Archive for category: Psychology

The Puzzle of Motivation

Watch The Puzzle of Motivation | Dan Pink before working on this week’s assignments. (TED talk)

Read Using the DISC Behavioral Instrument to Guide Leadership and Communication to prepare for this week’s discussion.

BEHAVIORAL INSTRUMENTS can be useful tools to help leaders gain insight into how to better communicate with coworkers. The DISC instrument classifies behaviors into four personality types (ie, Dominant, Influencer, Steady, Conscientious) and provides methods leaders can use to work with each personality type.

•LEADERS SHOULD STRIVE to have a good mix of personalities on their teams to achieve optimal success.

•THIS ARTICLE DESCRIBES the benefits of using the DISC behavioral evaluation method to better understand and work with team members and gives role-play scenarios for dealing with each personality. AORN J (November 2005) 835–843.

A true leader knows the keys for inspiring and influencing team members. If a leader can instill the desire to excel in team members, then the team as a whole will succeed. A workforce primarily is characterized by its ability or inability to achieve results through positive interaction and cooperation. To be successful, a leader must learn how to communicate with coworkers and foster optimum teamwork.1 This can be achieved in three steps: develop synergy, blend strengths, and enhance interpersonal skills.1 To achieve these objectives, leaders must learn techniques to help them fine-tune their ability to communicate. These techniques include
•identifying and explaining the key elements of effective communication;

•learning to communicate with a variety of personality types;

•creating a positive climate conducive to harmony, teamwork, and success;

•identifying other’s psychological needs and learning how to deal with each person on a more productive level;

•minimizing potential conflict with others;

•learning how to tailor personality needs to specific habits;

•integrating work life with personal life;

•breaking cycles of frustration through powerful decision making; and

•staying focused on the path to heightened serenity.1

To be a successful team, team members also need to learn communication skills for dealing with various personality types. This allows team members to resolve internal and external conflicts. Conflict within the workplace can spiral out of control without communication. If the communication pipeline is not kept open, barriers to productivity increase exponentially. To prevent this implosion in the workplace, everyone should learn the different personality types and how to deal with each on a regular basis. With enhanced communication, the team can identify criteria to work together and eliminate communication breakdowns.

The workplace will become more productive when leaders learn how to achieve team compatibility. A good way to effectively blend different personalities is to administer a personality profile that helps explain why people act the way they do. In other words, find out what makes people tick and then use their strengths to enhance the team.

DISC Instrument
The DISC behavioral instrument is based on the work of psychologist William Moulton Marston, PhD.2 Marston was interested in how people felt, behaved, and interacted with the world around them.2 The DISC method is easy to administer and interpret. This instrument helps determine the different personality types (ie, Dominant, Influencer, Steady, Conscientious) of each person in the workplace.

Dominant.
People with the dominant personality type tend to make quick decisions, are very results-oriented, are direct and straight-forward, and often display a high level of initiative and energy. To motivate a dominant person, a leader should foster that person’s initiative by removing obstacles and giving the person freedom to act without interference.

Although dominant people are strong workers, a dominant person can cause conflict by being too blunt, restless, and impatient. Dominant people try to do everything, and they may act without knowing all the facts and without considering others’ feelings. To further understand people with this personality type, team members can use the following role play exercise.
Mike Link, a highly dominant person, asks you to come into his office. You know he is upset about the arrangements for his meeting this morning. The overhead projector’s bulb burned out, there were not enough chairs in the meeting room, the reports copied for the meeting were out of order, and the refreshments arrived an hour late.

As you enter Link’s office, he gets right to the issue at hand by saying, “You have got to do something about improving the quality of your work, your dependability, and the way you communicate. What are you going to do to make these things better?” What would be the most efficient way to respond and communicate with Link?

To get through to Link, the team member should take into account the skills of influencing a person who has a dominant personality. First, he or she should be brief and get to the point quickly. This will grab Link’s attention without alienating him. By being specific about the facts, one can communicate well with a dominant person.

Influencer.
The influencer is outgoing, persuasive, gregarious, and tends to be good at delegating. By influencing and persuading others, the influencer creates an environment for personal success. The best way to motivate an influencer is to create a social environment that includes constant interaction with people. In these circumstances, an influencer will demonstrate trust in others and spread enthusiasm throughout a team, creating a democratic relationship favorable for working conditions.

Certain situations, however, can emphasize the weaknesses of an influencer. For instance, the influencer is not very task-oriented and may not follow up on delegated jobs. The influencer’s strength at building friendships can be exploited easily when he or she has to make unpleasant decisions. Instead of doing what is best for the job, the influencer procrastinates on decisions so as not to rock the boat. To consider the best way to deal with an influencer, team members can participate following role play.
Mary Smith, a high influencer type, is one of your coworkers and is known as the socializer. You arrive early Friday morning to get a head start on a project that is due by 10 AM that day. Smith stops by your desk and starts talking about the party she is throwing tonight and all the people who may stop by. What you thought would be a few minutes, turns into half an hour. Your supervisor walks by and gives you the evil eye. The pressure is on, and you have to get your project done. How do you get rid of Smith without hurting her feelings?

The best way to communicate with Smith is to start out by socializing for a few minutes. Right off the bat, she will become more responsive to the conversation. Smith has a need to talk, so the team member should ask for her opinions and ideas. After her need for interaction is satisfied, the team member should get her involved in the decision-making process to help achieve priorities.

Steady.
The steady person is dependable and easygoing, technically competent, and able to teach. His or her emphasis is on cooperating with others in existing circumstances to carry out a task. The supreme motivator for someone with a steady personality is security. In this regard, repetitive tasks, established work patterns, and routine work are best for a steady person.

The status quo is the ideal environment for someone with a steady personality. The steady person tends to resist change, especially new directions that challenge personal structure. The steady person also can be a poor dele-gator. With these motivators, strengths, and weaknesses in mind, this role play can help team members deal with the steady personality type.
Larry Garcia, who has a high-level steady personality, asks you to come into his office. Garcia always has a heavy workload, but does not like to delegate work to you. You are a very competent worker who wants more responsibility. You want to discuss your objectives for the next year because this year has not been very fulfilling. You want to expand your job, and you know Garcia cannot seem to manage his workload very well. As you enter his office, you see Garcia is overwhelmed with stacks of files that are not only all over his desk, but spread out on the floor. He is pacing back and forth and swearing under his breath. You know his budget report is two months overdue and must be completed by 4:30 PM today. Approaching him at this time might be seen as adding more work for him. What would be the best way to communicate with Garcia?

First, the team member should break the ice with a positive comment, and take some of the blame. This will soften Garcia without making him feel threatened. The team member should ask “how” questions to get Garcia’s input. For example, “How can I help with an aspect of the budget report?” The team member should define clearly, preferably in writing, what skills and contributions he or she can add to the situation and provide clear suggestions to avoid a similar occurrence in the future.

Conscientious.
People with the conscientious personality type are thorough, attentive perfectionists who can think ahead and prevent problems. To achieve results, the conscientious person works carefully within existing circumstances to ensure quality and accuracy. Unlike influencers, people with conscientious personalities prefer little or no people contact and would rather define limits of authority themselves. Detail-oriented jobs with precise instructions give people with the conscientious personality type the clearest road to success.

This person tends to be rigid and overly detailed. Instead of talking about a problem, the conscientious person will write long memos and avoid personal communication. The following role play can help team members deal with a person who has a conscientious personality type.
Jean Price, a highly conscientious individual, asks you to come into her office. You have discovered problems with the current procedures for tracking expenses against the budget. As a result, you and two other coworkers have put in 10 hours a day for the last two weeks, trying to straighten out the mess. You are tired and fed up because you know there is an excellent software tracking system available, but Price will not sign the requisition to purchase this software. Price does not want to spend the money for new equipment because she is not sure if there is enough money left in the budget. Price is highly sensitive to errors. As you enter the office Price says, “You have not given me enough details on your reasons for changing the tracking system. You need to be more specific.” How would you deal with Price?

The team member should remember Price’s strengths and weaknesses, and approach her in a straight-forward way and stick to the issues. The team member should take time and be persistent without criticizing. The team member should draw up a scheduled approach for implementing the tracking system expenses with a step-by-step timetable and assure Price that there will not be any surprises. This plays to her strengths and ensures her role will be important.

Coping with Fear
Each DISC personality has different skills for coping with fear.1 For example, people with dominant personalities have a basic fear of being treated unfairly or exploited. The way to cope with this fear is to develop closeness and trust. Installing a supportive social fabric in each area of life will correlate with this person’s success as a worker and individual. A dominate person will respond well to a friend or superior who “tells it like it is.”

The influencer’s basic fear is loss of social approval. For example, suffering from panic attacks can be crippling for an influencer and can instill a sense of not wanting to leave home. This fear can lead to a disorder known as agoraphobia. With the loss of social approval, an influencer’s fear is kept inside and can lead to a very unfulfilling life. The influencer needs to deal with difficult situations head on without the fear of what others think. Friends and superiors who are democratic and those who take a strong personal interest in helping the influencer succeed can help both on and off the job.

People with steady personalities fear sudden change and need to learn to be flexible and become comfortable with situations that lack structure and predictability. The steady person needs a superior who is amiable and easygoing under stress.

People with the conscientious personalities fear criticism, do not reach out to team members for help, and do not share true thoughts with others. The conscientious person needs to learn how to accept constructive criticism and voice personal feelings to achieve mutual understanding in difficult circumstances. Conscientious people will be reassured by a superior who is available and willing to listen and discuss issues.

Personality Blends
Not all people’s personality types can be seen in black and white terms. Often, there is a grey area or a combination of behaviors. Following are some common personality blends. The first personality type listed is the primary or stronger type. The second personality type is the secondary or lesser type within the personality blend.

Creative (ie, dominant/influencer).
Creative people tend to be logical, critical, and incisive in attaining goals. They are challenged by problems that require original and analytical effort. They can be blunt and critical with people.

Driven (ie, dominant/steady).
Driven individuals respond quickly to challenges and use mobility and flexibility to attain their goals. They can be versatile self-starters who respond rapidly to complete goals.

Goodwill (ie, influencer/dominant).
These people tend to behave in a poised, cordial manner displaying social aggressiveness in situations perceived to be favorable and unthreatening. They exude charm and strive to establish rapport at first contact with people.

Self-confident (ie, influencer/conscientious).
These people are self-confident in dealing with others, strive to win others over, and are reluctant to give up their own point of view. These individuals feel that, despite the situation, they will be able to attain success.

Patient (ie, steady/dominant).
Patient people tend to be steady and consistent and prefer to deal with one assignment at a time. They direct skills and experience into areas requiring depth and socialization, are steady under most pressures, and strive to stabilize their own environment. They react negatively to change.

Persistent (ie, steady/conscientious).
Persistent people tend to be persevering individuals who are not easily swayed. They set their own pace and stick with it, can be rigidly independent when force is applied to make them move, and get exasperated with others who want them to adapt.

Perfectionist (ie, conscientious/influencer).
Perfectionists tend to be sticklers for system and order. They make decisions based on precedents and known fact and meticulously try to meet standards.

Sensitive (ie, conscientious/steady).
Sensitive people are concerned about avoiding risk or trouble. They look for hidden meanings and are uneasy until there is absolute confirmation of actions.1

Four Different Strategies
With knowledge of the four basic personality types and possible personality blends, team members can create a mission that accounts for and makes the most of the different personality types. The ideal team consists of individuals who have different behavioral styles, but bringing together such a team and integrating it effectively can be a challenge. Predictably, there are differing degrees of compatibility in terms of tasks and human relationships. When the strengths and work behaviors of each team member have been identified, four different strategies may be used to improve results
•capitalize,

•augment,

•modify or adapt, and

•blend

the strengths of each team member.

Capitalize.
This strategy focuses on maximum use of a person’s predominant behavioral tendency. This is particularly possible when a person’s natural style of behaving is the same as the situation requires.

Augment.
This strategy is used when a person does not possess the required skills for the situation. The person seeks out individuals who have the natural skills needed and adds those individuals to the team.

Modify or adapt.
When a person does not have the required skills, he or she makes an effort to learn or acquire the behaviors appropriate for the situation. This may be difficult or impossible to achieve, however, and also can be energy consuming and can interfere with maximizing the value of natural behavioral tendencies.

Blend.
This strategy integrates individuals with different personality types so that each can maximize skills for the good of the group’s goal. When alignment is achieved, the results can be synergistic and greater than expected.

Creating a Successful Team
People whose personalities fall into the process-oriented dimensions (eg, dominance, influencer) are appropriate leaders during times of change and growth. People whose personalities fall into the product-oriented dimensions (eg, steadiness, conscientiousness) provide the supportive foundation and are appropriate leaders during times of stability and maintenance. A successful team should be comprised of all four personalities in the DISC model.
•The dominate team member facilitates the session and keeps it on track.

•The influencer contacts other departments to get them involved and gathers input when the plan is completed.

•The steady team member takes the notes from the influencer and organizes them into outline form.

•The conscientious member of the team takes the notes and outlines and writes up a preliminary plan to bring back to the whole team for review and finalization.

To achieve any degree of success in developing the ideal team, which is increasingly important in today’s complex world of accelerated change, it is necessary to identify individual and community strengths. A leader must develop an appreciation for the unique value of others and continuously employ strategies to maximize team strengths and minimize the effects of team weaknesses.

Discussion:
Review this week’s assigned reading and resources to prepare for this discussion.

Social learning theory allows psychologists to make general and specific assumptions about behaviors in order to measure them and thereafter predict possible behaviors in general and specific contexts. Julian Rotter’s social learning theory asserts that while personality traits influence individual behaviors, researchers and psychologists could not ignore the influence of how individuals interact with their environments on personality. For example, Rotter believes behavior change comes from changing how an individual thinks or the environment in which the individual interacts and therefore personality is changeable in different contexts. According to Rotter’s concept of “locus of control,” individuals either believe they have or do not have control over how they get rewarded in some way. Rotter believes that if someone believes they have more internal control over receiving reward/reinforcement for their behaviors, there is more potential for shifts in personality traits or styles.

Respond
Discuss ways to impact expectancy and/or reward value to motivate action in one of the characters in one of the other two scenarios you did not choose. Provide support for your response.
Cite and share findings of a research study that examines motivation in a workplace, educational system or volunteer organization using this theory.
Requirements
Initial posts should be a 250-­300 words.
All references should be in the last 7 years, references older than seven years may be used to supplement but will not be counted as course required references
Support your initial post by citing scholarly/authoritative research articles other than the textbook.
References should be minimum of 1-2 peer-reviewed scholarly journals.
Reference all work and provide a reference list following APA format.