You like your work associates well enough. But how can you get Mary to stay focused on the task at hand? Or what can you do about Bob’s aloofness and infrequent but disturbing hostility? And John, well, he’s such a control freak, anyone would think he’s the project manager! Sound familiar? Youre not alone. Everyone, everywhere has these kinds of teambuilding problems. There is a way out.

Below are my 3 Top Tips for Successful Teambuilding:

1) Understand the basic personality styles. This is much simpler than it sounds. The DiSC Personal Profile System is basic and very easy to understand. People are made up of four basic styles: Dominance, Influencing, Supportive and Conscientious.

John may not be a control freak so much as he is a natural leader. A Dominance style person needs to be in charge of something. Give John extra responsibilities. Let him spearhead a part of the project or chair a committee. Chances are he’ll get things done quickly and efficiently with amazing results.

Betty isn’t really a party animal. She’s a hard worker. She can’t help it if people flock to her like bees to honey. She’s an I style. She’s is full of ideas on how to make everybody enjoy the workplace and still get the job done.

Mary may seem to be preoccupied witheveryone's family problems, but most likely she’s a Supportive style. Mary has the potential to become the very bedrock of your team and provide unsurpassed cohesiveness. Learn what to do to bring it out and you’ll benefit for a very long time.

Sure Bob is quiet and aloof. It may be because his analytical mind is absorbing everything and he’s working very hard to piece it all together. He works better alone. Too much input will cause smoke to come out of his ears! Learn to use Bob’s Conscientious qualities to keep track of your team’s progress, pitfalls and successes.

2) Understand the style of your organization. Just as people have a basic style, so does your organization.

Several factors can determine the your organizations style. The most predominant factor is the leader’s style. Often the organization will pattern its style after the person in charge. However, if the leader is one style and the majority of members are another, the organization could take on the style of the majority.

There are ways to recognize the style of your organization. Are decisions made quickly? Are people direct and even blunt? Is it competitive and does status matter? You are in the midst of a D organization.

Is your organization a fun place full of chatty, social people? Are details skimmed over? Is the structure relaxed and cordial? Are presentations more like productions? Are there rewards for doing things well? This definitely is an I organization.

An S organization would look something like this: people are on teams and actually like them. There is a lot of cooperation and very little confrontation. People are very loyal and there are a lot of them who have been around for years.

A C organization would demand accuracy. People would value a lot of detail and tend to be very analytical. If plan 1 didn’t work, plan 2 would be set into place with plans 3 & 4 waiting in the wings.

It’s very important to understand the style of your organization so you understand how you fit in. If your style is the opposite of your organization's, you may feel like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole. Looking for another job is not always necessary. In fact, a really good organization will recognize its members' as well as its own style and capitalize on the differences. Let’s face it; we need all the styles in order to have a well-balanced team.

3) Decide how you want to relate to your team. You have the choice of what you want to do with your newly found wisdom. Adapting is one option. If you are a Conscientious style who is prone to elaborating on details, you might want to bottom line it for your Influencing style co-worker whose eyes will glaze over during your reports. This doesnt mean you can’t be yourself. You’re simply adapting to meet that person somewhere in the middle.

Still another option is to discuss your different styles with your co-worker. This way you show respect for the other person as well as yourself. Together, the two of you can agree on a solution. You may concede and give less details and your Influencing co-worker may opt to refrain from salt-and-peppering your meetings with anecdotes or personal stories.

The important thing to remember in building efficient, effective teams is how much we need all the styles. A car needs all four wheels to function. You need all four styles in your organization to be the best you can be. Understanding how each of the styles functions will get you to your goals smoothly and efficiently.

Learn about presentations on Teambuilding and Leadership.

"I liked going through everyone’s profile. It was really interesting and useful to see how my coworkers operate!  At first I was fairly skeptical because four dimensions seem like too few and too shallow, but I liked how it came together on the second day. I want to try this on my husband and friends!”
 
Jennifer Gilden
Pacific Fishery Management Council Staff Retreat
North Bonneville, Washington

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