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Using Personality Differences to Build Teams That Work

By Tony Alessandra, PhD

"Round up the usual suspects," the gendarme ordered in the famous line from the movie "Casablanca." And frequently that's how executives think when they create teams, committees, or task forces.

The boss says or thinks something like: "Let's appoint anyone who might know something about this issue." Or even more likely: "Grab anybody who's got a stake in this thing."

Organizations, of course, love such groups because when they work, they can improve coordination, help employees feel more involved, and maybe even spur innovation. But when they flop--or, more commonly, just lapse into mediocrity--they can drain an organization of its vitality and leave a legacy of posturing, power struggles, and misunderstandings.

Designing a Group
We naively assume any group can automatically be a team. But, actually, one of the biggest single reasons that teams misfire is that personality differences are ignored. In short, who's selected for the team will very likely affect the outcome. So, for best results, we can’t just order an off-the-rack model—we’ve got to design one that'll best do the job.

If, when you create a team, you employ knowledge of the four personality types, or behavioral styles (see sidebar), you greatly improve its chances for success. You need to take into account that there are natural allies and antagonists among the styles and also that each style functions best at a different phase in the life cycle of a team.

For example, SOCIALIZERS often see THINKERS as overly-analytical fuss-budgets. DIRECTORS might sooner die than turn into dull plodders like the RELATERS. THINKERS, while often drawn to RELATERS, have difficulty understanding the Socializer’s lack of focus or the Director’s impatience. And RELATERS only wish everyone was as amiable as they.

So while the potential for conflict is always there, it needn’t become the reality. In creating a team, think about who you are putting on it and monitor how they function during the group’s evolution. That way you’ll not only make the best possible use of the strengths of each team member, you can help create a whole that's much larger than the sum of the parts.