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.

Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders White Paper

Everything DiSC® 363™ for Leaders offers an innovative learning experience that is tailored to individual leaders. Participants receive constructive feedback on what their peers, direct reports, and manager feel would make them more effective leaders.

Read the new white paper How Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders Fits Into Contemporary Leadership Theory.

Everything DiSC Sales Virtual Showcase - July 21

Are you looking for ways to help your salespeople connect better with their customers and close more sales?

The Everything DiSC Sales Virtual Showcase will introduce you to the Everything DiSC Sales profile and training program from Inscape Publishing.

This new approach to sales skills training uses DiSC as a foundation to help your salespeople learn how to read and understand their customers.

During this 90-minute webinar you'll experience the participant and facilitator materials. You'll also receive your own personalized Everything DiSC Sales Profile.

Click to learn more about tomorrow's Everything DiSC Sales Virtual Showcase:
12:00 - 1:30 EST 11 CST 10 MST 9 PST

Also visit our DiSC training calendar to view all of our upcoming events.

Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders Now Available

The all-new Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders Report has arrived!

Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders is meant for anyone who wants to incorporate 360° feedback into their leadership development, whether they’re an emerging leader or an experienced executive.

Have Resources Unlimited manage your 363 projects, or administer them in-house with your own FREE EPIC Account.

Learn more about Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders and click to view an Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders Report Sample.

One person in your organization may try an Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders Report at no charge. Call 515.278.1292 and mention this blog post to redeem this special offer. Limit one 363 for Leaders Report per organization.

New DiSC Profile Coming Soon! Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders

This week our staff attended an Inscape Publishing webinar about Everything DiSC® 363™ for Leaders, the newest DiSC profile in the Everything DiSC Application Library.

We've been working with 360 degree feedback for over 15 years and understand some of the frustrations leaders may have with 360. Open-ended comments can be unfocused, hurtful, unhelpful, and potentially derail the learning process. The data can leave leaders thinking, "Now what?" if it doesn't provide clear explanation or coaching.

Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders offers a new solution that combines the simplicity and power of DiSC with the best components of 360 degree feedback. The report also provides 3 strategies to improve leadership effectiveness that are written to the leader's own DiSC style.

The Everything DiSC 363 report is easy to understand with clear visuals and a conversational narrative style to help interpret and explain the data.

The exclusive CommentSmart feature helps raters give constructive feedback. Raters choose from highly-tested, behavior focused comments that add richness, context, and depth to the feedback. Early users and beta testers commented that the 22+ pages "include all of the core info from a 360 without the snide comments." Everything DiSC 363 offers a "good mix of data and friendly feedback."

If you've been reluctant to implement a 360 feedback program for your leaders, we encourage you to try Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders - arriving later this month!

Check back frequently for updates and visit our website for Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders details (and a NEW white paper "How Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders Fits into Contemporary Leadership Theory").

DiSC Training Exercise: Creating a Group Map

Here's another great DiSC training exercise you can incorporate into your next session.

If you use the DiSC Classic Paper Profile or the Online DiSC Classic 2.0 Profile, create a poster using handout 4-2 from the Everything DiSC Classic Facilitation System.

If you use the Everything DiSC Application Library Profiles, create the Poster Template from the Support Materials Folder on your USB drive.

Have each DiSC participant write their name on a sticky dot and place it where they're located on the DiSC map. This will provide a great visual of what the group’s DiSC styles are.

By looking at the DiSC Group Map, everyone can see that:

1. We all fall on different places of the DiSC map. Throughout your DiSC session you can teach participants how to adapt their natural style to meet the needs of others.
2. Even though some participants might be the same D, i, S or C style, we fall in different areas of the map. This really demonstrates that not all D’s are alike, not all i’s are alike, not all S’s are alike, and not all C’s are alike. There is diversity, even within the styles.
3. Learning more about DiSC will help participants learn how to work with people who have a variety of styles and preferences.
   

DiSC Icebreaker Using the QuikDiSC Card Game

QuikDiSC is a unique card game that engages DiSC learners quickly and increases training effectiveness. QuikDiSC includes four sets of 32 cards. Each card is imprinted with a descriptive word that corresponds to one of the four DiSC dimensions of behavior:

• Dominance
• influence
• Steadiness
• Conscientiousness

Here is a QuikDiSC exercise to use at the beginning of your DiSC workshops that helps participants self-disclose right away.

Deal 5 QuikDiSC cards to each person. Ask the group to trade cards with one another in order to gather 5 words that best describe them. Ask participants to discuss why they chose the words they did. Then have them pick 3 words that describe why they've been most successful in what they do.

DiSC Certification - New Dates Announced

The next Everything DiSC Classic Certification from Inscape Publishing is September 14-15 in Minneapolis.

What makes this the perfect event for DiSC Trainers?
You'll learn directly from the publisher of the original DiSC Classic Profile!

You'll learn how to use the comprehensive Everything DiSC Classic Facilitation System to create solutions for communication, conflict, management effectiveness, sales, and more.

You’ll get hands-on experience and will participate in group presentations.

You’ll demonstrate your knowledge of DiSC during a practical examination.

Click to learn more about Everything DiSC Classic Certification.

Everything DiSC Facilitator Report - Quick Reference Chart & Group Map

DiSC facilitators are always searching for new ways to enhance their training.

The Everything DiSC Facilitator Report is a great tool that shows a composite of a group's DiSC styles and provides information on how DiSC styles can impact an organization's culture.

Is your group comprised mainly of "high D's?" If so, what's it like for a high S to work in that culture? These are the types of questions the Everything DiSC Facilitator Report can help you answer for the groups you work with.

Also, the Quick Reference Chart and Group Map make it visually obvious that although two participants may both be high "D's," but not all "D’s" are identical. You may then facilitate a conversation around those differences and provides strategies for working together more effectively.

Everything DiSC Facilitator Report Sample

DiSC Training Exercise Using the Everything DiSC Video

Incorporating DiSC video clips into your training offers an effective way to introduce participants to the DiSC styles. It also helps them learn how to read the DiSC styles of others.

Try the following exercise in your next training session:

After watching a clip of the DiSC Video, ask participants, "What behavior did you see?" Next ask them, "What did you hear?"

Play the same segment again, this time with the volume turned down, and ask the group to describe the behavior they observed. Watching the video without the volume helps participants tune in to the non-verbals.

The Everything DiSC Video on DVD comes with the Everything DiSC Facilitation System and is also sold separately. The 34-page viewing manual gives an overview of the video content plus step-by-step facilitation suggestions for each section.

New DiSC Leadership Development Product

Resources Unlimited CEO and President, Barbara Stennes, recently attended Inscape Publishing’s annual conference where she had a chance to preview the next product in the Everything DiSC Application Library.

Inscape's yet-to-be-released Everything DiSC® 363 for Leaders™ combines the best of 360° reports with the power and simplicity of DiSC. Read more about Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders.

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.

Use DiSC for Conflict Management

Many of our clients use DiSC training and coaching to address conflict management. The Everything DiSC Classic Facilitation System is a great resource that contains a number of ready-to-use, fully-scripted course outlines and participant handouts for conflict management and a variety of other applications.

The facilitation system includes the following training modules for conflict management:

• Managing Conflict and Resistance (Full-Day Seminar)
• Reducing Conflict (Full-Day Seminar)

Everything DiSC Classic is appropriate for trainers and coaches who use the following profiles:

* DiSC Classic Paper Profile
* Online DiSC Classic 2.0 Profile
* DiSC PPSS Online (General Characteristics Report)

Click to view a complete list of the training modules found in the Everything DiSC Classic Facilitation System.

Can I Create a DiSC Group Culture Report Using DiSC General Characteristics Reports?

Thank you to our clients who participated in our EPIC Account Tutorial today!

A question came up during the webinar that we thought other DiSC / EPIC users may have.

Question: Can I create a DiSC Group Culture Report for a group of learners who have completed the DiSC General Characteristics Report?

Answer: Yes, you may create DiSC Group Culture Reports and DiSC Facilitator Reports using DiSC Classic 2.0, DiSC Classic 2 Plus, or DiSC General Characteristics Reports (DiSC PPSS). Simply follow the instructions found in our EPIC Account User Guide.

DiSC Video Options

A DiSC client called last week to inquire about a replacement video for their Everything DiSC Classic Facilitation System. They asked if they had to purchase an entire facilitation system or if they could purchase the video separately. They also wondered if we offered any new DiSC videos.

We informed the client that she had several options to consider:

1. Purchase the Everything DiSC Classic Video on DVD for $895 (without purchasing an entire Everything DiSC Classic Facilitation System).

2. Get new contemporary DiSC Video with one of the new Everything DiSC Application Facilitator Kits. With this option she'd get the all-new DiSC Video, PowerPoints, handouts, leader's script - an entire facilitation system - for only $100 more.

a. Everything DiSC Workplace Facilitator Kit $995
b. Everything DiSC Sales Facilitator Kit $995
c. Everything DiSC Management Facilitator Kit $995

The client chose Everything DiSC Workplace because it matched the needs of her audience, and she was excited that the new DiSC video is on a jump drive!

For her next training session she'll use her Everything DiSC Classic PowerPoint, the Online DiSC Classic 2.0 Profile, and the new video from Everything DiSC Workplace. She really likes the Everything DiSC Workplace Profile as well, and may switch entirely to the Workplace program for her next training event.

Feel free to give us a call to discuss your options. 800.278.1292

DiSC Training Exercise: Car Activity

Here is a simple, yet effective DiSC training exercise you can incorporate into your next session that will open up a dialogue about the unique characteristics of each of the DiSC behavioral styles.

DiSC Car Training Activity

1. Divide participants into 4 groups and provide a flip chart for each group.
2. Ask the first group to write 3 adjectives that describe high "D" behavior. Ask the second group to write 3 adjectives that describe high "i" behavior, etc.
3. Ask each group to determine the kind of car each behavioral style would buy if money were no object.
4. Ask each group what color they would choose.
5. Ask the groups what their bumper sticker would say.

Inscape Publishing Distributor, Barbara Stennes Achieves Highest Sales Honor

Resources Unlimited President and CEO, Barbara Stennes, has been honored as a 2009 Inscape Publishing Diamond Award Winner.

Diamond Award status is based on purchases of personalized learning assessments including the new Everything DiSC Application Library of DiSC profiles and facilitation materials from Inscape Publishing. In 2009, fewer than 1% of Inscape’s independent consultants worldwide earned the honor of Diamond Award.

Learn more about this prestigious award from Inscape Publishing.

Everything DiSC Pulse Article Focuses on the Learning Experience

Inscape Publishing research reveals three training methods that have a surprisingly large influence on participant enjoyment and engagement.

Click to read The Method Makes the Difference by Inscape Publishing's Mark Scullard and Jeffrey Sugerman.

Include these tried-and-true methods to make all of your training programs effective and memorable.