Goal: Systematically adapt your communication to match how each team member learns best—improving comprehension, retention, execution, and retention.
Timeline: This plan spans 12 weeks (1 week, 1 month, 1 quarter). Start this week and build momentum.
📌 THIS WEEK: Observation & First Experiment
Pick Your First Subject
Identify one engineer you're actively coaching or onboarding right now. This could be:
- A new hire in their first month
- A mid-level engineer stepping into a new role
- Someone you're giving feedback to this week
- Your most challenging communication relationship
Name: ___________________________________
Observe Their Learning Style
Watch for patterns over the next 3-5 days. Which do they default to?
- Visual: Ask for diagrams, draws on whiteboards, remembers screenshots
- Auditory: Prefers calls/meetings, asks questions verbally, talks through problems
- Reading/Writing: Reads docs first, takes detailed notes, wants written specs
- Kinesthetic: Jumps into code immediately, learns by doing, wants to experiment
Primary Learning Style (your best guess): ___________________________________
Run Your First Experiment
This week, use ONE adapted approach from the blog for this person. Pick from:
By Learning Style:
- Visual: Send a screenshot or diagram instead of a paragraph
- Auditory: Schedule a 15-min call instead of writing a long Slack message
- Reading/Writing: Write a detailed ticket with bullet points instead of verbal explanation
- Kinesthetic: Give them a sandbox to experiment with instead of a lecture
Approach You'll Try: ___________________________________
When: ___________________________________
Observe the Result
After your experiment, ask yourself:
- Did they understand faster?
- Did they ask fewer clarifying questions?
- Did they seem more engaged?
- Did they take action more confidently?
What I Noticed:
📅 THIS MONTH: Scaling to Your Team
Ask Each Direct Report Their Style
In your next 1-on-1 with each direct report, ask directly:
"When learning something new, do you prefer: diagrams and visuals, discussions and calls, detailed written docs, or jumping in and experimenting? What works best for you?"
Team Member Learning Style Tracker:
| Name |
Primary Style |
Secondary Style |
Notes |
| _______________ |
_______________ |
_______________ |
_______________ |
| _______________ |
_______________ |
_______________ |
_______________ |
| _______________ |
_______________ |
_______________ |
_______________ |
| _______________ |
_______________ |
_______________ |
_______________ |
Create a Team Reference Document
Store this in a private location (Notion, Confluence, or a shared doc) so you remember each person's preference.
Where I'll store this: ___________________________________
Experiment with Multi-Modal Communication
For your next major decision or announcement, use ALL four modes:
The Multi-Modal Default (covers 80% of preferences):
- Written: Send a brief summary (1-2 paragraphs) + bullet points
- Visual: Attach a diagram, roadmap, or decision tree
- Auditory: Offer a quick sync/call for questions
- Kinesthetic: Suggest a working group or spike to explore hands-on
Next major decision I'll communicate multi-modally: ___________________________________
Date: ___________________________________
Start Adapting Your Default Communication
Pick 2-3 team members and deliberately shift your approach for them:
- For visual learners: Replace text with sketches or annotated screenshots
- For auditory learners: Schedule more calls, less Slack
- For reading/writing learners: Write more detailed tickets, fewer verbal walkthroughs
- For kinesthetic learners: Give them starter branches and sandboxes, less documentation
People I'll intentionally adapt for this month:
🎯 THIS QUARTER: Embedding It Into Your Culture
Run a Team Learning Styles Workshop
Goal: Make learning styles a shared language on your team.
Format (90 minutes):
- Intro (10 min): Explain VARK model, why it matters
- Self-Assessment (15 min): Each person identifies their own style
- Small Group Discussion (20 min): Group by style, share experiences
- Case Studies (20 min): Walk through examples (code review feedback, design docs, etc.)
- Agreements (15 min): Decide as a team: "How will we communicate?"
- Commit (10 min): Everyone commits to one adapted communication behavior
Planned Date: ___________________________________
Audit Your Communication Tools & Processes
Review how your team currently communicates. Are you over-indexing on one style?
Audit Questions:
- Are we doing mostly written specs (missing auditory/kinesthetic learners)?
- Are we defaulting to Zoom calls (missing reading/writing learners)?
- Is our onboarding only video lectures (missing hands-on learners)?
- Do we have clear visual architecture docs?
Findings from my audit:
Process I'll change: ___________________________________
Train Other Managers
If you manage other managers, share this approach:
- Share the blog + this action plan with them
- Ask each to pick one person and run the same experiment
- Create a monthly sync to share wins and challenges
- Celebrate when multi-modal communication solves a misunderstanding
Managers I'll train: ___________________________________
Measure Results
Track these metrics to see if learning styles adaptation is working:
- Onboarding speed: Are new engineers productive faster?
- Feedback quality: Are 1-on-1 satisfaction scores improving?
- Rework cycles: Are fewer tasks being done incorrectly?
- Retention: Are people staying longer?
- Psychological safety: Do surveys show improved "feeling heard"?
My baseline metrics (take a snapshot now):
I'll re-measure on: ___________________________________