WHERE DO YOU FIT?
HOW CAN YOU HELP ENCOURAGE COMMUNICATION?
The following is an explanation of the six behaviors Dr. Jack Gibb has identified as behaviors that stop or encourage
communication. The way in which someone communicates has a major influence on the climate that exists in the work
unit. It is important to understand how these six behaviors contribute to the climate in which there is a reduced
willingness to communicate with others.
STOPPING COMMUNICATION
ENCOURAGING COMMUNICATION
1. JUDGING – Evaluating or judging the other person or
his/her ideas. This involves not listening for ideas or
possibilities, but instead discounting the ideas or
implying the other person is wrong.
1. DESCRIPTION – Gibb describes the opposite of
judging as description. The person applying
description is seen as requesting information about
ideas in an attempt to more fully understand them.
The person presents feelings or perceptions which
don’t imply the others are wrong or need to change.
2. SUPERIORITY – Communicating a feeling of
superiority in position, power, or ability that implies
the other person can’t be right because of his/her
inadequacies. There tends to be a sense of oneupmanship to this approach.
2. EQUALITY – Gibb calls the opposite of superiority,
equality. Communication is enhanced when you
treat others with respect and trust. Differences in
talent, ability, power, and status often exist, but the
person who encourages communication seems to
attach little importance to these distinctions.
3. CERTAINTY – Communicating in a manner that
implies the person knows all the answers and doesn’t
need or desire any additional information. There is a
high need to be right, even to the point of winning an
argument rather than solving a problem.
3. OPENESS – Gibb calls the opposite of certainty,
openness. The person with an open attitude is seen
as investigating issues rather than taking sides on
them, as a problem solver than a debater. The
person is indicating an interest in a shared approach
to solving the problem.
4. CONTROLLING – Trying to change or restrict
someone else’s behavior or attitude by imposing a
set of values or beliefs on them. A person who
engages in this behavior has a high need to be in
control of others and the situation.
4. PROBLEM-ORIENTATION – Gibb calls the opposite
of controlling, problem-orientation. When a person
communicates a desire to work together to define a
problem or seek a solution, he or she is seen as
asking questions, seeking information, and having no
predetermined solution, attitude, or method to
impose.
5. MANIPULATING – Communicating with hidden
motives in a way that uses others to meet one’s own
needs. This type of communication has a “gotcha”
feel.
5. POSITIVE INTENT – The opposite of manipulation is
called positive intent. Behavior that appears to be
spontaneous and free of deception encourages
communication. If the person is seen as being
straightforward and honest, and as behaving
spontaneously in response to the situation, he or she
is likely to create minimal defensiveness.
6. INDIFFERENCE – Showing a lack of interest or
concern for the feelings or welfare of the other
person that implies the other person’s comments are
unimportant.
6. EMPATHY – Gibb refers to the opposite of
indifference as empathy. Empathy reflects feelings
and respect for the worth of the other person. The
person having empathy identifies with other people’s
problems, shares feelings, and accepts another’s
reaction at face value.