Get the Best Thinking From Everyone

Do these meeting scenarios sound familiar?

The team is dominated by one DiSC style.
Example: Everyone on the team is a "high I" – When they meet they have a good time. They're great at spotting benefits and generating enthusiasm, but have trouble creating deadlines and setting priorities.

The team is very diverse with all of the DiSC styles represented.
Example: Meetings may be dominated by a few "high Ds" and others rarely, if ever, contribute. As a result, the full abilities of the group are not utilized.

The team is experiencing a lot of change, and is under pressure to perform.
Example: Team members lock into their individual strengths and become their DiSC style under stress. They're fueled by emotions and spend most of the meeting in conflict. The team can't seem to come to an agreed upon solution or next step.

The common attitude that meetings are a necessary evil is understandable, but unfortunate. A meeting should be an active forum in which colleagues exchange ideas, solve problems, and make decisions.

The fact that so many people dread meetings is a red flag that tools and a systematic process are needed. DiSC is a self awareness and team building tool, but it's also helpful to have a process in place to maximize the thinking of all of your team members and their diverse behavioral styles.

Six Thinking Hats is a training course from Edward de Bono that teaches parallel thinking as an alternative to argument. Parallel thinking guides thought processes in one direction at a time so your teams can effectively analyze issues, generate new ideas, and make better decisions.

Six Thinking Hats is a great follow up course for your DiSC training programs. The process neutralizes one's natural DiSC behavioral style and will help ensure you get the best thinking from every member of your team.

You can learn these methods at our new Virtual Six Thinking Hats seminar September 7, 14, 21, or at our classroom Six Thinking Hats Seminar, September 28 in Des Moines.

DiSC Training Exercise: Modifying Behaviors

Here are a few DiSC training exercises you can incorporate into your next DiSC session to teach skills for modifying behaviors.

Bring a stranger into the the classroom and have participants ask the stranger questions until they can guess that person’s highest behavioral tendency. The point made in this exercise is that you must be able to recognize behavioral tendencies before you can adapt to them.

Pair up high Ds, is, Ss, and Cs and have them sell a product or idea to their opposite behavioral tendency. Have the participants deliver their presentation in a small group or in front of the entire room and discuss options for modifying behaviors to meet the other person's needs.

Use the DiSC Sales Action Planner, which helps you determine someone’s behavioral style. The action planner gives you suggestions for adapting your behavior to open the call, make the presentation, negotiate, close the sale and maintain positive client relationships.