The "I" in Team

It is said that there is no “I” in team. I disagree; truly, effective teams begin with each “I” on the team knowing their best fit within the group. That is why it is so crucial for each team member to pursue an in-depth understanding of themselves and each other, how they react to challenges, influence others, their preferred way of being, and how they respond to rules and regulations.

I often suggest to team leaders an excellent method for learning how each “I” on their team operates at the most basic level is through a personality assessment. While my preferred method of assessment is the DiSC assessment (Dominant, Influencer, Steady, and Conscientious), I’ve used Meyers Briggs and Gary Smalley’s Animal Personality Quiz to good effect.

Once the team leader has learned the assessed behavior of each team member, they can create opportunities to implement the understood behaviors through activities highlighting each member’s strengths and weaknesses. For example, the team might participate in activities requiring them to utilize their strengths to cover other team members’ weaknesses. If the team used the DISC assessment for example, and the teams were building a birdhouse using directions as an activity, a “C” (who often live to read instructions) is asked to read the directions while the “I” (who usually hate reading directions) follows along as directions are read. This activity would undoubtedly test each member’s patience and help each learn how to work together as a team using their newly acquired information.

Once the team leader and each team member have a strong understanding of their strengths and weaknesses related to their place on the team, now they can use that information to become a much stronger and productive team!