Why use personality profiling in business?
14 Apr A brief history of categorising people
We may not like to admit it, but as a species we have been putting each other into boxes ever since we moved out of caves and started living and organising ourselves in societies. Utterances like “he’s stubborn”, “she’s bossy” or “they can’t take decisions” are common in the workplace of 2020 and must have been common in ancient Greece when Hippocrates first divided people into four groups: sanguine, choleric, melancholic and phlegmatic.
The colourful side of personality profiling
Today, we call this ‘personality profiling’ and there are hundreds of different tests out there. Two of the most well known are the Myers-Briggs and the Rorschach tests. While these have their own merits, we find that they can be somewhat superficial. This is why we prefer the DISC behaviour assessment tool developed by a psychologist called William Moulton Marston. The DISC method divides people into four personality colours and sixteen blends of these four colours. This sounds limiting, only four colours, but in fact it’s remarkably accurate and recognises that hardly anyone is just one colour. Most people are a blend of two or more colours with one dominant colour.
Conduct a mini colour test yourself!
How is the DISC method being used?
Businesses are now using this method to either identify the personalities in existing teams, or using it to put teams together from scratch. Once team members gain a deeper understanding of the personalities and behaviours in their teams, they can adapt their own behaviours to create greater harmony. The outcome is that teams are more engaged, work better together, cooperate more closely and are much more effective and productive. Just what any organisation wants!
Engage your teams and drive growth
So how do you start personality profiling? We run special standard Behaviour Styles® colour assessment and workshops for teams of four to twenty people. They are fun, enlightening, safe and run in the spirit of openness and cooperation. They are also practical so that once back in the office, the team members, armed with their new tools and understanding, can put what they learned into practice immediately. If you prefer a tailor-made workshop, we will customise workshops and training courses to meet your needs.
Whatever you choose, all our sessions are exciting, enjoyable and high-energy! Lasting change guaranteed.
