How effective is PCM?

Now that we have been working with the Process Communication Model® for many years and have introduced it to other people in our seminars, we were interested in whether it is also effective in the long term. For this reason, we launched a cross-national project in the fall of 2020: the PCM Efficacy Survey. A total of 539 people took part, the majority of participants lives in German-speaking countries (Austria, Germany, Switzerland), while about a quarter of the participants came from the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia and New Zealand. But what insights did this survey give us?

Goodbye seminar effect

We now know that the often-cited seminar effect, namely not knowing anything more about the content or even applying it shortly after a seminar, is negligible in PCM seminars. Thus, 79% of the respondents state that they use PCM frequently or sometimes. 75% of respondents use at least one of the PCM concepts once a week. And more than three-quarters of those respondents who say they actively use PCM concepts say they use PCM at least once a week, even after more than a year. Especially the personality types, the communication channels and the psychological needs are used by them several times a week or even daily. This surprised even us. Now we have it in black and white: PCM is fortunately used regularly in everyday life by the majority of people for years.

PCM as a multi-tool

Of course, we were also interested in the contexts in which the Process Communication Model® is used. 67% of respondents use PCM in both their professional and private lives. The majority (66%) use it to actively shape their own communication in general, while in the professional context it is used in particular for conflicts (61%), in teams (57%) and also for leadership work (43%). This confirms what we have been experiencing for years: PCM is useful in a wide variety of contexts – and in addition to other models and theories, for example, in leadership, team development, self-management, education, partnership, and conflict and stress management.

PCM promotes diversity

People are known to be very different – and not infrequently we would like to understand what is the reason for the so different and sometimes also experienced as "difficult" behavior of our fellow human beings.

This is where PCM helps: Not only do respondents say that they understand their own behavior better (71%) since they became familiar with PCM, but it also helps them to better understand the behavior of their fellow human beings (72%). In addition, PCM makes an important contribution to accepting other people in their differences (65%) and thus to creating successful cooperation. This is probably one of the most beautiful findings of the PCM effectiveness survey!

The "black box human being" is and remains interesting

When asked which of the PCM concepts they remembered, respondents primarily mentioned aspects such as Personality Types (100%), Distress Patterns and how to deal with them (79%) and Communication Channels (73%). However, if we now take a closer look at which concepts are actually actively applied, the personality-related concepts in particular clearly stand out here. A unanimous tenor from the respondents' feedback is that communication-related aspects simply need practice to feel confident in their application. So, one thing that remains true for the design of our seminars as well as for the participants after a seminar: practice, practice, practice.

Want to learn more about these exciting PCM Efficacy Survey results?