What Do We Need to Work Together Successfully in Business and at Work?

As I have experienced the introduction of new tools during the course of my HR career, my husband Joel has periodically (and patiently) allowed me to try them out on him. When I became an Authorized Everything DiSC® Partner earlier this year, Joel agreed to take the Everything DiSC® Workplace Assessment. I then ran the Comparison Report between the two of us. As a mediator, I approach differences in communications style (and the conflict that often arises from differences in communication styles) as different needs to be identified and explored for joint solution, with the goal of meeting the needs of all involved. Here are the needs nuggets identified by our Comparison Report:

Potential benefits of you and Joel working together

• He is willing to take on the tasks that require working independently for long periods of time.
• Your collaborative efforts often lead to significant ideas that reflect multiple perspectives.

Tips for working with Joel

• Ask Joel how he likes to be approached (phone call, email, etc.) when you need to reach him.
• Avoid pushing him to collaborate when he would rather work independently.
• Suggest teaming up when you genuinely feel that his perspective could contribute to better outcomes for the group. 

Joel was unimpressed. “I know all of this information already,” he observed.

I agreed.  However, we’ve known each other for almost 25 years, and we’ve been married almost as long. If we had access to these needs nuggets 25 years ago, it may well have helped me understand much sooner why talking on the phone is not Joel’s favorite thing (and why my requests to cold-call potential customers when he first started his custom picture-framing business aggravated him to no end). To his credit, Joel flexes out of his comfort zone and will now chat on the phone (and thanks to great coaching over the years from mentors and managers, I also flex and will now listen rather than just talk).  The type of validated data provided by an assessment comparison report like the Everything DiSC® helps to more objectively start a discussion on communications and work style differences on the front end by identifying key needs, as well as recommendations to meet each other’s needs.

What tools have you and your team used to identify needs in order to work together successfully, in business and at work?