Understanding your work style (your preferences, tendencies, strengths, and challenges) and that of others is an important part of a healthy work environment. The DISC Work Style Assessment can be used to help you understand your own work style in the workplace and to learn about others as well. DiSC has been around for over 50 years and is widely accepted by many Fortune 500 companies. In this article, we’ll tell you more about the four primary DiSC work styles and how they can help you lead, manage, or collaborate with people from all walks of life. Additionally, we’ll explain how Teaming uses DiSC work styles to surface these valuable insights directly into your workflow at the time you need them most.
What is the DiSC work style assessment?
The DiSC system is based on four primary work style types: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness. Each of these four basic workstyle types relate to a specific pattern of behavior in the workplace.
Dominance (D) people are confident and outgoing, have an ego that needs to be satisfied, and tend to be controlling. People with this style communicate their opinions with others openly and enjoy winning arguments.
Influence (I) people work well in teams and bring out the best in others; they also want to please people and often act as leaders or facilitators. These individuals are persuasive and charismatic.
Steadiness (S) people are organized, decisive, and prefer order over chaos; they are also careful with details but can become frustrated when details don’t go their way. They usually keep their emotions in check.
Conscientiousness (C) people are dependable and hard-working; they take pride in doing things right the first time. They also tend to be perfectionists who will do anything to make sure a task is done correctly.
Though these represent the primary types, most people actually fall within a combination of two of the primary types. For example, a person could be classified with a DI work style type, exhibiting blended characteristics related to both Dominance (D) and Influence (I) primary types. Teaming breaks down these classifications further in order to provide a more precise and accurate view of the person. The image below illustrates the DiSC Wheel with the 16 different work styles that Teaming supports. From this, you can see the four primary quadrants (D,I,S,C) containing the different combination types within.
How can you use this knowledge?
DiSC can help you better understand the needs of others and work together with them more effectively. For example, if you know your coworker is a “D” type and you are an “I” type, it may be helpful to have a conversation about project deadlines or expectations. You will want to ask for their input on the project as soon as possible so they feel involved in the process.
Additionally, DiSC can help you get a snapshot of your colleague’s personal preferences at work, their strengths, and their potential blind spots. With this information, you will have a better idea of how to best tailor your behaviors and interactions to improve your relationships, leverage the strengths of teammates, and coach fellow team members on areas they can improve.
Lastly, for teams using Teaming, we provide a composite or Team Dynamic view that analyzes the work style across all team members to provide insights into the group as a whole. These insights highlight the strengths that the team can take advantage of and where the team might have blind spots to guard against.
Important Note:
A person’s DiSC work style type does not define the individual. The DiSC framework, as with any personality assessment framework, is designed to provide insights into the most likely tendencies and preferences for an individual. No individual exhibits all the characteristics associated to work style type. Additionally, humans are adaptive and able to adjust or “flex” their tendencies and behaviors depending on the situation or circumstances. In other words, use the DiSC work styles in Teaming as a helpful guide to build a better understanding and stronger relationships with your colleagues, not as a way to “label” or “pigeon-hole” individuals.
How Teaming incorporates DiSC
Discovering your DiSC work style profile within Teaming is quick and easy and available to everyone who signs up. By incorporating a simple, yet powerful, DiSC assessment directly into Teaming, you and your teammates can gain powerful insights into each other’s work styles in under 10 minutes.
Additionally, Teaming makes these insights actionable and ever-present by incorporating them directly into the workflow of you and your team. With instant access to these work style insights in team meetings and 1:1s, you’ll have the information you need when it matters most.
Conclusion
The DiSC work style assessment is a useful tool for understanding the different types of personalities you will come across in your business. Teaming’s goal is to surface this information into the everyday workflow of individuals and teams. With this knowledge, you can better communicate with your colleagues, be more tolerant or understanding of their actions, and place them in the right positions for success.