Have you ever wondered why some work teams gel and thrive while others struggle to get anything done? The key is understanding personalities. As it turns out, who’s on the team matters just as much as what skills or experience they bring to the table. The right mix of personalities is essential for a high-performing, collaborative team.
You see, every person has a unique way of thinking, communicating and interacting with others based on their personality. Put a group of people together on a team and suddenly all those personalities start interacting, for better or worse. The good news is you can leverage personality insights to build a dream team that accomplishes amazing things together. In this article, we’ll explore how to assess personalities on your team and strategically bring them together to make the work dream a reality.
To build a dream team, you need to understand what makes each member tick. The Big 5 personality traits—openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism—can give you insight into how people think and behave.
Open individuals love new experiences and abstract ideas. They’re creative and imaginative. Conscientious people are responsible, organized, and hardworking. Extroverts are outgoing, energetic, and enjoy stimulation. Agreeable individuals are friendly, cooperative, and compassionate. Those high in neuroticism tend to experience negative emotions and be less emotionally stable.
Knowing your team’s personality mix helps in a few ways:
With insight into personalities, you can craft a dream team equipped to achieve amazing results. Leverage people’s natural strengths, support their needs, increase understanding, and maintain the right balance of traits. Your team will thrive when each member can be their authentic self while contributing to the shared goals of the group. That’s the real dream.
For any team to be high-performing, openness is key. Teams where members feel comfortable sharing ideas, giving constructive feedback, and collaborating will achieve more than those where people keep to themselves.
Having a diversity of viewpoints and experiences leads to more creativity and innovation. Make it clear that all voices are valued. Ask open-ended questions and give everyone a chance to contribute to discussions. Different perspectives can help teams see challenges in new ways and find better solutions.
A growth mindset, where people believe abilities can be developed through effort, leads to more openness. Praise effort and progress, not inherent talent. Adopt an attitude of continuous learning and improvement. Mistakes should be seen as opportunities to grow, not reasons to close up.
Disagreements are inevitable, so teams need to deal with them in a healthy way. Discuss issues openly and focus on interests, not positions. Look for compromise and solutions that benefit everyone. Stay respectful, flexible and open to other views. Unaddressed conflict leads to closed-off attitudes.
Regular, constructive feedback helps teams and individuals improve, but only if given and received openly. Provide balanced, thoughtful feedback focused on behaviors and actions. Accept feedback without defensiveness, looking for the useful information. Make feedback a two-way dialog.
With openness as a guiding principle, any team can build understanding, enhance collaboration, improve problem-solving, and achieve at a high level. An open team is a successful team.
Leveraging the strengths of conscientious team members will help ensure key tasks and responsibilities don’t fall through the cracks. These organized, detail-oriented individuals can be invaluable to a team’s success.
Conscientious people tend to be responsible, structured and dependable. Give them ownership over crucial projects or tasks that require meticulous follow through. They will ensure nothing is overlooked or forgotten, keeping the team on schedule. Divvying up major undertakings this way also prevents the conscientious members from being overloaded with “busy work” that doesn’t utilize their skills.
Have your conscientious team members evaluate team procedures, timelines, schedules or strategies before implementing them. Their knack for identifying gaps, inconsistencies and potential issues will help strengthen any plan. They can spot where key steps may be missing or where time estimates seem off. Their feedback will lead to more realistic and workable solutions.
While conscientious individuals work well independently, they also appreciate regular check-ins and guidance. Meet with them routinely to review the status of any tasks or responsibilities under their ownership. Provide encouragement and recognition for their contributions which will further motivate them to do their best work. Catching any problems early on will allow you to make adjustments before deadlines are impacted.
Leveraging the strengths of a conscientious team member will have a huge payoff. Their attention to detail, sense of responsibility and desire to get things right the first time around complements any team. Putting their skills to good use and giving them opportunities to do meaningful work will make them feel valued, leading to higher job satisfaction and performance. Overall, a win-win for individuals and the team.
Extraverts thrive on social interaction and collaboration. Harnessing their energy and enthusiasm for team projects can increase engagement and boost productivity.
Extraverts typically enjoy bringing people together and keeping conversations going. Have your most outgoing team members lead brainstorming sessions or open discussions. Their ability to draw others out and build on ideas will result in more creative solutions.
Passionate and persuasive, extraverts often make excellent presenters. Ask them to present key ideas, proposals or results to stakeholders or management. Their charisma and confidence will make a strong impression. Just be sure to provide ample preparation time so they can channel their enthusiasm productively.
While extraverts thrive on teamwork and togetherness, introverts prefer quiet and solitude to recharge. Pairing extraverts and introverts can lead to a balanced and highly productive partnership. The extravert can keep communication going and ensure all voices are heard, while the introvert offers a grounded, thoughtful perspective. This combination fosters innovation through a fusion of diverse thinking styles.
Extraverts feel most energized when connecting with others, so give them opportunities to network and build new relationships. Ask them to reach out to key clients or contacts, coordinate team building activities, or mentor new hires. Their friendliness, humor and high energy will strengthen bonds both inside and outside the team.
Leveraging the strengths of team members based on personality helps create a collaborative environment where everyone can contribute and feel valued. Recognizing and cultivating the talents of your extraverts will boost team productivity through their passion for people and partnership. The enthusiasm and joy they bring to their work can’t help but spread to those around them.
To build a cohesive team, focus on fostering agreeableness between members. Agreeableness refers to how well people get along and maintain positive relationships. Teams high in agreeableness tend to value harmony, empathy, and cooperation.
Get to know your team members’ personality types, especially how agreeable or antagonistic they tend to be. The most agreeable types are helpers, harmonizers and peacekeepers. The least agreeable are challengers, directors and drivers. Put the more agreeable members in leadership roles and mediating positions. Assign the less agreeable to roles where their skepticism or competitiveness is an asset.
Disagreements are inevitable, so teach your team to address conflicts in a constructive way. Encourage listening to understand other perspectives, focusing on interests not positions, and looking for compromise and win-win solutions. Model this behavior yourself by staying calm and open-minded, not attacking others’ character or motives. Foster a “solution-focused” mindset.
Empathy is key to developing cohesion. Encourage team members to share information about their work styles, priorities and perspectives. Create opportunities for social interaction and relationship building. Set a positive example through your own words and actions.
Nothing brings people together quite like shared success and celebration. Recognize and reward team achievements to strengthen bonds between members. Even small wins deserve acknowledgment. Make it a habit to express appreciation for your colleagues’ contributions and the value they add to the team.
With the right focus and effort, you can boost agreeableness and turn your team into a well-oiled machine. A cohesive, collaborative team will achieve more together than its members ever could individually. Teamwork makes the dream work, so help your team fulfil its highest potential.
So there you have it, a few tips for using personality insights to build a cohesive team. Pay attention to each person’s strengths, communication style, and work habits. Look for natural partnerships and connections. Foster an environment of understanding, support, and collaboration. Play to each person’s strengths and find ways to motivate them based on what they value. It may take effort and time, but building a team that clicks will make work so much more enjoyable and productive. Teamwork really does make the dream work, so put in the effort to understand your team at a deeper level. When you do, you’ll accomplish more together and build something truly great.
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