Everyone has a behavioral style. We see behavioral styles as the outward expression of someones inward personality attributes. There are four major behavioral styles, Dominant, Influential, Steady, and Compliant. This is known as the DISC model of behavioral styles.
Typically most people have one dominant style and then another, or possibly two, secondary styles. In a workplace environment everyone has their "game face" on. That is, they adapt their behavioral style (normally without thinking about it) to fit their workplace situation.
A persons natural behavioral style is heightened when they are under pressure, people notice the change if there is a significant difference between their adapted and natural behavioral style. For instance, if there is a tight deadline for a project and the parameters suddenly change people with certain behavioral styles can have difficulty with this change. That difficulty can manifest itself as stubbornness or the inability to adjust to the changes.
Under normal circumstances the person wouldn't be seen as stubborn. That's because you normally see their adapted style, under pressure you see their natural style, which can have a stubborn streak. Many conflicts in the workplace can be attributed to co-workers with differing behavioral styles, even without stress or excessive pressure.
Someone with a Dominate style is very forceful and is quick to make a decision, even if doing so means that some details fall through the cracks. If this person works on a team with someone with a Compliant behavioral style there can be conflicts, as this person needs to do the job correctly, even if it means missing the deadline.
An example of this type of ongoing conflict situation would be a software development team leader and a programmer where the team leader is a high “D” style and the programmer is a high “C” style. There are many benefits to knowing your own behavioral style and those of your co-workers, including improved productivity and reduced conflicts. By knowing your own behavioral style you can be aware of your limitations and see yourself as co-workers see you.
The same goes for knowing a co-workers behavioral style, you can be aware of their limitations and see them as they see themselves. This knowledge then allows you to make adjustments to suit combinations of differing behavioral styles and the pressure of the situation. So how do you determine your own and your co-workers behavioral styles?
Easy, there are online assessments that provide a report detailing your behavioral style. Most people that take the assessments (around 90%) indicate that the reports are very accurate. When used as part of an overall team improvement training program the assessments provide a host of proven benefits including; improved productivity, reduced workplace conflict, improved communications and employee moral, reduced absenteeism, lower healthcare costs and more. You can take a free personal assessment here.
