Building on the concepts of the Team Management Wheel, the Influencing Skills Profile Questionnaire and associated Profile have been designed to offer Team Management Systems Network Members an assessment to highlight successful communication strategies for working with others.

Based on the responses to the profile questionnaire - a 40-item assessment of characteristics about a person with whom an individual interacts - the Influencing Skills Profile (ISP) suggests solutions for how an individual could develop communication patterns to improve outcomes with the other person.

Strategic Communication Model

Pacing, Inquiry and Identifying are shown as Information-Focused skills. Leading, Proposing and Closure are Solution-Focused skills as they are commonly used to move discussions towards solutions. Reviewing is in the middle as it can be used in either situation. Communicating within the team learning discipline is a dynamic process which constantly moves through all seven skills.

Pacing is the technique of varying your communication style to match that of other people. When dealing with a Controller-Inspector, for example, you may need to focus on the details, slow down your rate of speaking and make the connections between the past and the future. With an Explorer-Promoter you need to be future oriented, enthusiastic and full of ideas. Pacing establishes a rapport with the other person, enabling an open and honest dialogue to take place.

Inquiry is listening carefully to what people are saying and asking questions to fill in the gaps. Knowing when to use closed-ended inquiry or open-ended inquiry and when to focus on the facts or the feelings are the skills associated with this sector.

A joint Identifying of the root cause of a problem is essential before any discussion on solutions is attempted. Many a team implements a solution to the problem they think they have, rather than to the problem they actually have!

When team discussions are complex and long, everyone will lose track of the important points. Reviewing is therefore essential to ensure that everyone has the same understanding.

Leading is one of the most critical solution-centred skills as it can focus the conversation on the important issues. It is a process of transmitting information in a way that leads people to talk about possible solutions rather than your imposing solutions upon them. Leading can be done overtly (simple leading) or covertly (complex leading) and can involve advanced techniques like story-telling.

Proposing involves presenting possible solutions as a choice of options. The number of choices will often depend upon the various role preferences of the team.

Closure is where the conversation is brought to an end, or 'closed', with an agreed action between the two conversing parties.