Yes, we know, you are brilliant. You have lots of experience and great ideas. Likely your employees know this, too. We as managers are generally good at problem solving, and hopefully this is a prerequisite to any management position. But being the problem-solver is not always possible, or even the best strategy. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘ group dynamics ’
Organizational MBTI
Posted by: Chelsea on November 3, 2011
Let’s apply functional pairs to the organization as a whole. To make a decision, you need to communicate and collect information, and then decide. As we stated at the beginning of this entry, communication and decision-making are the two behaviors that are most related to functional pairs. Myers believed that the optimal decision making process uses the four type functions in the following order: Sensing, Intuition, Thinking, and Feeling with specific steps or points to consider with each. See the diagram at http://myevt.com/teamdev/4-mbti-function-pairs
Say your organization is dominantly NT. Your team will likely focus less on Sensing and Feeling. Questions like, “What are other alternatives to consider?”(N) and, “What is the underlying problem?”(T) will come easily and will be comfortably discussed at length. However, questions like, “What will other people think of our decision?”(F) and, “What have we done in the past that works?”(S) will be raised less often. When all four functions are not equally used in the decision making process, the resulting decision may not be optimal. In order to avoid this mistake, teams should be aware of their dominant functional pair preference and actively pay attention to all four functions.
Do you know your “heart of type”? Are you asking the right questions? Making the best decision possible? Is your team as productive as they can be? Understanding functional pairs can help coworkers understand one another, improve decision-making, and consequently, increase productivity. Unnecessary conflict can be avoided when team members understand and respect their coworkers’ communication preferences that are inherent to their “heart of type”.
Managers can improve productivity by hiring a well-rounded team composed of employees with all four functional pairs, and by doing so, will ensure that the decision making process runs smoothly and effectively. An existing team in which some functional pairs are not well represented can compensate for this by understanding what questions they need to ask that might not come naturally to the types represented, but that other functional pairs might contribute to the conversation.
If you know your functional pairs, you’ll know a more satisfied, effective, and productive team.
An NT and an SF walk into an office…
Posted by: Chelsea on November 1, 2011
What does one say to the other? And how do they make sure that they are being heard and understood? Effective communication between different functional pairs is rooted in an understanding of the fundamental preferences of each. For example, if an SF (Sensing/Feeling) is trying to communicate with an NT (Intuition/Feeling) about a problem in the workplace, their ideas and opinions (more…)
Oh the farmer and the rancher should be friends – Oklahoma!
Posted by: Chelsea on October 27, 2011
Today we will continue our look at the MBTI breakdown of personality types and how they perform in organizational settings. Have you found your type yet? How about your client’s type – or even your organizational culture as a whole?
A Sensing/Thinking (ST) individual’s organizational culture values efficiency and unbiased, impersonal, relevant, cold hard facts. To them, the organization is a machine that efficient, hierarchical, and unchanging. If this machine breaks, it should be fixed not with touchy feely discussions and pointless brainstorming, but with proven tools that have worked in the past. (more…)
Beyond the pairs of opposites of which the world consists, other, new insights begin. – Hermann Hesse
Posted by: Chelsea on October 25, 2011
We are taking a closer look at the functioning pairs identified by the MBTI. Ideally you will be able to leverage the test results to enhance teams and create a healthy work environment. Through this blog series you will be able to learn more about these personality types, identify those you work with these types and gain further understanding of their values, purposes, and thought processes. You may even identify your own personality type and who you best pair with. (more…)
I’ve Been Tryin’ to Get Down to the Heart of the Matter – Don Henley
Posted by: Chelsea on October 20, 2011
So, everyone on your team has taken the MBTI and now you understand each other’s preferences when it comes to gathering information, decision-making, structure, and extraversion vs. introversion – although you all probably could have guessed that Johnny likes to be the life of the party, whereas Jane would rather eat the birthday cake from the party at her desk. But you’re still having trouble communicating with one another, everyone is getting flustered when talking about the next big project, it seems like everyone is at each other’s throats and it’s hurting your productivity. It turns out, just have to get in the middle of them – literally. Hidden in the center of each team member’s MBTI personality type is the key to solving all of their communication woes. (more…)
Have You Assessed Your Assessments?
Posted by: Chelsea on September 1, 2011
Personality assessments have been gaining popularity in the past decade, with one recent study finding that more than 80 percent of the companies surveyed use some type of assessment either during the hiring process or when making talent management decisions internally. (more…)
Do You Follow the Golden Rule?
Posted by: Chelsea on August 23, 2011
After experiencing the smack down last week, it is probably a good time to get ourselves under control and remember the golden rule.
FIRO B is the “Golden Rule” personality assessment. It scales how a person behaves towards others, and how they would like them to act towards themselves. Using three categories of personal relationship needs (inclusion, control, and affection) as well as how a person expresses and wishes to receive these needs (expressed and wanted behaviors) FIRO-B can help people understand their relationship style and ideal environments or types of relationships. See the sample below:
https://www.cpp.com/Pdfs/smp220160.pdf
For instance if a person scores low for expressed control, but high for wanted control, then they are likely to accept direction from influential figures, and might not be interested in gaining positions of authority. If a person scores high in expressed and wanted inclusion; they like including others and like to be included, probably don’t like being “out of the loop”, and may sometimes have trouble distinguishing work from a social gathering.
The need(s) that has the lowest score will be the need that is less compelling to be fulfilled. Less attention will be paid to situations where this need can be fulfilled because it is less important. For instance, if the need for Control is low, concerns about organization or authority will be ignored until the needs for Affection and Inclusion are met.
Learning about behavioral patterns can help employees understand which future careers or facets of a current job they may enjoy and excel at more. If they value inclusion, they would probably enjoy a job that values and rewards teamwork and provides opportunity for social interaction. FIRO-B will also provide ways to improve a team’s effectiveness with questions like-
- Do I really need more input from others, or do I know enough to proceed?
- Am I frequently expecting others to seek my input?
- Can I lessen my reliance on others
- Would my colleagues prefer to know less about my personal concerns?
- Do I expect a personal relationship with my subordinates?
FIRO-B also goes on to describe what type of leader each need creates. For instance, if the highest expressed need is affection a leader may be likely to try and minimize conflict, develop HR, invite feedback, and provide an environment of support.
As with most other personality tests, there are no “good” or “bad” personality types, only different. Also, scores may be altered by a variety of environmental factors such as: “Pressure from your environment to express certain behaviors, cultural differences that affect expressing needs, life events that lead to intense self-reflection or withdrawal from others (this will alter all scores, but especially the need for wanted inclusion), intentionally avoiding extreme responses, and misunderstanding the terms ”
Do We Collaborate With or Kill Our Enemies?
Posted by: Chelsea on August 18, 2011
You’ve hired the right team, discovered their personality styles and best environments, and now there are challenges and conflicts in the workplace. The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI) can help individuals and teams identify their dominant method of handling conflict and how to incorporate other methods as needed and indicated by the type of conflict. I (more…)
The Carrot and Stick? Veterans to Gen Y
Posted by: Cathleen on March 31, 2011
These days it is normal to have a multigenerational workforce with diverse work teams. We must have motivated team members for success, but do you know how to most effectively incentivize them? (more…)
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