Developing Collaboration Part 4: DISC Behavioural Styles
Moving on from the last two weeks on emotional intelligence, we are now going to discuss different personality types. Understanding different personality types allows you to not only understand more about how you work in a team, but recognising different personalities in other people allows you to more effectively build a rapport with them.
The model that we will be looking at is the DISC model, created by Dr William Mouston Marston, and he theorised that most normal behaviours could be described as a combination of 4 personality types. There are two key motivators that drive our behaviour - the motor drive and the priority drive. The motor drive describes how fast or slow paced you are - fast paced people talk fast, act fast, are more impulsive whereas slow paced people talk softly, act slowly and with more consideration. The priority drive describes whether you are more task-oriented or people-oriented. Task oriented people focus on logic, data and results whereas people-oriented people focus on feelings, interactions and relationships. Most people have a mix of all these tendencies in them, but often some are more obvious and stronger than others. From the four possible combinations of these two drives, we have our four personality types:
Dominant (fast paced, task oriented)- these people are natural leaders. They are quick, decisive, bold, take risks, assertive and determined. They can come across as quite blunt and demanding, and care very little for social acceptance and social interaction. In a group, they motivate the group and bring momentum, and set internal competitive goals. The best way to interact with people like this is to be direct, concise and factual. Use the time effectively and remain goal-oriented with them as results are important.
Influential (fast paced, people oriented) - These people are optimistic, fun, colourful and very persuasive. They can be easily distracted and can have a tendency to not focus on results enough. In a group, they are vital as they bring high energy to the group but also lots of trust within the group and are very good at building good relationships. They value socialising, hearing different opinions and debate. With people of this personality type, don’t be afraid to express your opinions and perspective. Avoid being too rigid or structured, as people like this struggle to remain within strict confines.
Steady (slow paced, people oriented) - They are caring, consistent and reliable. More slow-paced than the two previous styles, they are deliberate and consider every decision carefully. These people are incredibly vital to balance out the fast-paced nature of dominant and influential people and bring patience and calm to the group. They can be perceived to be very hesitant when making important decisions and sometimes resistant to change. These people are incredibly friendly and easy to work with, and value patience and taking time to make decisions, so avoid rushing these people.
Compliance (slow paced, task oriented) - these people are incredibly logical, analytical, methodical and precise. They are task-oriented so place an emphasis on results, but ensure that the task is completed to its entirety to a standard of excellence. These people are perfectionists which can create some issues as they struggle with any sort of ambiguity and can work for long periods of time on their own, which means they often struggle in groups compared to other people-oriented styles. When working with people like this, be specific and prepared to enter the finest details of the problem and work through them methodically and systematically.
Everybody is a mix of all four styles, but often one or two come through much more strongly. Teams with a mix of all behaviour styles are often the most successful as they balance each other out, for example, a group full of dominant styles would be too rash and strong-willed to work well together without some elements of steady or compliant people.
That marks the end of this series about developing collaboration! You should now have a much better understanding of collaboration, what kind of qualities you need to be a good collaborator and an understanding about different behaviour styles. Good luck, and have fun collaborating!