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Get to know your staff and their impact

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15th Dec 2015
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When developing and growing a business, it is well documented that it is wise to have good people around you. This may be your team, your advisers or your network, says Mike Foster.

Having the right team makes our own role easier and the operations less reliant upon us. However do you consider the behavioural style of your team as much as the skills or qualifications they show on their CV?

In 2008 I changed my recruitment style to make such considerations. From my experience since, I have seen this knowledge improve the team dynamics and support effective people management. Since then I have become a certified PPA practitioner for DISC profiling with Thomas International. This knowledge of behavioural styles helps me to support my clients in building a team that complements each other.

DISC profiling looks at the characteristics of an individual across four different styles (dominance, influence, steadiness, compliance), the motivations of someone demonstrating such a style and how we can adapt to work with each other. So for example, be speedy for people that want to see the big picture people or be gentle with those that are risk adverse.

An individual will show high profile characteristics in one or some of these four areas and depending on their style will lead to them show certain behaviours.

For example, a high ‘D’ wants power and control, fears failure and seeks direction. Their value to an organisation is their drive for results. Some characteristics are:

  • Loves challenges and competition
  • Goal orientated, high drive
  • Direct, positive, straightforward, say what they think
  • Self-sufficient, self-starting, individualist
  • Curious, interested in the new, wide range of interests, adventurous
  • Dissatisfied, impatient
  • Chameleons

A high ‘I’ wants recognition, fears rejection and seeks reality. Their value to an organisation is their ability to work with or through people. They are:

  • Outgoing, persuasive and social
  • Optimistic, seeing good in everything, over-enthusiastic
  • Interested in people and feelings
  • Many friends – easily made, intimate, often short-lived
  • Unwilling to disturb established social situations
  • Act on emotional impulse, jump to conclusions
  • Decisions based on simple surface facts

A high ‘S’ wants security, fears insecurity and seeks variety. Their value to an organisation is of a specialist nature with service and support. Key characteristics include:

  • Amiable, easy going, contented and relaxed
  • Close and loyal with few deep (usually family) relationships
  • Patient, deliberate, intimate and good listener
  • Team player, coordinates with ease
  • Defends status quo
  • Comfortable with routine, can take on too much
  • Grudge bearer

A high ‘C’ wants procedures, fears conflict and seeks autonomy. Their value to an organisation is around technical roles, quality and standards. They are:

  • Peaceful, humble, loyal, non-aggressive, avoids conflict
  • Stable, orderly, systematic, procedural
  • Cautious, conservative
  • Perfectionist, attentive to detail, systematic
  • Stick to tried and tested
  • Act only when sure of facts, ground and risks
  • Sensitive and seeks appreciation, can easily be hurt

Once you know these common characteristics, you can quite often identify a lead behavioural style without any formal assessment. I am sure you can start to reflect on your own likely behavioural style as much as that of your colleagues.

So let’s look at a common case study of a manager with a high ‘D’ (dominance) profile, who is leading a team of steady and compliant people (those that demonstrate the factors of a high ‘S’ and ‘C’ in their profile).

Dominant people love a challenge, are direct, competitive and assertive. They tend to be self-centred or selfish, domineering, and even overbearing at times. They have a sense of individual responsibility and drive towards achieving success.

Dominant individuals are best suited to positions of power and control. They tend to tell rather than ask. They judge on results not words. When under pressure they will tend to direct or dictate solutions forcefully. When dealing with people they are usually direct, positive and straightforward, saying what they think, so can be perceived as blunt or sarcastic. They may override others in order to progress their own goals. In some cases, a high ‘D’ can treat other people simply as a means to an end, or a way of achieving their personal goals. High ‘D’ managers are poor delegators because they resist from losing the power, which is their prime motivator.

Maybe you can picture someone who may be a high ‘D’? How would they interact with a high ‘S’ or ‘C’ in their team?

A high ‘D’ may inspire fear in others, can be blunt, welcome conflict, be critical, find it difficult to empathise, are not interested in the details, resists team participation and dominates or takes over certain situations like meetings or tasks. If they are not aware of other behavioural styles and how to manage them, work with them or get the best from them, then this could generate potential conflict. Such dissatisfaction results in a high turnover of staff, demotivated people or a team which is afraid of being innovative for such a high ‘D’ manager.

Possible conflict with a high ‘D’ could be seen when:

  • A high ‘S’ who fears insecurity and change that a high ‘D’ may generate, likes guarantees of actions with a low risk, is kind and supportive and likes to discuss personal opinions and feelings
  • A high ‘C’ who fears conflict, so may do whatever is requested to simply avoid such situations. They like the detail and often prefer the detail from something like an instruction to be in writing. They won’t rush a decision making process even when under pressure to make it

A very common situation is when a high ‘D’ manager, with low self-awareness and a direct communication style of telling, enjoys running a team of high ‘S’ and ‘C’ people. This is because the team may prefer to keep their head down and just do as they are told to avoid conflict (C profile) or because they fear insecurity (S profile).

We may not be able to change an individual’s behavioural style, but with better understanding we can identify ways to influence their behaviour. For example you can potentially influence a high ‘D’ by:

  • Supporting goals and objectives
  • Allowing them to discover things
  • Argue with facts not feelings
  • Give them recognition to ideas even if not always their own
  • Provide alternatives in a positive way
  • Being precise and well organised
  • Being prepared to negotiate

Mike Foster is co-founder of The Bookkeepers Alliance and The Entrepreneurs Mentor.

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