Senior Management: how to support different personality types in your team
Understanding that there are many different personality types is the first step to successfully managing and supporting a team. It can be easy to clash with personality types that are different from your own, however senior management must be able to communicate with all types of people in order to maintain company culture and keep your employees equally happy in the workplace.
Personality types
There are endless amounts of personality types, but here are just a handful that you may have come across before:
- The Analyst is usually a neat and organised individual who likes structure. A change to their routine can majorly disrupt their day which can make last minute work changes difficult for the rest of the team.
- The Individualist is an independent worker who enjoy freedom when handling their own work responsibilities. They do not take lightly to micro-management and prefer to be judged on their work and results, rather than how they go there.
- The Motivator is a high energy employee who tries to accomplish as much work as possible. If they aren’t careful, this person can overstep boundaries, but will often improve productivity in the team.
- The Perfectionist is someone with excellent attention to detail and high expectations, which can sometimes lead to delayed delivery of work as a result.
- The Performer loves to be the centre of attention in every conversation and may be one of the more popular members of staff due to their confident nature. Some of the more introverted employees may struggle to compete with a Performer.
You may have a few of the personality types mentioned before in your team, however knowing how to handle them all at the same time is the challenge that Senior Managers face.
What can Senior Manager’s do?
Remember that everyone is different
Make sure you are not subjecting all of your staff to the same type of treatment. At TechNET CxO, every new starter is sent a personality test before their first day so that the senior management team can understand the individual’s most effective way of working and help leverage talents and strengths whilst working on weaknesses.
Whether you choose to send out a personality test, or you simply spend extra one-on-one time with your staff – you will inevitably develop a better working relationship with each member and your team will appreciate your time and efforts in the long run.
Don’t take things personally
Senior Managers are regarded as confident leaders, with thick skin that enables them to deal with team conflict. Many employees are reluctant to follow the direction of senior management and are opposed to hierarchy, therefore it can be easy to become affected by the behaviour of others.
Respect boundaries
It’s not rare to come across introverted employees, and if you do you may need to re-assess how you communicate with them. Some people will prefer communication via email, and some may prefer to speak face to face, and instead of grouping everyone together, a good senior manager will be respectful and understanding of these preferences.
Be clear to be kind
Ambiguity may cause stress and worry for certain personality types; therefore, communication must be clear at all times so there isn’t any room for doubt.
A good example of this would be when organising a meeting. Rather than just putting a meeting in your employees’ diary with a vague title, it may be better to discuss the meeting beforehand so that your employee can understand the direction.
A great team starts with a great talent partner
It is important to hire the RIGHT people, as one person can create a negative atmosphere for the rest of the team.
If you’re looking for a talent partner to find top executive talent to complete your team, please get in touch with a member of the team or submit a vacancy today.