Assessing Your DISC Personality Profile to Foster Group Culture

Our experiences, culture and personalities shape how we act and express our values. Have you ever wondered why it is challenging to communicate with a particular team member?

I recently took the DISC test with my colleagues and the conversations that the results sparked were remarkable. The DISC personality assessment identifies four personality types: Dominant, Influencing, Steady and Compliant. Team members completed a questionnaire, identified their type and separated into groups based on that type.

At first, it seemed like a silly exercise. However, the visual categorization of each staffer was useful and, in some cases, surprising. Groups discussed their vision of ideal and challenging workdays and what inaccurate assumptions people made about them.

Learning what irritates your colleagues or what helps them feel accomplished can optimize productivity and improve workplace relationships. Conducting a DISC personality assessment with your peers can also help you learn the culture of the group.
By mapping your teammates’ personality types, you can identify:

• Gaps in personality types, which can help when hiring new employees or anticipating weaknesses
• General values that are important to your team, which can increase satisfaction and engagement
• The focus of your group — people who prefer facts, logic over people, relationships, being active, a fast pace — which may impact how you choose to deliver information to your team or how you address communication issues.

If your group culture is mainly Dominant (D), then your group values results, independence, achievement, decisiveness and success. It is results-driven, rewards assertiveness and thrives in a dynamic environment where decisions are made quickly. These people encourage innovation, direct feedback and achievement. However, a D-cultured team can be overanalyzing, highly sensitivity and may be perceived as intimidating or overwhelming by those who are less dominant.

Influencers (I) care about collaborating, working on passionate and fun projects and show optimism, which can be greatly beneficial to your organization. They foster creativity through energy, encourage group brainstorming and informative communication, and help shape the workplace into a caring environment. The I-culture also changes direction frequently and focuses on the big picture (often lacking clear guidelines), which can result in disorganization and spotty planning.

A mainly Steady (S) group values teamwork, thoughtfulness, stability and harmony. These individuals demonstrate great interpersonal skills and avoid giving constructive criticism. They favor steady performance and avoid being the center of attention. They focus on the team’s well-being and not hurting anyone’s feelings, which can complement dominants in the team but also impact negatively as they don’t like direct conflict, something that can make it challenging to be expeditious with pressing deadlines.

A Compliant (C) team places high value on accuracy, quality, dependability and competency. This group will be pleased by achieving goals that are a priority to the organization and don’t waste time with minutiae. They ask for and provide clear expectations, apply logic when making decisions, and may volunteer to do detail-oriented tasks that others may avoid. However, if your team is mostly compliant, then you may want to address openness and consideration of other people’s feelings to foster a stronger sense of community, which C-personalities don’t promote.

Take the test with your colleagues and try to guess each team member’s DISC personality type. Approach this as a positive activity that allows you to understand your team’s communication preferences and what helps them be most efficient and productive.

By listening to each other, you can develop strategies to meet your peers halfway, identify means to help them meet their goals, and effectively communicate with them so that your group culture fosters strong relationships and an overall positive work environment.