By now, you should have categorized yourself into some sort of management style. It’s important to acknowledge your triggers so you’re able to work more effectively with your employees. Managers use all sorts of ways to identify their management style, but I’ve found the DiSC behavioral assessment to be the most effective.
DiSC stands for the four primary behavioral drivers: dominance, influence, conscientiousness, and steadiness. Dominant managers speak their mind in a bold and confident way. People focused on influence often combine emotion with work and care about creating relationships with co-workers. Those driven by conscientiousness put accuracy and detail before anything else. They are hesitant and guarded when it comes to expressing their feelings. Steady personalities approach work as a consistent method. They are easy-going, composed, and cooperative.
According to a recent blog on Hubspot, if you haven’t or you’re unable to take the DiSC assessment, the following two questions can typically help to identify your management style:
Are you more open (emotive) or guarded (controlled)?
Are you more direct (faster-paced) or indirect (slower-paced)?
After you’ve answered these questions, you can find your management style:
D – Direct and guarded
i – Direct and open
S – Indirect and open
C – Indirect and guarded
Once that you’ve found your letter, you can own up to your style and tailor the way you manage your employees.
If You’re a Dominant Director (D)
You are very competitive and hold extremely high expectations for yourself and your team members. You speak your mind and are demanding when it comes to tasks that need to be completed. Even though you tend to have a know-it-all style, keep in mind that your staff has feeling too. There are many ways to use these qualities to improve employee engagement.
Start looking at errors as mistakes that only happen once in awhile. Everyone makes them and if you start to accept it, you’ll start to see eye-to-eye with your colleagues. There are two ways dominant managers can encourage positivity and growth in others: by congratulating them when they perform well and by giving the leadership team direct opinions and pointers, but then letting them handle it in their own way. Be trustworthy and you’ll gain commitment and staff engagement.
If You’re an Influencing Worker (I)
Your employees look to you for your ideas and coordination – coordination not being one of your strengths. Try to become more organized whether it’s creating your own calendar, making lists, or prioritizing your goals in a spreadsheet. Simple changes like these will benefit both you and your staff.
They see you as a welcoming and people-pleasing person, however this can sometimes translate into being unreliable. Don’t drop the ball. If you start to procrastinate or make promises you can’t keep, your colleagues will lose faith. As I said, you like making others happy – that’s not always going to happen. It’s important to remember that. Embrace conflict and instead of hoping it’ll slip by, deal with it head-on.
If You’re a Steady Manager (S)
Being sensitive to your employees’ feelings is your greatest strength. You’re pretty much the opposite of a dominant director (D). You are a very well liked manager, but your focus should now be to become an effective, well-liked manager. It’s time to develop a thicker skin, starting with the first negative comment that comes your way.
Be more assertive, start taking risks, and be more open with your thoughts. These small changes will help you gain credibility and improve the good of the team.
If You’re a Conscientious Thinker (C)
You are constantly inspired and strive to be bigger and better each day. While this motivates your employees, they also might feel like they’ll never be able to please you. Something that will help ease their frustration is to lessen your need to control and soften up your criticism. Try walking around the office and see what everyone is up to.
Stress that even though you have high standards, it doesn’t require perfection every single time. This will remove some stress from not only your employees, but you as well.
No matter what category you fall in, being open to change and adapting for the good of the company will help increase employee engagement. Listen to their interests, questions, strengths and weaknesses – you’ll leave them more pleased and happy to not only work with you, but your company as well.
