No “I ” in Team: A Case Study in DiSC

At CMA, we emphasize building consensus within Client SME Project teams before starting technical work. Understanding an organization’s team culture is crucial, especially when people are transitioning from working in silos to joining multi-disciplinary teams. This transition can be a culture shock for many.

To facilitate this, the CMA team used DiSC personal assessment instruments to understand team and possibly organization culture. One notable case involved coaching four project teams in an industrial/scientific manufacturing corporation. These cross-functional teams aimed to bring a holistic view to process flows and improve communication with stakeholders and team members.

DiSC also aids the CMA Teams to get to know the characteristics of the individual team members who they will be coaching. Especially when challenging situations arise that they need to remediate.

Understanding Team Personalities

The CMA team prepared participants by introducing them to the team personalities that would emerge:

• Creators: Generate new and fresh concepts.

• Advancers: Focus on communication and managing the human interactive aspects of team messaging.

• Refiners: Analytical and quality assurance SMEs, keepers of data.

• Executors: Implement solutions and bring practical realities to the situation.

Flexers: Adapt to all styles, providing a balanced perspective.

Before the first team meeting, participants and their executive sponsors completed individual DiSC assessments. These results were consolidated into project groups, highlighting team dynamics beyond technical skills. This helped team members understand how to communicate effectively with the different personalities, with executives, ensuring timely and accepted decisions. Noteworthy is that this was the first time a team dynamics had been taken by participants.

Key Insights from the Assessment

Participants, mainly supervisors and managers, shared several insights:

• The organization's culture focused only on the talent needed for a goal, neglecting team dynamics, which could derail and/or disrupt progress.

• Historical initiatives often failed or were delayed due to ignoring team culture.

• Misunderstanding the communication styles of sponsors had led to delayed or rejected decisions.

• Key personalities functioned in backup roles to avoid conflict, crippling team performance and stifling communication channels.

• Holding onto data made goal attainment difficult, emphasizing the need for transparent communication.

• The DiSC results helped manage demographic and generational differences within the team, raising tolerances.

The assessment results were invaluable for relationship building, enhancing trust, conflict management, decision-making, solution testing, implementation strategies, and communication. Teams realized that strong tiered communication channels were key to success.

DiSC Case Studies of Team Journeys

The Green Team focused on an indirect business area, that impacted manufacturing, finance, HR, distribution, and sales. They struggled with “paralysis from analysis.” CMA helped them identify secondary characters like executors and Flexers, balancing decision-making roles for the group. Executive sponsors became more engaged, leading to the team’s empowerment and the project's timely completion and successful recommendations.

The Blue Team, lacking Creators or Flexers, maximized resources by shifting communication strategies. Executors became results-driven and assumed the Flexer roles, Refiners handled data and embraced the Creater in them to organize their findings, and Advancers stepped up to craft messaging for buy-in from sponsors. This structured approach led to successful project completion.

The Yellow Team, primarily Creators and Refiners, identified secondary roles to fill gaps. A key success was when a Creator took on an Executor role, discovering inventory issues that resulted in immediate revenue gains. This team balanced secondary characteristics that filled the gaps and proceeded to complete their project on time with full sponsor acceptance.

The Red Team, dominated by Refiners and Creators, faced challenges due to a sole Executor. CMA coaches facilitated sessions using their team and individual DiSC Results to define expectations and improve communication. The team revisited their project and team charter, refocused on their project objectives, and successfully completed it within established parameters.

Conclusion

DiSC proved to be a valuable tool for the CMA team engagement, providing:

• Statistical feedback to manage dynamics and distractions.

• Insights into soft skill strategies for collective mindset and discussions.

• Better understanding of individual strengths and weaknesses for participants and the CMA Team.

For a Team Dimensions Initiative in your organization, contact Gail Birks at 954-476-3525 or email info@cma-ent.com. Schedule a virtual appointment at www.calendly.com/cma-ent.