If I ask my oldest son to do something he will remember it and I know it will be done, even though he doesn’t necessarily acknowledge what I’ve said. If I ask my youngest son to do something, and he can look straight at me when I tell him, it’s likely that he won’t remember and sometimes doesn’t even remember that I’ve said anything. 

Put this scenario in the context of a work meeting. You give verbal instructions, your team nods and you assume it will get done. But not everyone does it and some may even completely forget that you said it. You feel frustrated and let down and the team feels confused. We all learn in different ways; we hear things, we see things, we feel things and we do things. And we all have a preferred way of learning and absorbing things - this is what we refer to as preferred Representational System (or Rep System for short). 

My oldest son has a high Auditory Rep System, while my youngest son has a high Visual Rep System. If I want to help them both remember what they need to do I can tailor my communication to best suit their style - by telling my oldest, and writing a note for my youngest. 

Take this into the work meeting - just saying things may not be enough. How can you tailor your communication methods to optimise engagement with your team? 

Get in touch if you want to learn more about Rep Systems, find out what yours is and how you can identify others’.