Você precisa treinar sua equipe ou comunicar mudanças importantes no departamento ou na empresa. Como você vai fazer isso? Com uma apresentação de slides? Chamando para uma reunião? Ou com um e-mail?

Independentemente da estratégia que escolher, ela pode funcionar muito bem para uns, enquanto para outros pode não surtir nenhum efeito.

Como líder, é importante que você saiba se comunicar adequadamente com seu time, e entender quais são os diferentes estilos de aprendizagem de cada um deles pode ajudar muito nesta tarefa.

Existem quatro estilos diferentes: visual, auditivo, leitor e cinestésico, mas quase todas as pessoas são multimodais e combinam diferentes estilos quando precisam aprender algo novo.

Então faça os exercícios abaixo e descubra como os estilos de aprendizagem podem ajudar na sua liderança.

How to identify the different learning styles?
Everyone has preferred ways to approach and absorb new information. It’s helpful to think about people possessing different learning strengths.

Learners fall into four basic categories:

• Visual learners respond well to graphics and videos.
• Auditory learners do best when listening to content.
• Reading-focused learners excel with text-based information, be it through reading or writing.
• Kinesthetic learners use their senses to learn via hands-on experiences.

You can detect someone’s learning style, usually from direct observation. Notice the types of questions someone will ask:

• Visual learners typically ask, “Can you demonstrate that for me?”
• Auditory learners will ask, “Can you tell me?”
• Reading-focused learners will want to know, “Is there a manual for this?”
• Kinesthetic learners will tell you, “Can I try it myself?”

There are those who are flexible in their communication preferences and who switch from mode to mode depending on what they are working with. They are context specific. They choose a single mode to suit the occasion or situation. They are described as Multimodal Type One.

There are others who are not satisfied until they have had input (or output) in all of their preferred modes. They take longer to gather information from each mode and, as a result, they often have a deeper and broader understanding. They are described as Multimodal Type Two.

Exercise 1 (Best for reading learners)

Try to match the learning styles with the different ways a leader can communicate with employees.

a) _____ learners respond well to pictures, symbols, maps, videos and charts. Incorporate these to help _____ leaners absorb the information.
b) Traditional training presentations work well for _____ learners, who prefer to listen to information. Use voice-over videos, audio recordings and uploaded in-house training recordings, especially for online training that can be re-wound and listened to again as needed.
c) _____ learners absorb text-based content and will do well with textbook-style manuals, written handouts and PowerPoint presentations.
d) _____ employees learn best by experiencing new knowledge hands-on. Give them physical tasks to demonstrate that they’ve acquired the new skill.

Exercise 2 (Best for visual and auditory learners)

Watch the video below and try to identify your own learning style.

Exercise 3 (Best for kinesthetic learners)

Read the scenarios below and try to come up with a solution for the situations, considering the different learning styles.

Scenario 1
One of your more challenging – sometimes-argumentative - clients is heading to your office to share her ideas for your ongoing partnership. As part of her visit, she insists that a meeting take place so that you can update her about your plans for the next twelve months. You are part of the small team expected to prepare and deliver the update at a two-hour meeting. She is Multimodal Type Two. What would you prepare and plan.

Scenario 2
While observing your team at a recent employee-of-the-quarter meeting, it seemed that most of those in attendance were not as engaged as you had hoped. A great deal of planning went into the meeting and you thought people would be interested in hearing more about the topic that was presented. Something didn’t click and the whole event seemed to fall flat. If other things (climate, motivation, day-of-the week, etc...) are not the cause of that feeling what aspects of VARK might provide some answers?

Scenario 3
You want to improve your team’s quality statistics. You have met with them several times and talked through many best practices. No matter how many times you tell them, they keep making the same mistakes over and over. You believe you are a strong communicator but results are not showing. You know there are some who learn differently in your group. How could you energize them and reduce the mistakes?

SOURCES: Insperity / Vark / Vark

Answer key
Exercise 1
a) visual
b) auditory
c) reading
d) kinesthetic

Michel Rosas é formado em publicidade e propaganda pela Escola de Comunicações e Artes da Universidade de São Paulo, é coordenador de marketing e comunicação na Companhia de Idiomas e professor de inglês há 13 anos. É especialista em estratégias de engajamento e nutrição pela Northwestern University e estratégias de marketing de conteúdo pela Universidade da Califórnia, assim como vários cursos de análise estratégica e utilização de ferramentas de marketing digital. Também é colunista de inglês na Exame.com.