In addition to questioning a number of writers have proposed a series of communication categories which are helpful in terms of understanding the dynamics of personal communication. These categories attempt to define the 'what' and the 'why' of the communication which is often so difficult to identify.

This list illustrates one typical set of communication categories.:

 Idea generating
 Building
 Supporting
 Disagreeing
 Defending / attacking
 Summarizing
 Seeking information
 Giving information
 Bringing in
 Blocking
 Evaluating

A set of this nature is particularly useful in group work since individuals will tend to cluster around three or four of these. One way of developing a team is to conduct an analysis of the predominant communication categories - then seek to develop the individuals' contributions so that they fit more compatibly with the contributions of the other team members.

The following table sets out some more detail on each category:

Category
Definition Examples
Idea generating A behaviour which puts forward a new idea. “Why don't we ...”

“I have an idea ...”
Proposing A behaviour which puts forward a proposal or course of action. “Let's deal with that one tomorrow.”

“I suggest that we increase the number of units by 50%”
Building A behaviour which extends or develops a proposal made by another person. “ ... and your plan would be even better if we linked it with the new training scheme.”

“You suggest that we should try to raise money to buy now. Let me make some suggestions about how we might raise that money.”

“If I can take that further, while we are telling customers about the new product we could ask them about their level of service satisfaction.”
Supporting A behaviour which makes a conscious and direct declaration of agreement or support for another person or his concepts. “Yes, I go along with that.”

“Sounds OK by me.”

“Fine.”

“I accept that.”
Disagreeing A behaviour which makes a conscious and direct declaration of disagreement or difference of opinion with another person's concept (NB. Disagreeing is about issues). “No, I don't agree with that.”

“I don't like the idea one bit.”

“Your third point just isn't true.”

“What you're suggesting just won't work.”
Defending /
Attacking A behaviour which attacks another person either directly or by defensiveness (NB. Defending / Attacking is usually about people not issues). “ ... and your third point is either incompetence or a lie designed to damage and denigrate.”

“Don't blame me, it's not my fault, it's his responsibility.”
Testing
Understanding A behaviour which seeks to establish whether or not an earlier contribution has been understood. “Can I just check that we're talking about the same thing here?”

“So I can take it that we all now agree on this?”
Summarising A behaviour which summarises, or otherwise restates in a compact form, the content of previous discussions or events. “Gentlemen, we have agreed
a) to take action
b) to take it before May
c) John is responsible for progress.”

Seeking
Information A behaviour which seeks facts, opinions or clarification from another person. “What's the time?”

“Can anyone tell me which page this is on?”

“Have you checked that thoroughly?”
Giving
Information A behaviour which offers facts, opinions or clarification to other people. “I remember a case like that last year.”

“There's at least 300 houses down there.”
Bringing in A behaviour which directly attempts to involve another person or to increase his opportunity to contribute. “Jack, have you anything to say on this one?”

“Mary has been very quiet, I wonder whether she has anything she would like to say here.”

Blocking A behaviour which excludes another person or reduces his opportunity to contribute. JOHN “What does Hans feel.”
KARL “What I feel is ...”
Karl is here shutting out John.
Interrupting is the most common form of shutting out.
Evaluating A behaviour which weighs and judges other ideas. “That proposal has a number of positive and negative features.”

The following extract is from an unpublished team report which shows how these categories can be used to develop team work.

This particular team member has been making a lot of supportive contributions but he is also highly creative and generates ideas. Combining these two major contributions suggested a role of team 'creative support'.

Role Description
 “The role of ‘CREATIVE SUPPORT’ goes to John and involves the following activities
 generating ideas
 modifying, interpreting or restating others’ input in order to get a different perspective.
 supporting others and helping them achieve their role and task objectives.

Idea generation is a key skill for any management group. The ability of a group to solve problems depends on its ability to generate solutions. Your team mate, Mary, has this ability and you should work in tandem with her.

The ability to see things from another angle is important and a restatement of an input with different emphasis is vital in recurrent problems.

Using your creative ability you should seek to aid all group members to overcome their own difficulties in problem solving by providing them with a number of options.

Role Fitment
Any role involving a highly creative element requires an agile mind; you have this, and coupled with your very different outlook on how things should be done, you are able to provide a wealth of possibilities to the group.

You are also the most articulate of the group members and this gives you a distinct advantage in terms of your ability to influence. Used correctly, which in terms of your support role, means influencing others to achieve THEIR aims, you will provide an excellent achievement orientation for the group.

Your concern with the longer term issues can ensure that the overall purpose is not lost sight of.

You do not mind being the odd man out which, provided you still ‘go along’ and remain fully committed, is a strength.

You have an ability to be sensitive which, if developed, will significantly enhance your support role.

You are highly competitive which, with another creative thinker in the group, is vital although has its dangers if you put your desire to win personally above your desire to support the team.

Role Objective
Your prime objective is to create ideas and possibilities for the group in order to provide material upon which the group can build and develop.

Suggested Style
The greatest concern of the creative support should be to remain an integral part of the group. This may be best achieved by working in close cooperation with Mary, the Evaluator, and the Builder, Brian. You should present your ideas and suggestions to the group in the ‘raw state’, in other words, you should allow the group to judge and/or build upon your concepts. In order to do this you will require to trust the group not to dismiss your ideas out of hand, the counterpart being that the group must not allow ‘crude ideas’ to be rejected out of hand. Brian is the best developer of ideas, seek to cultivate a productive relationship with him.

Try not to become involved in trivialities, concentrate on the major issues and strategies for the group.

Ask plenty of questions, as you usually do, for you need to know where your colleagues stand on every issue in order to channel your thinking along appropriate lines and to produce ideas relevant to the task objectives and the task stage.

Do not be afraid to put forward the ‘way out’ ideas, given group support, these are frequently the most productive when dealing with persistent or recurring problems.

Try not to prejudge your ideas, let the group work on them. Do, however, pay close attention to the mood of the group. Do not become detached, otherwise you run the risk of having ideas of good potential rejected because of poor timing.

Do not forget, that as ideas-man you are not an expert in every field, therefore you must let the group judge. You must therefore get used to having ideas rejected while still maintaining the capacity for further creativity.

I don’t think that there is much risk of it, but do not be inhibited by group members who tend to be dominant, extraverted or critical.

There are a number of areas however in which you tend to create role conflict for yourself and with other group members.

You must resist the temptation to defend to the last ditch your ideas, proposals or perceptions. If you take up this kind of defensive position there is no way that you can productively use your creative ability. Creativity and single mindedness or fixed thinking are not compatible. Single mindedness may characterise your working in your functional capacity but it is not appropriate to the group.

Be less critical and challenging, particularly toward Mary, (She has been given the same message about you) and don't compete for idea acceptance. Competition on a quantitative basis is legitimate.

Your level of contribution is high, keep it that way but don’t interrupt and try to listen more carefully, not just to the words but the feeling behind the words. Perhaps others cannot express themselves as well as you, the onus is on you to put effort into understanding them and their conditions.

As a support you should be concerned with team unity. I am aware that, in your negotiations work, a key strategy is to split the opposition. There is no opposition in the team, it is (or is trying to be) a united group with shared aims. Do not be tempted to be divisive - in a win/lose situation there are only losers.

A second area arising from your support role is the need for you to be creative for other people, they too have problems and tasks to face to which you can contribute. You will recall the last team meeting when Dave and yourself faced the problem over a particular issue. In that session you had difficulty in (a) appreciating Dave’s needs and (b) being positively creative. You have a tendency to use your creativity to generate difficulties and problems whereas you should regard problems and difficulties as stimulations to solution generation.

One last word (or two) ‘Think Victory’.”

Familiarity with the categories only comes with practice. Peter Honey’s book “Face to Face” published by Gower Press - second edition 1988, is a good text to assist you develop your skills in this area.