How to Understand the Different Personalities in the Workplace?

• Friday October 11th, 2013
• 5,341

• Career Management,Office Behaviour

You finally found your ideal job, and now it is your first day at work. How do you behave in the workplace? We all fall into certain categories of depending on our personality. Which type are you and how will you handle the other types? The basic guidelines are as follows.

Leader “Leaders are born not made,” is the consensus. Truth is, leaders can learn to lead, just in varying capacities depending on their personalities and knowledge of the business they are leading.

Leaders tend to be more outgoing and exuberant than most. They have to be if they are going to lead. An exceptional leader is also a skilled listener and listens to what their coworkers have to offer. They are decision makers and often times, must take responsibility for their actions, good or bad. They offer advice to others, often without being asked. This may or may not be a good thing depending on the situation.

Leaders are oftentimes your boss or supervisor so dealing with them can be somewhat stressful. Don’t’ be afraid to speak up in a nice way. A respectable leader values your opinion and will use it as they see fit. Your ideas could lead to a promotion.

Follower Just the opposite of a leader is the follower. Often they are the “low man on the ladder.” These types of workers do not generally engage in idea sharing opportunities. Managers can be followers by following the direction of their superiors and then delegating tasks to their subordinates, thus taking on both roles as a leader-follower.

Followers tend to work well with others but are often overlooked for promotion to a more dominant workplace figure.  They also keep their subordinates from offering advice, as they tend not to change or disrupt the scheduled flow of work.

On the plus side, leader-followers are excellent at training as they have their rules to follow and they do not sway from them. They are quick at training new employees and save the company time and money.

Analyzers They are often thought of as the brains of the operation, the ones that think before doing and take time to make a decision. They often slow down decision making, which can cause problems as decisions in the workplace tend to be made quickly. They have to analyze every decision they are confronted with, and will often reject, ideas after finding ways that the idea may fail.

How do you deal with an analyzer when decisions have to be made in an instant? It is best to give them a broad idea that has no time constraints. They are skilled at brainstorming and often will aid in bringing new ideas to the boardroom. Never rely on an analyzer to make a quick decision. You may be waiting a while before it is made.

Bullies No one likes a bully, but it is hard to avoid him or her at times. Even in the workplace. They demoralize employees if they are managers, and as subordinates, they are extremely difficult to deal with. It is best to try to avoid a bully, but if they are your supervisor, it can be difficult.

You have to make a decision to stay at your job, confront the bully, or seek help from the bullies superior. This is a difficult decision to make and requires much thought and weighing out the cost of each choice. In situations like this, you have to think of your own sanity and change the situation. Either on your own or with a superior’s help

Pleaser We all have seen or heard about this person. Usually, we think of them under a different, more derogatory name than pleaser. They tend to do whatever they are told to do by both superiors and colleagues no matter if they think it is beneficial to the company or not. Pleasers avoid conflicts by agreeing with whomever and treat co-workers like family.

If you have a pleaser as a superior, they often will refuse to give you any appreciable feedback about your performance; telling you everything you do is great. You need to seek the help of your colleagues or other superiors in gaining the valuable feedback you need to excel at your position.

As a colleague, pleasers need to emphasize their good nature but remind them that the good of the company depends on offering feedback and suggestion, whether they are good or bad.

Where do you fit into the workplace? You have to look at yourself and see just what traits you have to offer and what traits you need work. The best employees have a bit of everything and can vary how much each trait stands out depending on the situation. Do not be afraid to ask colleagues for input into what they think you are, just do not ask a pleaser and be prepared for a lengthy answer from an analyzer.

 

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