5♥️ Personality profiling: A tool for team success

In today's fast-paced business environment, building high-performing teams is essential for success. Yet, managing diverse personalities can be challenging.

Challenge, problem and complexity 

The challenge lies in recognising that the true value of personality profiling lies not in the specific tool used, but in the insights it provides and how those insights are applied. It's easy to get caught up in the jargon and lose sight of the practical implications.

Whether it's Myers Briggs, DISC or any of the other many tools on the market. They do have value, but it's not the value that their vendors would necessarily promote to you. Because they tend to focus quite understandably on what's special about their tool and on the theory and the rigour behind it.

Solution

For me the value is actually something different. The value for me in these personality profiling tools is actually very simple. It's to get your team talking about the way they work, and recognising that somebody who works differently to you 

Yes, you may get on well with the person who's most like you, you might find it easiest to work with them, but you'll get the least value from working together. Less value than you would working with somebody who's different to you.

The real power of personality profiling lies in its ability to foster a deeper understanding of team dynamics.

1. Focus on diversity: Encourage your team to explore different personality types and recognise the unique strengths and perspectives each brings to the table.

2. Promote understanding: Create a culture where team members feel comfortable discussing their personality traits and how they impact their work.

3. Leverage complementarity: Identify how different personality types can complement each other and create a more effective team.

4. Tailor communication: Adapt your communication style to match the preferences of individual team members.

Benefits

By adopting this approach, you can:

• Improve team dynamics: Create a more cohesive and collaborative team environment.

• Enhance productivity: Leverage the strengths of each team member to optimise performance.

• Foster innovation: Encourage diverse thinking and problem-solving.

• Build stronger relationships: Develop a deeper understanding of your team members and their motivations.

Why it works

Diverse teams are more likely to outperform homogeneous teams. By understanding and appreciating the unique qualities of each team member, you can create a more productive and innovative work environment.

Measurement

The effectiveness of your personality profiling approach can be measured by:

• Increased team satisfaction: Conduct surveys or one-on-one meetings to gauge team morale and satisfaction.

• Improved productivity: Track project completion times, quality of work, and overall output.

• Enhanced innovation: Measure the number and quality of new ideas generated by your team.

• Reduced conflict: Monitor the frequency and severity of conflicts within your team.

My Story

I guess I’m keen on this approach partly because it’s something I learnt from the first business leadership guru I ever heard speak. A great business and leadership thinker called Charles Handy many of whose ideas in the 1980s were at the time just that - interesting ideas - but have now become accepted wisdom. If you’ve not heard of him I strongly recommend you Google him and read his books, especially his identification of the shamrock organisation; predicting today’s world of varied working models. Likewise his book “The Hungry Spirit” shares a philosophy with Simon Sinek and “It Starts with Why” but was written 25 years earlier.