Part II
Behaviours and styles

Lessons from the systematic study of managers talking to each other

The author was uniquely placed to gather detailed conversational data from over 200 directors of SMEs (small to medium-sized business units) engaged in discussing the same topics and tasks over sessions totalling four hours.

The data were analysed using standardised categories (e.g. Proposing, Disagreeing, Summarising) some of which were known to cluster into different styles of relating to others, e.g. Telling or Asking, likely to have a bearing on the development of interpersonal competencies which will be explored in later parts of this book.

As most of the participating SME directors had also completed personality questionnaires, it was possible to explore the links between personality and interactive behaviours. Interesting linkages were found between certain dimensions of personality and styles of relating to others.