Putting the right people in the right seats can seem like an exercise in vagueness with employees come in all shapes, sizes and…cognitive styles. But you don’t have to be a psychologist to find success. Understanding an employee’s DiSC profile can give you the head start you need in understanding what to expect form employees, where they fit best, and how to make them successful in their roles.

Ever wonder why Suzie always insists on chatting your ear off first thing in the morning when you get to the office? And why does Tim not say good morning until he’s been head-down in his office for three hours? Suzie is wired to be social. She has to have a personal connection with someone before she can sit down and work. Tim has a giant to-do list and won’t be able to think about anything else until he has at least half of the items checked off the list.

Personality assessments are a game changer in the onboarding and coaching process. You’d never know these things about Suzie and Tim otherwise.

At Mac6, we offer tried and true assessments, like DiSC, to help growing companies reach their potential. DiSC stands for Dominant, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness and each quality makes up a core personality trait. While individuals can score highly between two letters, generally one letter is dominant in their personality.

Let’s dive deeper into each DiSC letter and how the people on your team who fall under these categories can help your business grow to its full potential.

D – Dominant

People who are primarily D-types are direct, strong-willed, forceful, driven, determined, and have a strong voice. They’re motivated by winning, competition, and success. D-types think big picture and value time frames and results. They may challenge the status-quo and think innovatively.

I – Influence

This type is the ultimate people-person. They’re optimistic, warm, and genuinely like talking to people. They value coaching and are motivated by social recognition, group activities, and relationships. They’re natural problem solvers who think out of the box. Their positivity and enthusiasm helps keep the peace within their team. However, I-types find it hard to research all the facts and stay focused for long periods of time.

S – Steadiness

This type values loyalty, helping others and security. S-types are motivated by cooperation, opportunities to help and sincere appreciation. Communication with S-types should be personal and amiable, express your interest in them and what you expect from them, take time to provide clarification, be polite, and avoid being confrontational, overly aggressive or rude. These types are great at multitasking and seeing their project through to completion. They make great loyal team players and are compliant toward leadership.

C – Conscientiousness

People who score high in C on the DiSC assessment value quality and accuracy and enjoy working independently. This leads them to excel in tasks that require high attention to detail. When communicating with C-types, limit the small motivational talks and focus on facts and details. These types take great pride in doing their work thoroughly and are great at analyzing, researching, and testing information.

Bottom line – don’t communicate with everyone on your team the same way. If you provide feedback to a C-type who’s focused on accuracy and reasoning in the way an I-type would prefer, they will not feel motivated or excited. They’ll likely just go home feeling frustrated and disrespected.

Learning which types of personalities are on your team is a stepping stone to aligning the right people in the right roles. Leaders excel when they not only know their employees’ personality types, but also know how to manage each effectively within the larger group dynamic.

If you’re interested in joining a coworking community that is into team-building, filled with resources for creating a healthy culture for growth, MAC6 may be just what you need. Join us for a tour and find out more.