Communication goals and role preferences of participants ​

Before entering into communication, ask yourself:

In what role am I entering this communication? Specifically:

Talking about roles, you automatically should think about interest and preference.

• What objects am I highlighting from the background in this role? (role interest)
• In which language will I speak about them? (semantic community of the role and what you think about the semantic community of the recipient)
• In what part of the "speed-accuracy" spectrum and at what level of abstraction will I talk about them? (semantic community of the role and what you think about the semantic community of the recipient)
• What do I want from these objects? What should happen to them? What will I do with them? (role preference and intention)
• Why am I entering into communication?
• Why will my interlocutor enter into this communication?

You have formulated a set of preferences of your role and now you need to understand which of these preferences and to what extent (if partially, then in which part exactly) this communication should address.

For example: I am in the role of a wife-housewife. I highlight objects from the background — furniture, household items, interior, etc., in particular, the dishes. The unwashed dishes in the sink. I have a preference — I want the dishes to be clean. There are different intended actions — wash the dishes myself, ask my husband, use the dishwasher, or ask my husband to use it. So, the preference is clean dishes; the assumed communication is with the husband. I expect this communication to address this preference.

Since the context is domestic, I don't think much about whether he will understand me, grasp my thoughts, make the right choice, etc. In your professional areas, you will have to think about this. Ensure that the objects are named in a language that the other person will understand.

The role of a wife-housewife is domestic, so she has many preferences — quite diverse ones. Clean dishes, clean house, ready meals, a full fridge, etc. I can fulfill these preferences in various ways. In order for my dishes to become clean, I chose a communicative way — asking my husband.

We all do this quite often when engaging in some cooperative activity with other people. We issue them instructions and take instructions from them, when appropriate and logical. For example: I need to wash the dishes, but right now I have to attend to another urgent matter. It would be logical to ask my husband to do it — since he happens to have a free moment.

What role is the interlocutor in; why are they entering this communication?

When creating communication with another person, we assume in advance that at that moment they will be in some role. It is in our interest to assume this as accurately as possible. When I ask my husband to load the dishwasher, I assume that he is currently in the role of a housekeeper. Consequently, he highlights objects from the background — domestic ones; prefers them to be in order and cleanliness; is ready to go and do something for this.

But if at that moment he is in a work conference call, then I guessed wrong — he is in a different role, with other interests, preferences, and intentions. Most likely, he won't understand what I want from him — he is not currently focusing on such objects, not thinking about them at all. Or he might understand but not keep it in mind. Or he does have the fact that he is a housekeeper in mind — his interest in this role is always present — but the preference and intention are absent at the moment. For successful (goal-oriented) communication, it is necessary for my preferences and those of the interlocutor to align — at least one — because communication is meant to address them.

Domestic examples are provided here to clearly and simply demonstrate the mechanism itself. You can apply this to more relevant situations for yourself — for example, in your professional activities. You engage in communication with a colleague, expecting that they are in a specific work role and have at least one preference that matches yours, which is relevant for them at that moment. Communication is successful if you guessed correctly.