Personality test

Assessments like the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and the DISC Profile can be helpful, but there are some definite limitations.

Conducting a team-building activity to uncover style does not make up for a lack of deadlines, expectations, or accountability for the work. If someone asks you in an interview what your type or style is, just say “I know those assessments are not designed for hiring, so I decline to share that now. When style assessments are used to improve teamwork, they set false expectations that the work environment will get better. This is the sense of confidence that a team is safe for interpersonal risk taking. The information presented in the report, for a lot of people, is interesting and insightful. Many trained facilitators don’t know this because the companies that sell these assessments pitch them as solutions to teamwork problems. She said the exercise distracted the organization from their work for a couple weeks. Even with a trained facilitator, using style assessments to improve teamwork will likely fail. My friend confirmed that no one communicated better after the results were shared, which was the goal of the exercise. Work is stopped, money is spent, and everyone is scheduled to attend a team-building session—or what I sometimes call, forced fun. Many (but not all) develop a validating sense of self as well as an understanding of others. They think the root of the issue must be that staff don’t know each other well, don’t understand each other’s “styles,” and if they did, they would work better together.