This document discusses leveraging a team's personality to drive success. It introduces the DiSC model tool for understanding team members' behaviors and how they think, act, and interact. The DiSC model uses two dimensions of pace and focus to categorize personalities. Understanding differences through this tool can improve teamwork, communication, decision making and reduce conflicts. It provides tips for effectively communicating with each personality type and thinking models like the Six Thinking Hats to incorporate different perspectives. The overall message is that teams who understand personalities can better work together.

1. Leveraging your team’s “personality”
to drive team success
Delivery Transformation – Enterprise
2015
Linked In: Julie Moroni
Twitter: @jamoroni2

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Today’s Goal
• Appreciate what makes us all unique
• Understand relationship of our uniqueness and behavior
• Realize the value of understanding our differences
• Review of options to discuss differences
• Explain the DiSC Model & how it can be used with teams
• Learn some tools to help teams work more effectively

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In order to understand your team’s personality, let’s first
understand the purpose of a team
A group of people with
complementary skills
required to complete
a task, job, or project.*
*http://www.businessdictionary.com
What is a team?

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Every person on the team brings a uniqueness, who they
are, to the team
Experiences
Religious/Personal/Work
Background
Values
Personality
Role Upbringing
Peer and/or Social
Group
Education/Knowledge
Gender
Learning Modes

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Every person on the team brings a uniqueness, who they
are, to the team
Experiences
Religious/Personal/Work
Background
Values
Personality
Role Upbringing
Peer and/or Social
Group
Education/Knowledge
Gender
Learning Modes

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Relationship of who you are and your behavior
Whoyouare
Behavior
• Comprised of
various inputs
that make us
different
• Consistent
pattern of
thoughts and
emotions
*excerpts from Intesi!
• Expression of
who you are
• Each person
has a behavioral
Style related to
their personality/
who they are

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What behaviors might you see?
Take a long time
to make a
decision or are
indecisive
Say what’s on
their mind in a
direct manner
Like to makes
lists
Are at the water
cooler or
socialize
frequently

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What behaviors might you see?
Take a long time
to make a
decision or are
indecisive
Say what’s on
their mind in a
direct manner
Like to makes
lists
Are at the water
cooler or
socialize
frequently

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How instead can we benefit by understanding the
differences?
• Increase your self-knowledge: how you respond to conflict,
what motivates you, what causes you stress and how you
solve problems
• Minimize conflict and handle conflicts (when they do occur)
more effectively
• Facilitate better teamwork through improved communication
and collaboration
• Enable better decision making conversations
• Reduce awkward social interactions

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Everyone is a unique blend - what’s yours?

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There are various tools/assessments available to reveal
similarities and differences

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There are various tools/assessments available to reveal
similarities and differences

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Tool…
• To understand team members’ temperament and behaviors
– How they think, act and interact
• That provides a common language to allow team members to better
understand themselves and how they can adapt their behaviors when
working with others.
• To allow discussion of behavioral differences
• That is composed of two dimensions: Pace & Focus
What is the DiSC Model?
*excerpt from http://discpersonalitytesting.com/

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Understanding how each team member is different will
shape how to best interact
Active: Fast-Paced, Bold, Dynamic, Assertive
Thoughtful: Moderate-Paced, Calm, Careful, Methodical
Questioning:
Logic-
Focused,
Challenging,
Skeptical,
Objective
Accepting:
People-
Focused, Go
with the
Flow,
Subjective
Separate the BEHAVIOR from the PERSON!
*excerpt from http://discpersonalitytesting.com/

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How do we communicate effectively with other types?
• Be direct and to the
point
• Focus on task &
results
• Be logical and act
fast
• Touch on high
points, not details
• Be patient & build
trust
• Draw out his/her
opinions
• Slow down & allow
time for discussion
• Show how solutions
will benefit him/her
• Involve in planning
• Ensure time for
socialization &
create friendly
environment
• Lighten up/have fun
• Ask for feelings and
opinions
• Let him/her speak
• Give recognition
• Use data & facts
• Focus on task &
quality
• Be patient and
explain carefully
• Minimize socializing
• Use proven
processes/ideas
Dominance
Correctness Steadiness
Influence
D I
SC
*excerpt from http://discpersonalitytesting.com/

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Six Thinking Hats Tool – using all perspectives
*created by Edward de Bono

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Various tools are recommended to help collaboration
with all DiSC Personalities
• Create environment/activities for all types
– Use stickies or way to give everyone a voice
– Give time to folks who need to process to provide input/feedback,
– Send out agenda to allow team members to pre-think what’s going to
be discussed and/or determine if they need to attend
• Six Thinking Hats
• Use team norms to allow the team to have agreements
with ‘how’ they will work together

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Recap
• Team members that understand
themselves AND their team members are
able to better work together more
effectively
• The team conversation is the most critical
part of discovering similarities and
differences and how they like to interact
• As a facilitator or coach for the team – you
will need to be sure to create an
environment to help the team thrive