Testing the Waters: Dealing with Differences in the Workplace

I have never bought into personality or behavior testing for recruiting. Those tests, to me, are not predictors and thus should not be included in hiring decisions.

HOWEVER, having taken a few of them, I do like them for figuring out how to manage workplace differences. Even if they are not entirely accurate, they provide a common language and foundation for working together.

Conversations like this may occur on your team:

Team member 1: “Oh yeah, you are an analyzer type, so let me present the information this way with all the details.”

Team member 2: “Haha, yes, thank you. And I will respond in this manner since you are emotionally oriented.”

They can be acceptable, clear, and even fun.

Imagine team member 1 said something like that to team member 2 but without having any foundation or common language. Team member might actually end up offended!

Or it could go even worse like this conversation below:

Team member 1: “OMG, I have to go talk with Team member 2. I hate talking with them, they take forever to make a point.”

Now you have a toxic workplace, because these two team members do not recognize each other’s work styles. Productivity is impacted but also, with people not getting along, you may even wonder if it is worth owning a business or having employees.

Instead, develop a common foundation and language for work styles. Indeed, one of our clients has every person who works on her team take one of these tests.

As a business owner, you can choose the best test for you and your team. Not wanting to actually invest in a test? No problem, check out an article like this one. You can share these categories and have everyone self select what they are.

Then as a team, discuss how these different types of work styles could work together within your company. Give everyone that common language and foundation to openly discuss and be aware of the work styles each team member has and work to create a culture where these differences are valued.