{"id":15167,"date":"2019-04-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-02T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/identifi-global.eu.applyflow.com\/how-to-work-with-colleagues-with-a-different-personality-profile\/"},"modified":"2022-12-09T06:16:05","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T06:16:05","slug":"how-to-work-with-colleagues-with-a-different-personality-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/news\/how-to-work-with-colleagues-with-a-different-personality-profile\/","title":{"rendered":"How to work with colleagues with a different personality profile"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\tEver had a colleague who you just clashed with? Try as you might, you simply can\u2019t get to grips with their personality: They make decisions you don\u2019t understand, they react in ways you wouldn\u2019t dream of, or their personality plain stinks.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe fact is, it might not be them; it might be you. You might dismiss and avoid these colleagues altogether, but if you want to progress within the business, become a more valuable team member or get glowing referrals when you move jobs, you need to learn to work with, and enjoy working with, different personality types. Easy to say, but not necessarily easy to do, especially as Pamela can\u2019t see common sense.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo what type of personalities do you with? And how can you resolve clashes to work together effectively and harmoniously? Here\u2019s everything you need to know\u2026<\/div>\n
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\n\tWho are you?<\/h2>\n
\n\tNo, really, who are you? If you don\u2019t know your own personality type, you won\u2019t be able to determine where potential clashes or problems could lie. Therefore, step one has to be about looking in the mirror.<\/div>\n
\n\t <\/div>\n
\n\tAlthough tests like Myers-Briggs are well known, they offer limited, binary results which aren\u2019t always helpful in terms of the workplace. Some, like 16Personalities, are more comprehensive and illuminating, but still fairly broad and not necessarily the most suitable for recruitment purposes. However, for understanding your own drivers and personality tics, they\u2019re quite useful.<\/div>\n
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\n\t“The final reports look at elements as detailed as strategic thinking, humour and rationality.”<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n\t <\/div>\n
\n\tBest and most detailed of all are psychometric tests like our own Psycruit, detailed, nuanced profiles used to assess candidate\u2019s motivations, talents and behaviour. These recruitment-specific tests don\u2019t test candidates against \u2018out-the-box\u2019 profiles like 16Personalities; they evaluate each person on their own merits. The final reports look at elements as detailed as strategic thinking, humour and rationality, which not only helps to determine strengths but also how well a candidate will fit within an existing team.<\/div>\n
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\n\tBy taking a test to understand your personality better, you\u2019ll gain a clearer perspective of your role within a team dynamic, and where any potential clashes may arise.<\/div>\n
\n\t <\/div>\n

\n\tWorking out personalities<\/h2>\n
\n\tTo get a rough impression of which \u2018types\u2019 your colleagues fit into and what their key drivers are, 16Personalities, despite its limitations, is still a good place to start. From a personal standpoint, understanding the traits of \u2018analysts\u2019 or \u2018explorers\u2019 might just put some of your colleagues\u2019 decisions or reactions into perspective.<\/div>\n
\n\t <\/div>\n
\n\tOnce you understand common traits, you may get that \u2018a-ha\u2019 moment to explain why you click with some, and why not others. You may well even find new ways of approaching problems or suggesting ideas better aligned to the people you\u2019re talking to. It\u2019s easy to get set in your ways, and we\u2019re all creatures of habit, but quite often the people you find irritating and simply ones that clash with your personality. Working with people, particularly if you\u2019re looking to progress in the business, requires diplomacy. The more you understand psychological drivers, the better equipped you\u2019ll be to handle people working under you, and senior management.<\/div>\n
\n\t <\/div>\n
\n\tIf you\u2019re in a senior position already, you could even turn this into a team activity, getting everyone thinking about how and why they\u2019re motivated. Your team will likely have their own eureka moments.<\/div>\n
\n\t <\/div>\n
\n\tThat\u2019s one way to understand existing colleagues. The most effective way to use psychometric testing, however, is before people even sign their contracts, which is why you may want to explore the idea of your HR department building a tool like Psycruit into the recruitment process.<\/div>\n
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\n\tSome companies believe so wholeheartedly in the power of personality profiling that they use multiple tests to gain a nuanced, granular understanding of the person they\u2019re considering employing. Bridgewater Associates (the world\u2019s biggest hedge fund), have built their company on principles, which they believe, not everyone can withstand or thrive under. Underpinning their corporate culture is the concept of \u2018radical transparency\u2019.<\/div>\n
\n\t <\/div>\n
\n\tThe brainchild of the company\u2019s founder, Ray Dalio, radical transparency encourages employees to scrutinise each others\u2019 ideas and decision-making and asks them to rate each other\u2019s performance via an app. It\u2019s easy to see why some people would not perform well or feel happy in this type of environment, so Bridgewater has developed a process which increases the chances of getting the right person for the job.<\/div>\n
\n\t <\/div>\n
\n\tTo work at Bridgewater Associates, candidates must take four tests online and one over the phone. Although this may seem like overkill, they\u2019ve simply identified which personality types work well in their organisation. Without detailed profiling, they could end up employing the wrong people, which in turn would cost them time and money, as well as disrupting the team.<\/div>\n
\n\t <\/div>\n

\n\tAll about soft skills<\/h2>\n
\n\tWe often talk about getting on with people as though it\u2019s something that happens because you \u2018click\u2019 or you find them fun, or you have shared interests. These are the easy relationships, they don\u2019t take effort, they just happen. Working well with all people and side-stepping conflict are skills you can work on.<\/div>\n
\n\t <\/div>\n
\n\tUnderstanding personality types is a good start, but honing your communication, empathy and diplomacy can help you find common ground with someone and alleviate tension.<\/div>\n
\n\t <\/div>\n
\n\tIf you\u2019re working on a particular project with a colleague, do the parameters suit both of your styles of working? If not, can you make changes to accommodate your individual strengths and weaknesses? Understanding that everyone works in different ways and is motivated by different drivers will help to develop soft skills like effective teamwork and empathy<\/div>\n
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\n\t“The best place to start is always communication.”<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n\t <\/div>\n
\n\tThe best place to start is always communication. Simply by reaching out and asking if a colleague is happy with a situation or project can start to build a relationship based on mutual respect and empathy.<\/div>\n
\n\t <\/div>\n
\n\tWhile we can\u2019t always choose who we work with, we can choose to better understand the people we work with – as well as ourselves. When you know why someone behaves the way they do, what motivates them or how they work best, you can learn how to react and communicate in a way that facilitates, rather than hinders, both your needs and theirs. So, do you know your colleagues\u2019 personality types? Do you know yours?<\/div>\n
\n\t <\/div>\n
\n\tStep one is to understand yourself. If you want to find out your personality type, get in touch and we\u2019ll give you access to our free personality profile test.<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n
\n\t <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever had a colleague who you just clashed with? Try as you might, you simply can\u2019t get to grips with their personality: They make decisions you don\u2019t understand, they react in ways you wouldn\u2019t dream of, or their personality plain stinks. The fact is, it might not be them; it might be you. You might… Read More »How to work with colleagues with a different personality profile<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diversity-inclusion"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/14286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}