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 The day kicked off with a chip and sandwich lunch, with Tierney
beginning her presentation shortly after everyone was seated.
Tierney’s topic for the day focused on recognizing personality types
and understanding how to maintain a good workplace environment when
dealing with various personality types. Tierney explained that she
would be doing an abbreviated version of a workshop that normally
takes about three hours to complete. She said she would push through
the topic very quickly, but for those who wish to take the full
workshop, there would be an opportunity soon via a workshop that
will take place in Mount Pulaski.
The basis of the discussion on Tuesday was a personality test that
each attendee had been given, just for their own information. The
test referred to as the “disc” test identified four personality
types and related those types to various animals.
Tierney explained that this particular test is one of the oldest in
the word, but it has been proven to be effective time and again in
identifying personality types. The test is word association, with a
variety of key personality traits divided into four categories. To
complete the test, each participant was asked to review the key
words and circle the one word or phrase in each of 16 lines that
best describes their self. When finished, the participant was to
count the number of circles in each column of the test so as to
produce a score.
The highest scoring column then determined the dominant personality
traits. Tierney explained that most people had multiple traits and
would fall into multiple categories.
In comparing the traits to animals the ‘D’ personalities are lions,
‘I’ personalities are otters, ‘S’s are golden retrievers and ‘C’s’
are beavers. Lions are dominant, task-driven, independent,
outspoken, but not good listeners. Otters are fun loving, friendly,
spontaneous, but lack follow-through. Retrievers are people pleasers
who are nice, supportive, kind, but also procrastinators. The beaver
personalities are reserved, work at a slower pace, do quality work,
but are more critical of others.
Tierney asked the room, how many had found they were lions. Then
after a show of hands she discussed how they might go about their
work day in an environment that is void of personal touches and
strictly business. She then posed a scenario, “If you are a
supervisor, and you are having a workplace issue with a lion, how do
you handle it?” Many in the room offered suggestions that Tierney
said were on target.
Tierney said lions like to keep moving forward, and they want
results. To approach a lion with a problem in work performance, the
key is to feed those two likes. Do so by being straight forward and
offering examples of what is creating the problem. Tierney said
lions are thick skinned and can take constructive criticism, so
there is no need to buffer the conversation, just come out and say
what needs to be said.
Otters, on the other hand, are fun loving and want to be the life of
the party in most all their situations. They want to be seen as
good, and they want to be loved. They can also be more emotional. To
address this type person with a problem, offer praise for what is
being done right. Tierney said otters are people-people and need to
turn their tasks into people. She noted as an example, if there are
people who can be incorporated into the solution as partners the
otter feels he or she is working with a friend and having an
enjoyable time, then performance will improve.
[to top of second column] |
Golden Retrievers are also people persons who work to build relationships. They
are the ones who most enjoy sitting down for a cup of coffee with someone. They
also don’t like change. To address an issue with a Golden Retriever, first,
reinforce and appreciate what they do well, then ease into the issue. Instead of
focusing on the “you” focus on the “we,” such as “we need to accomplish this
task.”
The beaver likes detail and can be very focused on the task at hand. They are
deliberate in their work and consequently, work at a slower pace than others.
However, they also can be the ones who do the best work. Tierney used herself to
describe how to handle a beaver. She said beaver was one of her dominate traits.
She was interning with a professor in college and was left to grade session
reports for a class of about 30. She said she was doing this grading once per
week, and each report was taking her about one hour to grade because she was
being so deliberate and seeking to grade the report in a stellar fashion.
Tierney said the professor never criticized her work method. Instead, the
professor gave Tierney a challenge to set a timer and work to grade one report
every 10 minutes. Tierney said it was a great way to handle the situation
because the professor never complained that she was working too slowly or
wasting time.
One question came from the audience and pertained to a worker who is approached
about changing a work habit and says yes they will, and do so for a bit, but
soon goes back to doing things their own way.
Tierney said this person more than likely falls into one or both of the two
dominant categories of lion or beaver. She said these people don’t adapt well to
change because they like things their own way. She said the best practice might
be instead of telling the person he or she has a problem, use the “we;” “we have
this problem, and I need you to help me figure out how ‘we’ can address it.” The
lion and beaver are control freaks, task oriented and they are also problem
solvers. Turning the problem into a task and challenging the lion or beaver to
come up with a solution gives them some control or ownership of the solution,
and motivates them to implement the work habit
As Tierney wrapped up, she noted that the day had been drastically abbreviated,
but she was hopeful that it had given the audience an opportunity to understand
some of the issues that come with working with different personality types in
the workplace.
In the last 15 minutes of the one-hour event, guests were offered an opportunity
to do a walk-through of the newest addition to the Christian Village, the new
Rehab to Home wing that is nearing completion.
TAKE THE TEST
[Nila Smith] |
