Every company attracts a diverse range of employees, each with a unique personality.
Different personality qualities at work can lead to tremendous success and capture energy from the members provided they are managed effectively. Individuals with good and poor personalities can coexist harmoniously at work, and the two personalities can easily offset one other, resulting in synergy (Huang et al., 2014). To achieve excellent performance, leaders should recognize the differences in personality of the members. Working with team members with different personality types, on the other hand, can have both advantages and disadvantages; as a result, firms should devise and apply ways for managing diverse groups of personnel.
The first team member has the leader type of personality.
This person acts as the mediator in case of conflicts, facilitates communication in the team, and keeps every team member on course (Huang et al., 2014). The member has the ability to motivate others, possesses excellent communication skill and has a clear vision of the end results of every project.
The second team member has the personality of the team player.
This person is responsible for following through on tasks assigned to the group and to ensure the success of the entire group.
The third team member possesses the researcher personality type.
The person is responsible for seeking answers to the most troubling and overlooked questions with the potential of averting a future impediment (Huang et al., 2014). The person also attends various events to ask questions in order to gather information required to complete a project effectively.
Another personality type evident in our group is the expert.
The person has intimate knowledge in the field that the team project encompasses. The person also explains the technical details, which aid in successful completion of the project.
The next team player possesses the planner personality type.
This person organizes processes and gives orders to be followed by the other team members. The person always has the ability to come up with new strategies to increase the efficiency of the team, is always punctual and ensures timely completion of the project (Tekleab, & Quigley, 2014).
The next team member possesses the creative type of personality.
The person occasionally is caught up in the imagination world, conceptualization and problem solving (Tekleab, & Quigley, 2014). The person is responsible for coming up with new ideas and solutions to problems facing the team hence making the team stand out from the crowd.
The last team member possesses the communicator personality type.
The person is good at persuading anyone who is useful to the team and the organization and reaches out to others to obtain and share information. The person also possesses a long list of contact and knows people who can help in various situations (Tekleab, & Quigley, 2014).
Advantages of working with people with differing personality types.
Working with people with different personalities at the workplace has different advantages. Different personality types bring diversity to the workplace. Having a creative and a planner on the same team, for instance, brings a balance and reduces the loss associated with taking the wrong risks. Further, each team member’s personality contribution is crucial in the stable and detailed driving of the project (Guillaume et al., 2013). Further, working with people with different personality help create a positive work environment since each team member has a unique way of looking at things hence has something to contribute. Another advantage is that the mixture of these personalities brings a balance to the workplace. These personalities can help compensate the weaknesses and strengths of some team members hence attaining overall team strength (Tekleab, & Quigley, 2014).
Disadvantages of working with people with different personalities
Working with people with different personalities can bring about several disadvantages. Due to different characters among the team members, there may be a clash of ideas among the members as well as competition (Guillaume et al., 2013). This may result in various conflicts that may lead to the late accomplishment of tasks as well as poor performance. Further, in case there are any mistakes, the team members engage in blame games since a project involves teamwork, and no one readily accepts to shoulder the burden of the entire team. Additionally, some team members may have a desire to outshine the other team members leading to the collapse of the entire team and poor performance (Tekleab, & Quigley, 2014).
Examples of ways organizations can manage diverse group employees
There are several strategies organizations can manage diverse groups of employees. First, the management can encourage interaction among their employees to help them learn about the values and beliefs of others, their goals, communication styles and preference (Guillaume et al., 2013). In this way, members can understand each other at a personal level making co-existence easy. Another strategy that can be essential in managing diverse employee groups is to conduct employee assessment. This helps identify discrimination or favor issues among employees hence solving them on time, which helps avoid poor performance. Further organizations should ensure fairness in the allocation of tasks and also recognize that people are different and embrace those differences (Tekleab, & Quigley, 2014).
In conclusion
Different personalities exist in every workplace. Among the team members, personality types that may be evident include the leader, planner, creative, communicator, researcher, and the expert. Presence of different personalities in the workplace brings about both advantages and disadvantages. Consequently, organizations should adopt techniques that may assist them to manage different employee groups effectively. These techniques include recognition that people are different, ensuring fairness in the allocation of tasks, conducting employee assessment, and encouraging interactions among workers.
References
Huang, J. L., Ryan, A. M., Zabel, K. L., & Palmer, A. (2014). Personality and adaptive performance at work: A meta-analytic investigation. Journal of Business Research, 99(1), 162.
Guillaume, Y. R., Dawson, J. F., Woods, S. A., Sacramento, C. A., & West, M. A. (2013). Getting diversity at work to work: What we know and what we still don't know. Journal of occupational and organizational psychology, 86(2), 123-141.
Tekleab, A. G., & Quigley, N. R. (2014). Team deep-level diversity, relationship conflict, and team members' affective reactions: A cross-level investigation. Journal of Business Research, 67(3), 394-402.
