Ever handed out a business document for your team, only to find half of them abandoned at the table? Or discovered a staff member nodding off during a graphic, chart-filled presentation? It could be because the communication style you’re using isn’t resonating so they’re unintentionally switching off.

Everyone learns differently and while we’ve known this for centuries, the VARK modalities, developed by New Zealander Neil Fleming in 1987, were the first to offer a quiz with help sheets so people could use it to learn and teach better. VARK stands for Visual, Aural, Read/Write , and Kinesthetic . The idea is that we use one (or a mixture) of these modalities when learning information.

Why is it important to be aware of your own, and your team’s, learning styles? Knowing how each of your staff members best learn can enhance their communication skills, improve performance, better your new-hire processes, reduce conflict, and increase the range of communication strategies used in your business.

Whether it’s rules, guidelines, job changes, systems, and processes, or change within the business, it’s your job to ensure staff learn in the best way for them. Once you know how each of your staff learns (there is a range of online quizzes), assess your communication channels, and adapt them to ensure no one misses out on valuable information.