Men's Neckties Can Help With Communication in the Workplace

Are you an ENFP or an ISTJ?

In the 1950s Isabel Meyers and her mother, Katheryn Briggs looked at the information on personalities suggested by psychologists and discovered that there are distinct patterns of behavior which divide into sixteen personality types. ENFP and ISTJ are two of the sixteen personality types. Why bother with this alphabet soup? Myers and Briggs thought that understanding and appreciating our differences leads to better communication. The Type Indicator designed by Myers and Briggs has been used in both business and industry to help co-workers get along better in the workplace. The P and the J personality behaviors are the ones that lead to the most conflict in the workplace and at home I might add. The J personality likes closure; the P personality likes to keep options open. When the J sits down to discuss vacation plans he or she wants to end the discussion with a decision. The P likes to leave some space in the planning for some surprises to occur.

Using Neckties as a Tool

Conventional wisdom suggests that a men's tie reflects who he is. Experts on men’s fashion suggest ways to use a neck tie to make a fashion statement, get a promotion, even look thinner. The focus is on making him look better.

What if a neck tie could be used as a tool to open the lines of better communication? No I am not suggesting embellishing ties with ENFP orISTJ. Rather, look at the style of tie that a colleague wears and imitate that style.

People who study body language suggest that one way to establish rapport with someone is to imitate their body language. So, if a person you want to interact with favorably is crossing his arms, you cross your arms. If a person is sitting with legs crossed, you cross your legs. My father had a habit of putting both of his hands behind his head, elbows sticking out like wings. I used this strategy successfully with my father when he and I were having a heated discussion.

Maybe you have an employer or colleague who wears standard width tie or perhaps is following the new trend of wearing mens narrrow thin ties. You know, those narrow 1 to 3 inch ties do popular today. In the 1940s ties were bright and loud. In the 1950s, ties slimed down along with mens suits. Muted tones of reds, greens, and browns were the norm. This was in keeping with the uniform look in mens ware popularized by the suburban business man. Those of us of a certain age have the clear picture in our mind of the man of the house going off to work in suit, hat, and overcoat.

Wearing Similar Ties to Open Communication

Did you know that research shows that in meetings, individuals with differing opinions often sit catty corner to each other? Not directly across the table but at an angle to your right or left. If you want to take on a neck tie challenge, observe the style of the neck tie that this person wears and imitate his tie at the next meeting when you anticipate a heated discussion.

Although we all seem very different, Myers and Briggs contend that we actually have behavior patterns that fit into neat categories. Understanding these behavior patterns helps foster communication. I think it is worth a try using a neck tie as a tool to enhance communication.

Men's Neckties Can Help With Communication in the Workplace by strangelittlebird is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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