• Home
  • Communication Skills
  • Resolving Conflict
  • Leadership Skills
  • DISC Model

Guy Harris: The Recovering Engineer

Reflect, Respect, Reengineer, and Reinvent

  • Home
  • About This Blog
  • Archives
  • Contact Me

Conflict Resolution Tips: Task Oriented People with People Oriented Individuals

By Guy Harris

A Conflict Resolution Key

I often use the DISC Model of Human Behavior as a tool in my training sessions. One of the key ideas to draw from the model is that about 35% of people are more task oriented and about 65% of people are more people oriented.

Task oriented people tend to focus on the task at hand even in the presence of other people. They often view everything as a task. Sometimes, they even view relationships as a task or a project.

People oriented individuals tend to focus on relationships and people ahead of tasks. They tend to view things through a relationship filter. Often, they think about tasks with regard to how the tasks will impact other people.

There is nothing inherently wrong with either perspective. They are just different.

Most people have a blend of the two perspectives that can change based on their environment. Most people also tend to “lean” a little to one side or the other in most situations.

The difference between these two perspectives can create quite a problem during conflict resolution conversations. In this post, I will specifically address three tips to help task oriented individuals resolve conflicts with people oriented individuals more effectively.

1) Acknowledge their feelings

While you may “think” your way through problems, recognize that they often “feel” their way through them. They may even “feel” about things that you see as purely factual (money or time for example).

2) Soften your voice tones

Task oriented people often speak in direct and factual tones. Lighten up. Smile. Relax. Your effort to come across “nicer” will probably help them receive your message more clearly.

3) Exercise patience with them

If they are heavily slanted towards the people oriented perspective, they may struggle with reaching a decision that impacts other people. Remember that they are probably not trying to irritate you. Most likely, they just don't want anyone to be offended or hurt by their actions.

As you work and interact with people who are more people oriented than you, remember to keep your primary focus on understanding their perspective before you offer yours. This one act will carry you far in your efforts to resolve conflicts.

Here is another good resource for connecting with people better.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Posts Like This One

Some Other Posts You Might Like

  • Three Ways to Deal with an Angry Person
  • Three Communication Strategies Guaranteed to Irritate Others
  • What a Diverted United Airlines Flight Can Teach You about Conflict Resolution
  • You Have to Have a Goal to Achieve a Goal

Filed Under: Communication Skills, DISC Model, Family Relationships, Leadership Skills, Resolving Conflict Tagged With: Communication Skills, conflict resolution, DISC Model, Leadership Skills, Resolving Conflict, understanding people

Trackbacks

  1. Conflict Resolution Tips: People Oriented Individuals with Task Oriented People | Guy Harris: The Recovering Engineer says:
    June 9, 2012 at 11:58 am

    […] my last blog post, I gave three tips to help task oriented people resolve conflict with people oriented individuals. In this post, I’ll change the perspective by suggesting three tips that go the other […]

Featured Video

The Recovering Engineer YouTube Channel

Connect With Me

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Talk Like a Leader Podcast

Important Links

  • Guy Harris
  • My Business
  • Sitemap
  • Contact Me
  • Privacy Policy

Find Your Conflict Style

Copyright © 2025 · Magazine Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

%d