What’s Your Type? – Communication Series Part 1

My department enjoys having regular workshops – to have a break, learn, reflect, collaborate, and build relationships. Well, that’s my perspective. I do know they enjoy them though, as they request workshops on different topics, and even opted to hold them for two hours over lunch every week.

After a workshop a few weeks ago I asked what they would like they next topic to be.  Based on recent 1:1 discussions, I expected something on technical skills, but to my surprise, everyone requested communication!

They wanted to learn how to have more effective conversations, handle frustrating situations, and simply communicate better with their team members.

After a couple weeks of cancelled workshops (the flu, and a week away at AYE kept me from the office) I was finally able to hold the first of a workshop series on communication.

Communication Workshop #1

… Introduction to Personality Types and Communication Preferences

My goal for the first workshop was to introduce the Myers-Briggs personality types, look at some type differences, and have participants discuss and collaborate in particular activities relating to types.

Prior to the workshop, participants completed a free online Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test. If you are interested in taking one, try either: http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp, http://www.personalitytest.net/cgi-bin/q.pl. They may not be as accurate as one administered by a trained professional, but have been fairly reliable in my experience.

Myers-Briggs Basics

In the workshop I provided an introductory summary of the Myers-Briggs type preferences and temperaments. I have spent a lot of time learning and reading about Myers-Briggs types over the last five years (and thank the AYE hosts for a lot of that); while I’m not an ‘expert’, I am comfortable introducing and discussing Myers-Briggs concepts.

At a high level, MBTI is used to identify basic preferences of each of four dichotomies. These dichotomies are:

• Orientation of Energy: Do you gain energy from external (E – extraversion) sources, or from within yourself / internal (I – introversion)?
• Information: Do you gather information from facts and details (S – sensing), or by understanding the big picture / gut feels (N – intuition)?
• Decisions: Do you first look at logic and principles to make decisions (T – thinking), or based on the needs and values of the people involved (F – feeling)?
• Structure: When dealing with the outer world, do you prefer to have everything settled and organized (J – judging), or have things open ended and flexible (P – perceiving)?

“Personality type is what you prefer when you are using your mind or focusing your attention.” – Myers Briggs Foundation.

Your personality type is your preferred way of interacting and responding. It is not an indicator of your skills, abilities, or destiny. For example, just as you might eat chocolate cake when you prefer cheesecake, you might make decisions based on logic when you prefer to make decisions based on the people involved.

Learning about your type will help you better understand yourself, the strengths & challenges for both yourself and others, how your preferences are different from those of other people, and how to improve communication with others.

Temperaments

The next concept discussed was Temperaments, the four categories that encompass the 16 different Myers-Briggs personality types. The four different temperaments (from What Type Am I, by Renee Baron) are:

• SJ (sensing-judging): Duty Seekers - Motivated by a need to be responsible in whatever social group (work, community, family) they are in, they value tradition. In work, they focus on the hierarchy of the organization.
• SP (sensing-perceiving): Action Seekers - Motivated by a need for freedom and a need to act, they value living in the moment. In work, they focus on the expedient needs of the organization.
• NT (intuition-thinking): Knowledge Seekers – Motivated by a need for knowledge & competency, they value the theoretical and the powers of the mind. In work, they focus on the mission & systems of the organization.
• NF (intuition-feeling): Ideal Seekers – Motivated by a need to understand themselves & others, they value authenticity & integrity and strive for an ideal world. In work, they focus on the growth needs of the organization.

Type Mapping

In the first workshop activity everyone added their name to a chart to map out the personality types of the participants. Everyone found it quite interesting to see who had the same type, who was similiar, and who was quite different.  People were intrigued, even those who were not particularly interested in this ‘hokey-pokey’ stuff.

At a glance, without even understanding the basics provided above, it affirmed some dynamics in relationships and interactions amongst the participants.

Also intriguing was that the chart showed what my own hiring preferences were.   It turned out that more than 90% of the people I hired were of NF and NT temperament.  It seems I don’t hire in people with different preferences as much as I had thought.

This exercise was a good reminder to be more aware in the interview process, so as not to subconsciously reject people with SP and SJ tendencies. I hope I didn’t offend anyone (says my own NF temperament)!

Next Up

In my next entry, I will share highlights of the collaborative exercises completed in the workshop. Participants were divided into temperament groups to learn more about their temperament (based on information I provided), and explore three different questions:

• Which role or job function in the company would your temperament be best suited for?
• As a temperament group, how do you react when you are frustrated?
• As a temperament group, how do you want other people to interact with you when you are frustrated?

I look forward to sharing that with you soon!

See Communication Series Part 2!

Are you new to Myers-Briggs?    To learn more, visit the Myers & Briggs Foundation, or check out Myers-Briggs on Wikipedia.