Personality Exercise – Team Balance
A wide variety of personalities on the team can help strengthen the group as a whole. At the same time, we can organically lean towards personalities that are similar to us. Being deliberate with our thoughts and actions keeps this top of mind when working with others and during the hiring process.
REAL WORLD SITUATIONS
In this exercise, you will be identifying three different situations/times that involve personalities.
SITUATION #1
Recall a time when you have been on a team or at a company where diverse personalities seemed to be lacking or wasn’t embraced.
- What did you notice about the culture?
- What worked well/poorly?
- How do you think more diverse personalities could have advanced the team and company?
SITUATION #2
Recall a time when you have been on a team or at a company that had some diverse personalities but it wasn’t fully embraced or balanced. (e.g., differences misunderstood, certain personalities dominated)
- What did you notice about the culture?
- What worked well/poorly?
- How could the team and their leadership have better incorporated and leveraged the diverse personalities?
SITUATION #3
Recall a time when you have been on a team or at a company that had clear diverse personalities and it was embraced and balanced.
- What did you notice about the culture?
- What worked well/poorly?
- How did this impact the teams performance?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Discussion questions can be a great way to dive further into the topic of having a variety of personalities on the team that can help strengthen the group as a whole.
- Do/did you enjoy having different personalities on your team? Explain why or why not.
- Do/did you have a hard time if someone is/was an extreme personality difference than you?
- What can you, your team, and/or company do to help build a more diverse team of personalities?
- How do you respond when witnessing other colleagues having a hard time handling different personalities?
- When have you witnessed having a more balanced team of personalities benefit your team? When have you witnessed struggles related to this?
For more information about this material, email kmcclain@praeliscere.com or visit https://praeliscere.com/. Copyright Kathryn McClain.
Having balance on your team when comes to personalities is important. Having this balance allows ability to connect more with external constituents and with increased strengths of the team. We can though naturally gravitate towards people who have similar personalities. Or even go as far as dismissing certain personalities. This exercise helps build a better understanding and appreciation towards a variety of personalities.
Facilitator Notes
- Personalization: As the facilitator, you are encouraged to adjust the exercise to meet the needs of all team members.
- Pre-Communication: Share agenda or exercise document at least 48 hours prior to exercise/training. This will allow time for individuals to review and ask clarifying questions prior to the meeting. Make sure to include session length of time and expectations in prior communication (e.g., if virtual, cameras/microphones expectations).
- Directed Examples: Provide relevant examples when going through sections.
- Psychological Safety: No calling on individual participants to put them on the spot.
Keep in mind when delivering your exercise/training those that are neurodivergent, non-native English speakers/ESL, introverts, internal processors, and those that may be burned out/cognitive overload.
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