How long does it take to get to know someone, and how many mistakes do we make during that journey? Wouldn’t it be great if we had a shortcut to communicating well with strangers? Well one company, PrintingForLess.com, may have the answer by
color-coding communications.
In an article in the New York Times, Shayla McKnight talks about her job at PrintingForLess.com. That it’s a non-gossip workplace—backed up by a company endorsed, signed policy—is her main point, but as a supporting argument, she uses the example of how the company color-codes people by the best way to communicate with them.
Basically, all newly hired employees take a communications assessment test—a commercial program unnamed in the article, but my guess it’s
this one—and is assigned a color based on their communications preference and style. Here is the breakdown from the article:
- Red – appreciates when others are direct and state the facts quickly
- Yellow – spontaneous and likes a personal connection
- Blue – enjoys having all the details, and time to process them
- Green – sensitive, compassionate, and supportive, and likes to be approached courteously
“BRILLIANT!” is what this idea makes me want to shout. Especially in a big company, you can’t possibly know the best way to talk to everyone. But just by using a colored sticker, you can be confident of choosing the best way to get your message across. Plus, there would be a lot less frustration, hurt feelings, and miscommunications.
I believe that this system would be effective even in a small company; people sometimes forget, and new hires don’t know. Try color-coding your communications in your business then leave a comment and tell me how it worked out.
