In every workplace, there are a variety of personalities and work styles functioning at once. It is not unusual that such diversity can often result in conflict, miscommunication, or ineffective results. Understanding one’s own individual work style can help to bypass biases and tendencies, become a more effective team member, and identify work styles of colleagues to improve collaboration.

Understanding how an individual prefers to organise and complete their work can be invaluable to an employer. Once an employer understands the different work styles in their team, they can work to the strengths and weaknesses of their staff and manage them in a way that inspires and reduces conflict in the team.

How can employers determine their employees work styles?

Insights into an employee’s work style can be found in their DiSC profile. Although the DiSC model looks at four primary types of styles, people can often be a blend of two of these. The benefit of the DiSC model is that it provides an individual with a good level of understanding about themselves and about others. It not only looks at a person’s preferred work style but also at their workplace personality. To learn more about the DiSC model and the different DiSC styles, you can read our article on the topic here.

The 4 primary traits of styles in the DiSC model include:

  • Dominance
  • Influence
  • Steadiness
  • Conscientiousness

How will understanding the different work styles help productivity?

Productivity in a work environment is strongly linked to communication. One of the most beneficial aspects of the DiSC model is that it provides a framework for how individuals in one work style can communicate with others in another style so that they can learn to be flexible, adaptable, and can meet the needs of others. With limited knowledge of how one style communicates with another, it becomes something of a guessing game and the information may not be effectively delivered. This may result in conflict, passive-aggressive behaviour, poor performance, and in some cases, bullying. When looking at the DiSC model, most people can be primarily categorised in one out of the four styles. This means that 75% of the workforce will have a different working style.

Taking the time to learn and understand the preferred method of communication, work tasks, level of decision-making, motivations, and reward preferences will save time and money in the future. The more individuals and employers learn about the other styles, the more equipped they will be to handle differences, work together more effectively. The more comfortable the environment, the faster they will be to discuss issues instead of trailing off into unnecessary conversations.

How can I organise a DiSC profile in my workplace?

Our team are highly skilled in performing DiSC profiles. If you would like to organise DiSC profiling in your workplace, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team, via the chat box here or calling us on 08 6150 0043.

Check out our previous blogs, Understanding DiSC Styles for Better Virtual Meetings, Utilising DiSC for Employee Retention, and How DiSC Profiling Can Strengthen and Empower Your Team for some more information about managing working from home arrangements.

Find our articles helpful? Remember to follow us on facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn to keep up to date with our practical tips and information for business owners and managers.