Our Office has Multiple Personalities

Your Office has Multiple Personalities

Everyone in our company was recently asked to take a Myers-Briggs personality assessment. We weren't given the results right away - instead a facilitator met with all of us in a group setting for an afternoon to discuss the results. We split up into small groups and were given an assignment as a team.

There were four of these exercises in total designed to highlight certain attributes. At the end of each assignment, we reviewed the method or thought process each team used to complete it. The results were illuminating; we were able to see how our personality shapes our work ethic, our preferred methods of communication, even our willingness to compromise to achieve a common goal. At the end, a summary of teach personality type was matched to our names, along with some common characteristics the type usually exhibits.

The key takeaway here should be familiar to anyone in marketing: if you know how someone thinks, you can leverage that knowledge when interacting with them. While businesses spend countless dollar on marketing to better reach their target audience, I found a parallel in what company had done. They saw the value in taking an afternoon off to help everyone in the office get to know each other in a disarming, yet personal way. It has already changed some of my perceptions and helped my interactions with co-workers. While this kind of team-building may not be typical of a retail company, it's certainly consistent with our culture.