform Your Team’s Communication?
Understanding and adapting to different communication styles empowers your leadership team to interact constructively, address conflicts openly, and build trust.
Our next article is a practical guide to The Predictive Index for leadership teams.
As a first step in improving your team’s communication, ask each team member to take a complimentary Predictive Index Behavioral Assessment to understand better how each person on your team is wired and natural communication style.
