Powered by Personality: Why Different Personalities Are Your Team’s Biggest Asset

31 Oct

Our teams are made up of individuals with diverse personalities, each bringing something unique to the workplace. This diversity offers fresh perspectives for problem- solving, creativity, and innovation. However, working with different personalities can also present challenges, especially when people approach tasks or communication styles in different ways.

For instance, you may thrive in a structured, quiet environment, while your colleague prefers a more flexible, fast-paced, and social setting. When these differences clash, it’s easy to get frustrated, but it’s essential to recognize the value that each personality adds to the team.

To appreciate our differences, we need to have an understanding personality. By gaining insight into both our own and others’ natural comfort zones and ways of working, we create a more cohesive and productive work environment. Using personality profiling tools, such as the WorkPlace Big Five Profile™, helps teams better understand one another, allowing them to appreciate and leverage their differences.

Hilkka-Maija Katajisto from Workplace Nordic emphasizes the benefits of personality profiling in the workplace.

“Understanding each other as well as possible is useful, for example, in team and pair work, recruiting and leading new people,” she says.

When managers understand their employees’ personalities, they can adjust communication styles, delegate tasks more effectively, and build better teams. One new team leader shared that profiling his team saved him six months of learning time because he understood how to work with each member from the start.

Helen Metsvaht, a Director at Citycon (Estonia) has seen the benefits of understanding personalities at work, saying “It gives an advantage [to the company] to have employees who know themselves, who know their strengths, and who can observe and react to situations based on the personalities they have, and also interact better with their teams.”

Personality profiling doesn’t just help leaders—it empowers employees, too. When employees understand their natural comfort zones, they can adapt to the demands of their job and recognize when they need to recharge. This reduces stress and the risk of burnout, making them more productive and happier at work.

Take the time to understand the different personalities on your team—it could be your organization’s superpower.