Last week on the TalkingWork podcast we interviewed Bernardo Tirado, whose passion is to mix industrial psychology with project management. One of the things we touched on briefly was the Myers-Briggs personality Assessment and how those types of tests and the information they give about an individual can help leaders understand how to work with each person on their team.
I've always been fascinated with psychology and especially personality assessments. There's something about learning explanations for why people do the things they do that intrigues me in ways I probably can't explain. So, I'm pretty familiar with Myers-Briggs (I'm an ENFJ last I checked) and The Color Code (I'm a Blue-Red). But our conversation with Bernardo got me thinking about how useful these types of things really can be in the work place - and especially on teams.
Now, of course if you buy the books they tell you straight-up how their assessments can benefit you and your company. This isn't new information... I'm merely spreading the word. However, a hot topic (in the project management industry especially it seems) amongst leaders lately has been how to get team members more engaged and motivated so they can add maximum value to their projects and their companies. I believe that one way to do this is by figuring out why your team members do the things they do.
For example, The Color Code breaks the entire world of personalities down to four colors: Red, Blue, White and Yellow. Each of those colors represents a core motivation. For Reds, the motivation is power. For Blues, relationships. For Whites, peace. For Yellows, fun. If someone is managing me and they know I am a Blue-Red, but at work I'm predominately Red, they would know that giving me tasks that make me feel like I have a certain amount of important responsibility, power or influence would motivate me most. And really, you could assign me any task that you wanted me to and as long as you worded it to me in a way that spoke to my core motivation, I would hungrily attack the task, own it and deliver the best results I could for you.
Do I think that you should make personality assessments your bible for leading teams? Heavens no. However, having some basic information about what motivates the different individuals on your team and learning how to speak to those motivations could make a big difference for you.What are your thoughts? Do you use any tools like this to help you?