DiSC People Reading Skills

For many students, summer vacation is wrapping up and they are heading back to school.  This can be stressful for many students especially if they are headed to a new school or they are in a different class than most of their friends.

Change can be stressful at any age.  Whether you are the “new kid” on the playground or been promoted within a company you have been working at for 20 years, you will face challenges.  No matter how simple or complex, something inside triggers stress regardless if it is the best decision for you.  It is the big, bad unknown as you prepare for it that causes this.

But wouldn't it be nice if you could walk into a new environment and know exactly how everyone reacted.  How do they want information provide to them? Do they like a lot of details or the ability to use their own creative juices to develop the idea?  Maybe they hesitate before taking on a new project or dive right in with no questions asked?

While we can’t ask everyone to wear a name tag for an easy reference, we do have some tricks for you to identify their styles.   Take a look at these 3 easy steps highlighted below to provide some insight into someone you work with.

First, does this person tend to be more Fast-Paced and Outspoken or Cautious and Reflective? Next, think about is this person Questioning and Skeptical or Accepting and Warm? Once you have combined their tendencies, they should fall in one of the following styles.

D – Dominance Fast-paced & Outspoken Questioning & Skeptical	i – influence Fast-paced & Outspoken Accepting & Warm
C – Conscientiousness Questioning & Skeptical Cautious & Reflective	S – Steadiness Accepting & Warm Cautious & Reflective

Now that you have been able to hone in on their DiSC style, you need to be able to use this information to work more effectively with others.  What are their priorities, motivations, fears, or limitations?  Below you will find descriptions outlining these attributes.

Dominance

Priorities	Motivations	Fears	Limitations
·   Taking Action ·   Challenging Self ·   Immediate Results	· Power and Authority · Competition · Success	· Loss of control ·  Vulnerability	· Insensitivity · Impatience · Lack of concern

Influence

Priorities	Motivations	Fears	Limitations
· Expressing Enthusiasm · Taking Action · Encouraging Collaboration	· Social Recognition · Group Activities · Friendly Relationships	· Social Rejection ·  Disapproval ·  Being Ignored	· Impulsiveness ·Disorganization · Lack of Follow-Through

Steadiness

Priorities	Motivations	Fears	Limitations
·  Giving Support ·  Maintaining Stability ·  Enjoying Collaboration	·  Stable Environments ·  Sincere Appreciation ·  Cooperation	· Loss of stability · Change · Loss of Harmony · Offending Others	· Overly Accommodating · Tendency to Avoid Change ·  Indecisiveness

Conscientiousness

Priorities	Motivations	Fears	Limitations
·  Ensuring Accuracy ·  Maintaining Stability ·  Challenging Assumptions	· Opportunities to Use Expertise ·  Gain Knowledge ·  Attention to Quality	· Criticism ·  Being Wrong ·   Careless Methods	· Overly Critical · Over-analyze ·  Isolate self

For more tips on how to work effectively with each style, we offer Interaction Guides.  These are job aids that support the Everything DiSC Workplace training program. Featuring the Everything DiSC Workplace Map and tips for working with each style, these maps can be used to identify a colleague's style or as a reminder before meetings.

To order the Everything DiSC Interaction Guides, click here or contact us at 515.278.1292!

Response to Conflict

Conflict – we all experience it no matter how hard we try to avoid it.   You may be a peaceful, calm person normally but all it takes is someone to come into our office and throw a new project on your desk and let you know you have one-week to put together a presentation.  This may not bother some people but to make things more tense, you have to work with someone who’s work style is completely opposite of you.   If you are still not worried about it, congratulations, you know how to master conflict and I applaud you!

Now, for those of you who just the THOUGHT of this happening to you causes a great deal of stress, take a moment to breathe.  We have some tips for you to work through conflict more effectively and avoid those ineffective behaviors that seem to seep out when you are faced with it.

First, let’s go over the general responses of each style.

Dominance: First response in conflict is going to be demanding.  The goal of a D style is victory – they fear loss of control or being taken advantage of.  As conflict increases they go from assertive to demanding.  Some adverse behaviors that are reflected by a D style in conflict are:

• Becoming aggressive and autocratic
• Creating a win/lose outcome
• Refusing to bend
• Overpowering with force

influence: Focusing less on logic like the D styles tend to do, i’s want acknowledgement and when this is in jeopardy, they are about emotions.  The feelings may not come out in the most professional way and can vary from pouting, exaggerating, or personal attacking.  Adverse behaviors exhibited by i styles are:

• Wanting to be heard
• Glossing over tension initially
• Verbalizing feelings impulsively
• Personal attacking

Steadiness: While D’s goal is victory and i’s work towards acknowledgement, S’s want harmony and when is this in risk, they tend to become quiet.  Now this may look to others as they are complying or giving in but in reality, they are processing what is being said and the info is simmering.  Eventually the frustration and anxiety boils over.  Behaviors that are a response to conflict for S’s are:

• Avoiding aggression
• Trying to save relationships
• Accommodating or giving in
• Simmering beneath the surface

Conscientiousness: The C style tends to withdraw in conflict even though their goal is justice.  They fear they will make a mistake and become defensive with they may be wrong.  C’s never stop strategizing for how they think they are correct.  Opposite of a D style, they tend be autocratic first then aggressive.  Some key behaviors as a response to conflict that you will see are:

• Becoming defensive
• Strategizing in controlled fashion
• Resisting passive-aggressively
• Overpowering with logic and facts

So now that we now how each style tends to react to conflict how do we cope with our own style or help others in the face of conflict.  Each person must determine how to best handle their ineffective behaviors and learn a more positive approach.  Below you will find some suggestions on how you or someone you may know can better approach a conflict with other styles.

Dominance

• Approach the situation thinking about it from a different way
• Do not “corner” them and make them feel uncomfortable
• Find workable answers quickly but don’t allow them to push the pace

influence

• Effectively communicate through listening
• Ask open ended questions that allow them to communicate
• Collaborate

Steadiness

• Ask more indirect questions to reduce sense of conflict
• Establish a decision-making timeline for a thought out but efficient timeline
• Let them voice what they are feeling sooner rather than later

Conscientiousness

• Allow time to process other points of view
• Use rationale for arguments and not feelings
• Refrain from taking skepticism personally

These are just a few suggestions on how to address conflict with others.  Do you have a different approach that works well for you? Feel free to share it with us by sending us an email or commenting below. 

For a more personalized approach to handle different styles, complete an Everything DiSC Workplace Assessment to learn how to create a more effective working environment!

Client Success Story

We love hearing success stories from our clients about how DiSC has worked for them in their organization and how they plan to use it in the future.  Recently, we had a client write an article regarding how he used DiSC to standardize the hiring process within his organization by determining the best fits for their company.  

Resources Unlimited was able to get him up and going with using the Everything DiSC Workplace profile and help guide him through it.  To learn more about how we can help you, please feel free to contact us at 515.278.1292 or send us an email!

To read the article on how our client used DiSC in his workplace, click here.

HELP WANTED: Beta Testers

Is your team looking for innovation but just not sure where to start?  Or maybe you are fluent in Spanish or know someone who can help us out?

Resources Unlimited is looking for beta testers for the following products:

Innovative Teams

Everything DiSC Workplace Profile in Spanish

Innovative Teams

The mission of Innovative Teams is to develop a research-based learning model to support organizations’ ability to cultivate and nurture innovation. Innovative Teams helps teams innovate by increasing individual self-awareness, identifying and understanding team members’ contributions, and cultivating an environment that fosters innovation.

Beta testers will receive:

• a customized, detailed report of their personal approach to innovation
• an analysis of the overall team's strengths and weaknesses as innovators
• highly specific guidance on making the organization more innovative

Everything DiSC Workplace Profile in Spanish

The Everything DiSC Workplace Profile is a great tool for anyone within an organization regardless of their role or title.  Everything DiSC Workplace will help you understand and appreciate the styles of the people you work with. The result is more effective and productive working relationships.

Everything DiSC Workplace Focuses On:

• Discovering Your DiSC Style

• Understanding Other Styles

• Building More Effective Relationships

• Optional People-Reading Module

As a benefit to our clients, we are currently working to develop this widely used profile in the Spanish language.  Each participant will receive their own individual Everything DiSC Workplace profile in Spanish and a chance to provide valuable feedback to our development team.  

Interested – What now?

There are no costs involved and we only request your feedback once you have completed the assessment and reviewed the profile. 

If you would like to participate, send us an email or comment below to begin the process! 

Updates to the Products You Love

We have been busy at Resources Unlimited keeping our clients informed on the latest and greatest changes that are being provided by our publisher and we are excited for every single one of them! 

As an ongoing project that has rolled over from 2012, Adaptive Testing has been on the minds of Resources Unlimited and making sure our clients are up to date on the current releases.  Adaptive testing is more aligned with contemporary psychological testing—it’s frequently used in aptitude tests, so you may be familiar with the adaptive testing assessment method. With adaptive testing, respondents are presented with questions, and their responses determine the next questions they’re given. 

Simply put, there is no more static number of questions but based off the respondents’ selections, the system will automatically generate the questions needed to get the most precise measurement!

Generating Additional DiSC Reports in Your EPIC Account

A client we spoke with recently was pleased to learn that they could generate another report for an individual within their EPIC Account without having them complete the response section again. They were equally happy to learn they didn't have to enter tally box scores manually into EPIC to create the new report.

This feature applies to the DiSC Classic 2.0, DiSC Classic 2 Plus, DiSC General Characteristics Reports, and the Everything DiSC Profiles (Workplace | Management | Sales).

For example, if an employee takes the Everything DiSC Workplace Profile, you may also generate the Everything DiSC Management Profile from their Everything DiSC Workplace scores.

Visit our EPIC Account User Guide to learn more.

Additional DiSC Training Programs for Conflict Management

In our last post we discussed how to use Everything DiSC Classic to address conflict. Below we'll take a look at other DiSC profiles and training programs to consider.

idXready DiSC Conflict Management is a complete conflict management training program with facilitation materials, PowerPoint, video, and customizable workbooks. The scripted facilitation is broken into five 50-minute modules, which makes it easy to deliver the training in one day or over time.

Everything DiSC Management discusses how conflict affects the motivation of each of the DiSC styles, and Dealing with Conflict when working with your Manager.

Everything DiSC Workplace addresses "What To Do When Things Get Tense" within the profile and also on the back of the Everything DiSC Workplace Guides.

Everything DiSC Workplace Showcase on December 2

Wish you could try the Everything DiSC Workplace Profile and preview the Everything DiSC Workplace facilitation materials?

Join us on December 2 for an Everything DiSC Workplace Showcase, presented by a member of Inscape Publishing's executive team.

You'll receive your own personalized Everything DiSC Workplace Profile, experience the free, unlimited Everything DiSC Comparison Reports, view all-new DiSC video, and review the Everything DiSC classroom activities.

Register for the Everything DiSC Workplace Showcase