Sussing personalities

Communicating effectively with other people involves a broad range of skills - some we may have mastered and others not. This includes either getting people to co-operate with us, buy from us, befriend us or understand us. But even with these skills that we have acquired intuitively, most of us still find that we need to sharpen the 'interpersonal skills' sword in order to maximise our impact during interactions with others.

Marcus Buckingham, in 'The One Thing You Need To Know', indicates that effective managers in this century are the ones who can relate to people as individuals. Managing them is a bit like playing board games. In the past for example, managing people was a bit like playing Checkers: your aim was to get everyone to move the same way, but today, managing people is more like playing Chess. You will be most effective when you understand the strengths of each individual, and move him or her accordingly to achieve your ultimate strategy. Sussing your own personality and those of your team members takes you a long way towards achieving this insight.

Interestingly enough, what more and more people are realising is that learning about personalities is not just applicable to those in a managerial field. Being able to suss the personalities of the people you have conversations with is an extremely useful tool, not to mention that having a deeper understanding of your own personality will equip you with all you need to know about adapting and adjusting when communicating with other people.

There are many different methods that help us understand how people with different personality types behave. But the objective of Avocado Vision's "Sussing Personalities" training programme is to help learners first understand themselves better, and then understand how to identify and interact with other personality styles. The point is that the better you understand yourself, the more likely you will be able to adapt, tune in to and read what other people need.

For example, 'the driver' has swift reactions times. Everything has to be done immediately and they constantly refer to facts and data to get their point across. The driver focuses mainly on achievements and results before they remember their people skills. We believe that the best way to deal with this personality is to explain what you mean first in a concise and factual manner, and ensure that you proceed swiftly in a businesslike fashion before you begin trying to build a friendship.

'The analytical' personality also has the same focus on achievement but has a slower reaction time. They are the perfectionists, the detail 'junkies', performing tasks in a deliberate and disciplined manner, always making the maximum effort to be organised and only considering information in a systematic manner. The best way to approach this personality is to obviously display organisation and patience, and present them with lots of logical and detailed facts in writing.

'The amiable' personality has a tendency to reject conflict, displaying a desire to be accepted as a team member and avoid risks. They are most happy if their tasks and working environment are stable and their relationships harmonious. The way to win this type of personality over is to support their efforts and accomplishments with personal attention, lots of encouragement and suggestions. They are fantastic team players and perform supportive roles wonderfully.

'The expressive' personality is impulsive, seeks excitement, acceptance, recognition, and attention. To them, relationships and gut feel means more than facts and logic. The best way to handle this personality is to proceed enthusiastically, be stimulating and flexible, yet at the same time, don't compromise on discipline. Finally, be open about feelings and opinions and generous in your praise and recognition.

This training intervention is usually run in a light hearted way - learners laugh and learn, and are encouraged to participate in the banter as we move them towards a deeper understanding of themselves and others.