How To Manage The Four Strong Personalities You See In Meetings

The content experts, analyzers don't know everything, but what they do know, they know extremely well.

When a team is dealing with a challenge that matches the Analyzer's area of expertise, you're on the path to solve the problem. But when the team focus strays from the Analyzer's areas of expertise, they get bored, lose interest, often affecting a dismissive attitude that can drag down other team members.

The "get it done" people, they are great on the operational side, with tactical plans, deadlines and workflows. 

But Implementers can get so caught up in the logistics of asking "but is that idea feasible?" that they inhibit team innovation.

Team-harmony focused, great at smoothing out the rough patches, but can also take collaboration and consensus building to an extreme that hinders team progress.

For example, if an Implementer is playing devil's advocate to a Challenger's big idea and a fight is about to ignite, the Collaborator is the person who jumps in and says, "You know, Pat, that was a really smart idea, but let's just take a minute to talk to Chris about whether or not we really have a chance to make this work."

• Mobilize the talents of all personality types in team meetings.
• Clearly identify the meeting topics, what the it hopes to accomplish and how participants should prepare.
• Establish how decisions will be reached up front.
• Equalize the room by picking a focal point, a central issue presented on a SMART Board, whiteboard or flip chart.
• End every meeting with a Decision Grid that asks all team members:"What are you personally going to achieve and by when".