Multiple Personalities and How to Get Them to Stop Screaming at Each Other
It’s no secret that most agencies suffer from Multiple Personality Syndrome. If you think of an agency as a giant brain and each employee as a separate, totally unique personality, you’ll know what I mean. No two are the same. It’s not exactly a bad thing to different personalities milling around inside a confined space, but at times, it can be difficult and unproductive if each personality doesn’t know how to effectively communicate with one another.
In order to better communicate with the different personalities, you must be able to recognize them. According to William Marston’s DISC assessment there are four main times of personalities based on behavioral preferences and behavioral styles. The tests classify four aspects of personality by testing a person’s preferences in word associations.
DISC is an acronym for:
* Dominance - relating to control, power and assertiveness
* Influence - relating to social situations and communication
* Steadiness - relating to patience, persistence, and thoughtfulness
* Conscientiousness - relating to structure and organization
The D and I share the top half of the quadrant as they represent being extroverted. C and S share the bottom half and represent introverts. D and C share the left half which indicates task oriented personalities, while the right is shared by I and S who focus on the social aspect. Everyone has traits from each of these categories, but there is typically one category that ranks higher.
People who score high in the intensity of the D styles factor are very active in dealing with problems and challenges, while low D scores are people who want to do more research before committing to a decision. High “D” people are described as demanding, forceful, egocentric, strong willed, driving, determined, ambitious, aggressive, and pioneering.
People with high I scores influence others through talking and activity and tend to be emotional. They are described as convincing, magnetic, political, enthusiastic, persuasive, warm, demonstrative, trusting, and optimistic.
People with high S styles scores want a steady pace, security, and don’t like sudden change. Low S intensity scores are those who like change and variety. High S persons are calm, relaxed, patient, possessive, predictable, deliberate, stable, consistent, and tend to be unemotional and poker faced.
Persons with high C styles stick to rules, regulations, and structure. They like to do quality work and do it right the first time. High C people are careful, cautious, exacting, neat, systematic, diplomatic, accurate and tactful.
Your personality dictates how you relate to other people and how you talk to them. Understanding where you rank in these four categories can help you understand your personality, your personal communication style, and how other people perceive it. You will also learn how to recognize other people’s style of communication and be able to adapt to effectively communicate with people who are different-minded.
When you don’t understand your coworkers, and they don’t understand you, it’s easy to get frustrated. It creates a communication breakdown, which in turn affects productivity and harmony, leading to a stressful and miserable workplace. Creativity is definitely stifled in this type of environment.
So, to quiet the voices in your head (the office) take the time to figure out where you fall in the DISC assessment and ask your coworkers to do the same. Once you recognize how you are perceived you, and your coworkers, can learn to communicate more effectively with each other.