CEO Perspectives

The importance of a productive team dynamic and role of personality types.

No man is an island (poem by John Donne), while written centuries ago, it is as true today as it ever was.

In this spirit, team dynamics have a significant impact on work efficiency, quality of output and staff wellbeing. We should not fall into the trap of taking these team dynamics for granted, instead, those of us in leadership roles should nurture positive atmospheres conducive to work.

Teams are made up of individuals, actively considering how these personalities weave together is a constructive exercise. To this end, one of our offices attended a team building day built around character Insights which looked at different personality types and how they ‘tick’.

Considering the personality types that make up a team resulted in fresh insights into how the staff could interact most effectively.  Not only was the team building exercise enjoyable, but it was very engaging and really brought the team together on a whole different level.

Such was the benefit to the team, and the organisation, that we are going to roll it out to the other teams and offices in the coming months. Additionally, all new starters will do an Insights evaluation to ensure that they feel part of the team from day one.

One part of the personality type exercise that was found to be most useful was the ‘dos and don’ts’ that were given for each person. Which encouraged staff to adjust their communications with each other in way that will be more warmly received. This is one example of the practical benefit of the personality type sessions.

Modern CEOs understand that staff have a whole lot more to give than merely hours worked.  I find that I learn so much from staff and continually update our processes based on their experiences and preferences.

Proactively considering team dynamics can have positive impact on the business outputs. There should be a balance of different types of personalities to create a productive and resilient spirit.