The TRACOM Group
The TRACOM Group
The TRACOM Group is a division of Reed Business Information, which is a nationwide provider of information via magazines, directories and newsletters. The TRACOM Group focuses on developing interpersonal skills of managers and employees.
The TRACOM Group is the original creator of Social style, an interpersonal skills model. SOCIAL STYLE is a training program to help understand behavioral preferences and the preferences of others. Understanding SOCIAL STYLE allows people to work more productively with others. "Equip your people to understand each other’s behaviors, and they will be better able to work effectively together, creating a high performance workplace." SOCIAL STYLE is related to Emotional Intelligence, an idea that Daniel Goleman made popular and discusses in his book, the meaning of Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace. According to HRMarketer.com, Emotional Intelligence is defined as "the ability to perceive, control and evaluate emotions to improve your work and personal life". .
The SOCIAL STYLE Model is based a person's behavior type, attained by examining the person's assertiveness and responsiveness. The four styles are Analytical, Driving, Amiable and Expressive. Understanding these 4 factors may help people communicate better with others in the work place as well as in their personal lives. It can also help in the positive development of managers and employees.
History
Dr. David Merrill, an industrial psychologist and university professor, began studying "predictors of success" in the early 1960s, along with Roger Reid and Gordon Brunson. He particularly studied people who succeeded in sales and management jobs.
"Merrill found that people tend to display consistent, observable behaviors, and that others consistently agree on words to describe each behavior."
James Taylor, a psychologist with the Martin Corporation in Denver, studied how people describe the behavior of others and developed a huge list of descriptive words. Dr. Merrill and his team narrowed the list and studied more occupations. Various consistent behavioral patterns eventually emerged... Assertiveness, Responsiveness and Versatility. Thus, the beginning of the SOCIAL STYLE Model was born, as well as The TRACOM Group. The TRACOM Group continues to further the research that Dr. Merrill started and continue to concentrate on developing leaders, engaging employees and improving performance at work. More information on the SOCIAL STYLE Model can be found in the book, People Styles and Effective Performance, by D. Merrill and R. Reid.
New Developments
More recent research continues to document a connection between understanding and applying SOCIAL STYLE and workplace success. In 2005, TRACOM released a study of managers at an international publishing company that showed that managers with high SOCIAL STYLE skills outperformed other managers in more than 40 job areas such as team performance, conflict management skills, building trust and communication. These managers also earned more than other managers.
A 2008 study by Colorado State University compared TRACOM’s SOCIAL STYLE Model with two other interpersonal skills models and found that SOCIAL STYLE was easier to learn and apply than the DiSC Inventory or Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.
More recently, TRACOM has published a video 1 explaining the four Social Styles and how they can improve individual and organizational performance.