How to Improve Project Team Challenges with Style Flexing

Project teams can create some of the most challenging interpersonal dynamics in the workplace. People are often pulled onto a project while still carrying their full-time responsibilities, which means competing deadlines, divided attention and uneven levels of commitment. Team members may come from different functions, locations or reporting relationships, and they may not all see the project as equally urgent or important. To make the situation even more difficult, the person asked to lead the project is often accountable for the outcome but has little formal authority over the people involved.

That combination can be stressful. Emails go unanswered for long stretches of time. Team members miss meetings or leave early, creating gaps in communication. Team members have different styles and preferences: some team members want detailed plans, while others only want the big picture. Some prefer quick decisions, while others need time to think. Some want conversation and connection before getting down to business, while others see that as a waste of time. When these differences are not recognized, project work can quickly become frustrating, inefficient and personal.

Shawn, an HR Manager, was chosen to lead a special project to streamline all HR processes. Members of the project team included fellow managers throughout the company, including four others who work remotely.

“This project is becoming a nightmare,” Shawn shared. “In team meetings, they come but aren’t prepared or they share too much information, derailing us from what we need to accomplish. There are even a few who don’t engage at all; they might as well not be present. Something’s got to change, or we won’t meet our deadline for recommendations. It’s creating a lot of stress.”

Many project team leaders can identify with Shawn. In these situations, using interpersonal influence by flexing to individual style preferences is essential to success.

Here are three steps Shawn (or any project team leader) can take to be more influential with co-workers.

Analyze and prioritize team member preferences

First, think about each individual and identify their preferred style of interaction:

• Body Language: What clues can you gather from body language? Does the person gesture broadly while talking? Are they animated and expressive? Do they sit quietly with arms crossed? Do they seem relaxed in group discussion, or reserved and cautious? These clues can help you understand a person’s comfort level with collaboration, visibility and group interaction.
• Speech Patterns: What about speech patterns? Does the person speak softly or with a loud, energetic voice? Do they think out loud, or do they pause before responding? Do they prefer quick verbal updates, or written information they can review on their own?
• Content Focus: How do they begin meetings? Do they dive right into the business at hand, or do they take time for small talk about sports, family, hobbies or the weekend?
• Information Receiving and Sharing: What type of information do they seem to value? Do they want details, charts, timelines and supporting data, or are they satisfied with broad outlines, outcomes and next steps?

The goal is not to label people or make assumptions but rather to notice patterns so you can communicate in ways that make it easier for others to engage, respond and follow through.

Use the Interaction Style model to more accurately understand styles

Adapt on one or two behaviors to reduce friction

Once you’ve considered what the preferences of other team members are, you can adapt your style to better meet their needs. Here are examples of behavior-style adjustments:

• Offer information with a greater or lesser degree of detail.
• Ask indirect or pointed questions.
• Pause to ask about family, hobbies or sports before beginning a discussion or skip small talk and address the issue at hand.
• Talk at a faster or slower pace.

Your adjustments should be geared towards the preferences of team members. In some cases, you will have the same preferences as your team. In others, such as Shawn’s situation, there were differences.

For example, Shawn’s detail-oriented team member may respond better to a clear project plan, written expectations and a deadline summary. Shawn’s relationship-oriented team member may be more engaged by taking a moment to connect personally before moving into the task.

Adapting does not mean becoming someone you are not. It means making intentional choices about how to communicate so your message is easier for others to receive and act on.

Uncover ways to adapt to others through the SOLO IS profile

Align on ways of working by communicating to preferred styles

Analysis and behavior flexing and adapting are powerful, but influence also requires alignment. Project teams perform better when people are clear on the purpose of the work, the expectations for participation and the consequences of follow-through or delay. Use knowledge of individual preferences to create guidelines that can suit the project and individual styles.

Shawn may not have formal authority over every team member, but he can still create alignment by clarifying the project’s importance, confirming roles and making expectations visible. If Shawn communicates and discusses this with the team according to their preferences, he is likely to be more effective in gaining agreement.

For example, Shawn could open the next meeting by saying:

“This project affects how HR work gets done across the company, so each person’s input is important. Some of us have a lot of details to share. Let’s find a way to get that information out, without having to use our meeting time. How about each of us give a suggestion and we make a decision?” This way of raising the need acknowledges individual preferences and draws out those with a quieter style preference.

Shawn can ask team members to confirm commitments, identify barriers and agree on how the team will communicate. He can clarify which decisions need group input and which can be made offline. He can also create shared accountability by documenting next steps after each meeting and following up in the communication style most likely to work for each team member. All of these actions help to align the project team, but, the way in which Shawn introduces and communicates to the team should adapt to their style preferences.

Most people find that investing time in analyzing others’ styles, adapting their own approach and aligning the team around clear expectations pays off in the long run. With intentional focus and thoughtful modification of interaction style, project leaders can increase their influence, even when they do not have formal authority. And in complex project environments, that influence can make the difference between missed deadlines and meaningful results.

When leaders, managers or project team members need to strengthen their ability to communicate, collaborate and influence across different working styles, learning more about style preferences and strategies for flexing can help.

Learn how to flex to style preferences