To determine the communication style of the job area you're considering, take the simple quiz, Think of the characteristics of the job. What kind of requirements does it have? Would you be making many contacts? Initiating action? Taking risks? Or would the position be such that you couldn't accept risks? Must perform without error? Serve others? Pay attention to detail?
The quiz has 24 different job factors that have varying degrees of importance on a job. For each factor, decide its importance and rate it numerically. If the factor has a very low importance, rate it a 1. Give it a 2 if it's low, a 3 if the job has an average requirement for that factor, a 4 if the requirement is high, and score a 5 only for those factors for which the job has a very high requirement.
Caution: No job requires a 5 on every factor, nor will there be many jobs that have only a 1 requirement for very many. Most of your judgments should be in the 2, 3, or 4 categories.
By now, you have probably guessed that each factor you were rating represents a behavior representative of one of the four major communications styles. For example, the first behavior, accepting challenge, is a High D characteristic. A score of five on that factor would indicate that you're looking for a position that's High D at least on that one characteristic. A rating of one would show a low D requirement.
Six of the factors are High D behaviors, 6 are High I, 6 High S, and 6 High C. Add all of your D scores together. (Be sure that you had 6 D responses.) Your total should be somewhere between 6 and 30. Write the total in the box at the top after the word Dominance. Repeat your scoring for the I factors and write them after the word Influence; then continue for the S factors (Steadiness) and the C factors (Compliance).
Changing these raw scores to percentiles takes a bit of doing. Pay attention now!
Add the totals of your four scores. You'll probably have a sum that's somewhere between 70 and 90 (it will be different for almost every position). Divide your sum by 4 to get your average score. Write the average in each box under the "Average" heading.
Next, subtract your average score from the total for each characteristic. Place your answer in the column under the "Difference" heading.
Example: If your dominance score was 22 and your average was 19.5, the difference is +2.5; if your influence score was 15 and your average was 19.5, the difference is -4.5, and so on. To check: add the differences together. You'll get a zero if you have no remainders; you'll get a plus or minus 1 if you had a remainder that you discarded or rounded up. Now multiply each score in the difference boxes time 5, and place in the boxes under the "Multiple" heading. To continue with the preceding example, the D score would be +2.5x5=+12.5; the I score would be -4.5x5=-22.5
Finally, transfer the percentage scores onto the respective D, I, S and C positions on the graph, and connect the scores with lines to form the profile of the position. You can read this profile for the position in much the same way that your personal communication profile can be read.
On the profile, circle the job style(s) that have high scores (well above the 50th percentile) and those for those style(s) that are low (well below the 50th percentile). Usually, you'll have ranked one or two styles high and the others midrange or low. Now, look at Figure 6.4 below, and read off the job characteristics for the one or two sets of behaviors you've marked as high requirements for the Job. Then, repeat for the behaviors you've marked as being low requirements. This will give you a word picture of the position you're looking for and its demands. For the job we've been using as an example, the requirements demand High D and Low I behaviors.
Generally speaking, the D scale measures authority. If the position is rated high on the D scale, you'll have a lot of authority. The higher the score, the more the authority. And conversely, the lower the D score, the less authority you'll have.
Then I score measures the requirement to work with and influence people. A high I score indicates the need to be outgoing and to persuade others to do what you want them to do. A low I score indicates that the job is more concerned with things than with people.
The S score can reflect the time requirements of the job. If the score is high on S behaviors, the job doesn't have much time pressure, and the person in the job doesn't have to move quickly on decisions. If the S score is very low, however, the job may have a great deal of pressure, require that you make decisions quickly and take actions immediately.
The C score generally measures two things: first, the requirement for attention to detail and accuracy; and second, the degree of independence the person in the position will have. A high C requirement indicates that the position requires extreme accuracy and grants almost no independence. The person in the position must follow policy and procedures, and work from precedents. A low C score, on the other hand, indicates that the person in the position would be able to act independently.
Scores around the midpoint on a set of behaviors indicate that the position requires an average amount of that type of communication behavior. For D, this would mean the person has an average amount of authority, but must go to someone else for the big decisions. For I, the person is expected to be moderately outgoing and able to work with people. The middle score on the S factors means that the person in that position is expected to be supportive and must have some concern for time. A C score at the midpoint means the position requires some attention to detail and accuracy and provides some independence.
Making Adaptations in Style to Match Job Requirements
The profile of the position you want and the profile of your personal style may be similar. In this case, you match closely the requirements of the position and should have little difficulty understanding how to communicate on the job.
On the other hand, your profile and the job profile may be quite different. Does this mean that you can't perform the job? No. But you do want to look carefully at those differences. Does your ideal job require that you be a High D, and you're a low D? That can be tough. Still, you would only have to act like a High D once in a while.
It boils down to this: If the job requires a certain style of performance, it doesn't require it all the time, only situational. You don't have to place undue stress on yourself by trying to maintain that style constantly.
Instead, identify the times when that style is required and sustain it only long enough to get done what has to be done.
How Far Should You Step?
At this point in your life, the degree of risk you're willing to accept is different from that of your youth. Positions are available for people who relish the challenge of a "turnaround" or "startup" situation. If you know you would find these exhilarating and fun then look for work in these kinds of firms. They will have openings in almost all work areas. But for your own future security, you should investigate the circumstances completely; that is, the company's financing, the personalities involved and likelihood of replacement for top management personnel (your future bosses or subordinates?), the degree of both autonomy and support you would have, the marketability of the company's products or services, the pensions and other benefits, and so on.
Your evaluation of the firm's potential would have to include best-case, worst-case, and mid-range possibilities. Could you survive, economically and emotionally, the worst-case scenario? (In such high-risk situations, the reasons for failure will most likely be due to circumstances beyond your control rather than your own shortcomings.) If your answer is "No, I could not survive," then don't do it.
