COVID-19 has been the biggest global event of our lifetime and over time it has changed human behaviour and attitudes.
As people start to return to offices, we should expect those who have adapted to social distancing and working from home to bring a set of new challenges, expectations and even unconscious reactions to situations that previously seemed harmless and normal.
The challenge is clear. Workplaces must adapt. Yet, how do we design a workplace that responds not just to the fear and anxiety of our employees but to the full range of learned behaviours and attitudes that have evolved over the past 18 months.
Relationships have changed between employees, business owners and customers. How will that affect the way we communicate and deliver the human interaction that people need and want? The answers to these questions will lie in the way people react and how individuals manage to reconnect with new ways of communicating.
How can we communicate effectively in the current emotionally fraught workplace when many are suffering burnout, patience is running thin and our human connection with others has been broken down?
People are different, but they’re predictably different. People react differently under stress and in the workplace. Understanding why we do the things that we repeatedly do, how we like to receive information and what our fears and motivators are, is a fundamental step forward in self-awareness. It’s also invaluable to know this about the people that we interact with, whether that be in our personal or business relationships.
Which of the following primary DISC personality styles do you identify with? Here are a few quick identifiers:
‘D’ Personality: Measures how a person solves problems and responds to challenges. Their greatest fear is failure and being taken advantage of. They like to take on active roles and are more task-orientated.
Motivate this personality style by saying things like:
- I really appreciate the hard work you did.
- Your leadership is very important to this project.
- Nothing seems to keep you from hitting your goals. Good job!
- The team needs your expertise.
‘I’ Personality: Measures how a person attempts to influence or persuade others to their way of thinking. Their biggest fear is rejection. They like to take on active roles and are more people-orientated.
Motivate this personality style by saying things like:
- Wow, you impressed us all!
- Your positive attitude is inspiring.
- You are such a great communicator.
- The team loves when you are involved.
‘S’ Personality: Measures the pace at which a person responds to change. Their greatest fear is loss of security. They like to take on passive roles and are more people-orientated.
Motivate this personality style by saying things like:
- Great teamwork.
- Your support helped everyone.
- Thank you for keeping everyone in close communication.
- You made our client very happy.
‘C’ Personality: Measures how a person responds to the rules and regulations as set by others. Their greatest fear is criticism. They like to take on passive roles and are more task-orientated.
Motivate this personality style by saying things like:
- That was a great plan. Perfectly executed.
- Your efforts to all the details helped us complete another job on budget and on time.
- I know we didn’t have all the information, but you made great decisions with what we had.
- You made us all look good.
Do you see yourself in more than one personality style? The truth is that we all have some degree of every one of these styles in our personality style but our dominant style drives the majority of our behaviour.
Some practical examples of how this knowledge of styles can help companies in situations relating to the Covid age… The company takes a style such as an I (fabulous communicators who usually make great sales reps) off the road to do routine office work. For an I, being in the office, sitting at a desk and having a strict routine will be a real problem and they’ll cause chaos for the rest of the team in the office. They’ll want to be chatting to everyone around them and very little will get done in the office. The Ss will find them ‘upsetting the apple cart’ and the Cs will find them too noisy! Being at home for the Is has been especially difficult as they are people’s people and love the interaction and enjoy their social time.
In a restructure of a company, many individuals have had to take on additional tasks – for example, detail-orientated work when they may not have an eye for detail. Some people, like the Ss are great at working in a team and collaborate well with others. For the Ss, who make up 69% of the population, having to change their role, along with the added stress of taking on a more detailed role, could lead to frustrations and poor productivity. The Ss don’t like change of any description and they work much better in a team and enjoy being with others. The manager who expects too much from them is going to put them under tremendous stress, and they’ll also be fed up with the Ss when they resist and respond with a passive- aggressive attitude.
Being a great communicator is possible, provided that you understand your own personality style first. Then you can begin to understand how others communicate and how they like to receive information. Understanding your own uniqueness and where the differences lie between you and other personality styles will help you to improve your communication and relationships with every person that you interact with. Build BRIDGES of Communication so information flows both ways!
People find this knowledge to be of great value and many build their company culture around it.
Teresa M Richardson is a behavioural consultant and owner of TM Reworked. TM Reworked helps businesses effect positive change in the behaviours, actions and attitudes of their workforce, allowing them to use their innate strengths to create a culture of trust, enhanced communication and increased productivity.
TM Reworked is the appointed official DISC Analysis Distributor in South Africa.
