Are Your Coworkers Driving You CRAZY!

Do you have people on your team that drive you nuts? In twenty years of consulting, I have learned that people described as “difficult” often times are not difficult at all, they are just different in their interaction and communication style.

As a leader, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to lead a team of people with diverse behavioral styles. Though your mission is not impossible, it can be very challenging if you don’t understand the variety of behavioral styles represented on your team and how to effectively bring them together.

When we work on team building projects with teams in trouble, we often hear comments like:

“He’s so results-driven and absolutely clueless as to how he comes across.”

“She is overly sensitive and takes everything so personally.”

“He might be able to solve the problem, but by the time he comes up with a solution, we’ll be out of business.”

“Her team can discuss options and possibilities at nauseam and never make a commitment.”

Frequently, the people described above are perceived to be roadblocks to effectively accomplishing team and organizational goals. In reality, they may be very effective yet, because their behavioral style is radically different from that of the leader or other team members, they are seen as difficult or unproductive. Although the different approach may be challenging for some team members, it is important to remember that in building a highly effective team, different is good.

Your challenge, or should I say opportunity, lies in understanding the motivation behind each person’s behavior, appreciating each behavioral style, and allowing each person to operate in the style that is most effective for them. There are hundreds of different instruments to define/analyze behavioral and communication styles. To keep it simple, we’ve just assigned simple descriptive words to talk about some of the different behaviors displayed by individual team members.

Here are some tips on how to interact with coworkers with different behavior types.

Driver

Style’s Primary Focus: Task Orientation
Motto: “Get it done!”

Common Behaviors – How to recognize a Driver:

• Fast paced
• Task oriented
• Focused on big picture, not details
• Comfortable taking risks
• Competitive
• Decisive

Tips for dealing with the Driver team member:

• Give recognition to their accomplishments.
• Don’t tell them what to do; instead, ask questions that allow them to discover things.
• When communicating with them, be time efficient, organized, and concise.
• Provide several alternative solutions to problems and let them pick the best solution.
• Keep your relationship business-like.

Amiable

Style’s Primary Focus: Relationships
Motto: “How can we help you?”

Common Behaviors – How to recognize an Amiable:

• Caring and empathetic
• Great listener
• Supportive, high concern for others
• Sensitive
• Shares personal feelings

Tips for dealing with Amiable team members:

• Don’t view an emotional response as being unprofessional; help Amiables move beyond the emotion to make good business decisions.
• Be supportive and understanding of their feelings.
• Know they avoid conflict.
• When you disagree, don’t debate facts and logic; instead say, “Let’s talk about what you are feeling.”
• Actively listen, even when the conversation seems to stray from business to a personal conversation. Acknowledge what is being said, then reroute the conversation back to business.

Analyzer

Style’s Primary Focus: Process
Motto: “Do it right the first time”

Common Behaviors – How to recognize an Analyzer

• Independent, autonomous
• Precise
• Detailed
• Curious
• Disciplined

Tips for dealing with the Analyzer team member:

• Involve them in projects early on. Since Analyzers see things at a much deeper level than other team members, they will need more time; but the time will pay off with their contribution to the details.
• Give them all the facts up front. Tell them what you need, but not how to accomplish the work.
• Allow time for analysis.
• Be specific about time frames for work to be completed. Hold them accountable to meeting the deadlines.
• Look for opportunities to provide meaningful recognition of their detailed orientation.

Harmonizer

Style’s Primary focus: Teamwork and collaboration . . . Working together is progress
Motto: “Can’t we all just get along?”

Common Behaviors – How to recognize a Harmonizer

• Sociable
• Considers many options
• Flexible/Adaptable
• Open to change
• Open-minded

Tips for dealing with Harmonizer team members:

• Provide time for collaboration and discussion.
• Allow for exploration of options.
• Consider alternatives; avoid insisting on only one way of doing things.
• Minimize independent work.
• When a decision is made, gain agreement about the details and the timeline and hold Harmonizers accountable.

Although it may feel good in the short run to hire people just like you, in the long run, cloning yourself will spell disaster for your team. Ultimately, the way to build a highly effective team is to consciously think about hiring, developing and retaining different or diverse thinkers and doers. Remember, great leaders treat team members the way they want to be treated, even when they are different. When it comes to building a successful team, different is good.

Is someone on your team driving you crazy or creating a roadblock to results?  Through our one-on-one coaching or our training session on Relationship Strategies, we can help you determine the unique behavioral style of each person on your team and work with you to create a plan to maximize the contribution of each team member.