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Carson Tate
April 3, 2015
Most leaders now recognize that the best teams leverage diversity to achieve
long-term success. But many think about it in pretty narrow terms: gender,
ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and/or age. Sometimes they also
consider organizational attributes, like function or rank.
But there s another kind of diversity that might be even more helpful:
differences in work style or the way in which we think about, organize, and
complete tasks.
In any office you will find four basic types of people:
Logical, analytical, and data-oriented
Organized, plan-focused, and detail-oriented
Supportive, expressive, and emotionally oriented
Strategic, integrative, and idea-oriented
When members of a team, or leaders of an organization, all have the same style,
you ll quickly run into trouble. For example, if everyone in your group has a
big-picture, strategic, intuitive approach to work and chafes against the
structure of project plans, you might frequently be over budget and behind
schedule. Or, if everyone has a linear, analytical, and planned approach to
work and dislikes disruption, innovative new product development would be
impossible.
So how do you promote and leverage work-style diversity?
Observe your team members
In poker, they call them tells betting patterns or unconscious behavior you
can use to guess your opponent s hand. The same rules apply to work style.
To evaluate a report or colleague, think about the following questions:
Does she consistently complete work early, in advance of deadlines or wait
until the last minute?
Does he send emails with only a few words or write novels?
Does she gesture and use her hands while talking? Or is she more controlled and
stoic in their movements?
These tells, both subtle and overt, will give you clues as to someone s work
style. You might also try to take this quick assessment from the perspective of
each team member.
Because work styles are fairly ingrained, recruitment, not development, is the
best way to build diversity in a group. If you find that one or two work styles
are overrepresented, it s probably time to add some fresh blood to your team.
Leverage everyone s strengths
Your logical, analytical colleague is at her best when she is processing data
and solving complex problems. She will focus like a laser on achieving any
stated goal or outcome and will ensure that you stay on budget.
Your organized, detail oriented colleague s strengths are in establishing
order, structuring projects, and accurately completing tasks. He will ensure
work is completed on time.
Your supportive, expressive colleague is most skilled at building
relationships, facilitating team interaction, and persuading or selling ideas.
She will keep all stakeholders up to date on work and effectively communicate
ideas through the organization.
Your big-picture, integrative colleague can serve as a catalyst for change,
brainstorming solutions to problems and synthesizing disparate thinking. He
will drive innovation, ensure variety in both thought and execution and keep
you moving forward.
Make sure that everyone understands the value each team member brings to the
table and give people assignments in which they can use their skills to best
effect.
Coach according to work style
To get the best from each person, consider using questions aligned to his or
her respective work style.
For your logical, analytical colleague, ask:
What is your goal?
What are you seeking to achieve?
Where can you find data that will help you make that decision?
For your organized, detail oriented colleague, ask:
How can you make ________ work more effectively?
How will you decide which step to take next?
What has worked for you in the past?
For your supportive, expressive colleague, ask:
How is your behavior impacting others?
Who can support you in this?
Who else needs to be involved?
For your big-picture, integrative colleague, ask:
What would the ideal future state look like?
What ideas do you have for addressing ________?
If there was something else you could do, what would it be?
There is huge value to be gleaned when you leverage work style diversity by
observing your team members, playing to their strengths, and giving them
tailored coaching.
Carson Tate is an expert on workplace productivity and the author of WORK
SIMPLY: Embracing the Power of Your Personal Productivity Style (Penguin,
2014).