Analyzing Your Team’s Work Styles
The term ‘work styles’ gets thrown around a lot, but what does it really mean? Work styles are how each individual on your team thinks, structures, organize and completes their work. In most cases, no two people on your team will work the same way, but we guarantee your team is better off for it.
But the question is, how do work styles benefit your company and why do they matter? Plainly speaking, if every member of your team were analytical and detail-oriented, it would be much harder to come up with your company’s next big idea. On the other hand, if all your team members were big picture thinkers, it would be next to impossible to iron out all the details and the team would most likely fall behind schedule. Workstyles bring balance to the work environment, which allows employees to play to their strengths and promotes collaboration and teamwork.
Understanding different work styles, and how they interplay into both the work environment and interactions is key to tapping into the full potential of your team. One of the best ways to identify the various workstyles is using tools like Predictive Index, which work to understand how and why your employees work the way they do. However, if you’re not quite ready for that step there are also plenty of smaller more individual ways to learn more about your team members.
1. Observe how your team communicates.
This is more than just verbal communication, it also includes body language and written communication as well. It can be anything from who is more likely to speak in a meeting versus a preference for one-on-one communication. In other cases, it can mean paying attention to who sends very long emails, compared to those who send much shorter ones.
2. How do they handle sudden tasks and changes?
If you give them an unexpected task or a curveball is thrown at them, how do they react? Some of your employees will jump at change and new unexpected challenges, and some would prefer for everything to always go as planned.
3. How are they with Deadlines?
Do they always meet their deadlines, do they turn in work early, or do they save their work for the last minute and have to rush to complete it?
4. Just ask them
Sometimes the best way to find out how your individual team members work is to just ask them. Their answers will help you understand not only how you see the employee, but also how they see themself.
Understanding work styles is key to creating a work environment that encourages and inspires staff based on their strengths. Contact us to learn more about how Vega Inspired Solutions can help you better understand yourself and your team.