As one of my team members will attest to, who I most recently called a DIC, it is actually far more complimentary than you may at first think!

“How on earth can that be a nice thing?!” I hear you cry!

Well, firstly, let’s just clear something up: it’s not a typo and I haven’t spelt the word incorrectly (I know what word you’re thinking I’ve used!). It is, in fact, referring to my Personality and Behavioural Profiling tool of choice that I use within my coaching services, called DISC. This looks at an individual’s core personality style as well as the different facets of their personality and behaviours that may be portrayed in the various roles they play in their lives, be that at work, at home, with friends etc.

 

The four main elements of this profiling system are denoted by the letters D, I, S and C (and if that’s made you want to burst out into song, I’m guessing you’re quite a high ‘I’ if it was out loud, accompanied by some chair boogying or an S if it’s quietly to yourself!). Now, there’s no right or wrong with these stylings and no one dominant factor/letter is better than another. In fact, everyone is a blend of all four factors, just to varying degrees. The comprehensive report that you’re provided with on completing your assessment will show, your style and changing behaviours according to your environment. Click here to read more about the DISC tool and history.

 

What is a DIC?

 

So, back to why I called my fabulous team member a DIC and she didn’t baulk? Because, I was guessing (before she took the test) that her Personality style would be a Dominant, Influential and Conscientious. In layman’s terms, this means I could see her drive to see the bigger picture and to achieve what she set out to, whilst still being very personable and detail-conscious.

 

Another reason she’s a great team member is that with my style of being a highly dominant ‘I’ (OK, yes I’ll admit, I do happen to have one of the ‘special’ profiles!) it means we complement each other really well, because of our differences as much as our similarities. If I were to work with someone who had the same profile as me, then whilst it may be great to have our strengths duplicated, it would also mean our weaker areas would be too! Whereas when you work with someone that has different strengths to you, it means that the results you achieve together can be far greater. You can not only fill the gaps for each other, but help to shine a light on the other person’s greatness!

 

Why use DISC in your team?

 

DISC is a powerful tool for understanding areas such as your own strengths, preferred styles of communicating and challenges but also to help increase understanding and collaboration across teams and improve managers’ leadership skills. For example; if you were to stick me in an office on my own with a set of spreadsheets, I’ll maybe last an hour before I’m running out to the open office to find someone to talk to or bounce some ideas off of. I’ve therefore learnt to factor in how I can make tasks like budgeting more ‘fun’.

 

When you can see the value and benefit of having a mix of personalities across a department or project team, rather than seeing differences as obstacles, you can really begin to achieve more. Plus you’ll be able to work more efficiently and more harmoniously! For example; you can assign tasks to team members based as much on their key strengths and preferred ways of working, as on their skillset, to maximise results and enjoyment! I know I’d rather have a team that got the job done and supported each other in the process than one where everybody wanted to take the lead all the time and ended up missing out on the details!

 

If you’d like to understand more about how incorporating DISC into your management and team work can help improve productivity, communication and bottom line results, get in touch now for a complimentary consultation. DISC can also be highly effective in these areas and more when incorporated into executive coaching. Click here to email me, or connect on social media: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn.