A Trilogy for Managerial Communications.
For two decades, box office winning movies helped define our understanding of a trilogy as a set of three separate, yet related parts. Some examples are: Die Hard, The Matrix, Catch me If you can, Pokemon, and Scarface. If you wonder how these movies relate to managerial communications then remember the trilogy. Three separate, yet related parts, when taken together provide a winning combination: Learning Styles, Conflict Resolution, and Critical Thinking. This winning trilogy for managerial communication achieves a blockbuster of synergy. .
You may have heard of a movie director shout, lights, camera, and action but have you heard a business director talk about verbal, visual, and kinesthetic? Probably not, but the first part of the a winning trilogy of managerial communications is learning styles and presents itself as verbal, visual, and kinesthetic, although there can be different variations of each. Some individuals use only one style while others use a combination of two or more styles. Visual learners need to see the material presented. They learn better by reading an article or book, rather than having it read to them. They tend to take detailed notes during lectures or meetings and then read over them later to fully understand what was covered. You may notice visual learners, "by their vivid imaginations, their creative use of colors, and the way their facial expressions give away their emotions" (Sharp 1997). Another type, the verbal learner, needs to hear the information presented. These types of learners do well in a lecture environment but outside noise can easily distract them. A verbal learner would rather tape record a meeting or lecture and then re-play it later. They often talk to themselves while they are studying or learning something new. In most cases, they need to read assignments or problems aloud to grasp exactly what they are required to do or to understand the problem (Sharp 1997).