How to make a great team with different personalities?

Knowledge is power, but only potential power…

So, you have made the effort and taken the time to understand what your team’s personality traits are. That’s great. Congratulations. You are one step closer to making your team a ‘dream team’, so listen carefully…

Before we investigate the specific attributes of each personality type and try to address their advantages when cooperating, please consider these words by Tony Robbins; ‘knowledge is potential power until applied’. We need to use what we have learned before we celebrate success. So, take a moment and decide if you are going to commit fully.
You are halfway there and if you want this to improve your work do not withdraw now…

Getting things done.

Let’s imagine for a moment that you are about to start a major project. Something that involves getting your team together, splitting the responsibilities, and making sure everyone does their part. It might not be a difficult task to imagine such a situation, but it certainly brings up many challenges while in the actual process of project delivery, especially when poorly managed. That is why we want to understand the four ‘Jung’s personality types and use the knowledge about them to our advantage.

Take a breath, grab a piece of paper and keep noting down what we will mention – it will be worth it. After all, you want to get things done in the most efficient way…

Who to lead, who to follow…?

Naturally, the moment you start to organise anything that involves other people a group dynamic starts to evolve. You are no longer just a bunch of strangers sitting in the cinema if one of the spectators falls on the floor due to a heart attack and someone takes the lead in organising help. It is the same with any group effort – people find their place within the community and adapt to the situation accordingly.

There is much to be said about a ‘perfect leader’, but the truth is there isn’t one. True, there are some qualities one would want to see in their leader to make them better than most, but there is no one rigid definition of leadership and trying to find it is a waste of time. Instead, we should quickly recognise the strengths of ours and our peers and decide who should lead the way depending on the situation.

When talking about the four personality types mentioned in the previous article ‘Different personalities and how to work with them’ we called them: thinking-introvert, thinking-extrovert, empathetic-introvert, and empathetic-extrovert. Concerning the leadership aspect, these could be called respectively: observer, director, supporter, and inspirer.

Let us look at their strengths in more detail and decide who is it to run your project…

Measures of success.

Some of us prefer to work in a nice, calming environment and value privacy, whereas others would rather face the thousand people crowd than agree to sit in silence. These differences and many more are at the forefront of efficient team design.

You might have noticed the provisional names coined for the four types of personalities you will encounter in your life, whether at work or private, at some point. Without a doubt, you will get the chance to meet them all, and knowing what to look out for will certainly prove worthy then.

Observers and directors are driven by achievement, especially measurable ones. They value goal setting, milestones reviews, and to-do lists, which makes them greatly accountable and detail-focused. These two types of people will thank you for stating clear demands, specific plans, and straightforward actions.
They will measure success to the last centimetre…

Supporters and inspirers are driven by recognition and appreciation, both impossible to fully measure. But do not worry, they will not bother to measure them anyway. Their focus lies on people and the environment around them. They value a positive atmosphere, supportive community, and flexibility of ideas, which makes them great at keeping the team in a good mood and creating new solutions. They want to feel cared for, caring and recognised for who they are rather than what they do.
So, take a moment to make friends with them…

Divide responsibilities and thrive.

Now, that you know how to make your co-workers work well, it’s time to split the responsibilities. This could as well be considered the most important piece of the puzzle, so take your time and think it through. It won’t hurt asking their opinion as well!

Let’s imagine your team has a presentation to deliver. It will involve presenting, researching, creating, and coordinating. The four major parts of the job out of which each needs to be executed as well as possible. You gather your team and divide these responsibilities.
Do you know already who would get which task…?

To be honest, I hope you do. With the example mentioned the decision should not be difficult.
Firstly, the presentation itself must be delivered by either of the two extroverts, which leads us to decide between the director and the inspirer. Due to the need for a creative touch in the ‘creating’ part of the project, the inspirer with their unique set of skills will be most appropriate there. This leaves the director to take care of the presentation, making it ‘a walk in the park’ for their extroverted nature.

With two personalities and two tasks left, try to guess who should be assigned to coordinate the project and who should take care of the research. I bet you got it right; research will be done best by the observer – the introvert thinker. Their focus on detail and data will fit perfectly with the task. This leaves coordinating to the ‘calm people’s person’ – the supporter. They like to ensure people are doing their job and feel okay with their tasks, which makes them a great ‘backseat driver’.

Ready for anything.

Understanding each other’s strengths and needs might be difficult at first, but once done, it will certainly prove invaluable to your team’s work quality. Finding out what we are best at is often more than half of the success.

When working on a project, whether it is a physical copy of something or a digital product, the ability to adapt and overcome challenges on the daily basis is crucial. Each day you will find yourself resolving problems, tackling surprises, and coming up with new ways of working that would prove valuable to your constant effort. Doing all these things yourself, without any help will leave you deflated and overwhelmed in no time.
That is why having a dedicated, supportive, and cooperative team is priceless.

If you are creating a team, think of the needed ingredients and choose your teammates accordingly. If you already have one, make sure to understand each other and find out how you can work better. It is better to have a variety of voices and personalities than to have one type that everyone emulates.

The best teams are those who, regardless of circumstances are ready for anything.

It is up to you whether yours will be ready as well…