The Mbti and Building Workplace Teams
Every manager wants to build productive and cohesive teams. A mismatch between team members can doom a team to failure. The right match between team members can produce cohesion between team members and result in productivity by the team that exceeds the productivity that would come through individual effort. After all, this is the point of teamwork. The goal of teamwork is to integrate member strengths in a way that mitigates member weaknesses.
Cohesion and teamwork
Types of Cohesion. Productive teams rely on social cohesion and task cohesion. Social cohesion is the degree of fulfillment members find in their social interactions with each other and in working together. Task cohesion is the ability of members to integrate their strengths in a collective effort that accomplishes the goals or mission of the team. Both types of cohesion are important, but they must be held in balance.
Social Cohesion. If social cohesion is out of balance, the team can become distracted by the social dynamics of the team. Excessive social cohesion usually occurs when members are too immersed in the social dynamics of the team. Building strong and lasting bonds between team members can become the goal of the team and at the expense of productivity. Low social cohesion indicates that team members are dissatisfied with the configuration of the team and likely indicates the presence of frequent conflict. Social cohesion that is out of balance can reduce the effectiveness and productivity of the team.
Task Cohesion. If task cohesion is out of balance then the performance of the team can suffer. Weak task cohesion usually indicates the members either feel out of place in terms of team roles, are dissatisfied with team roles, or members have a weak commitment to the team’s goals. Some individuals may resent being placed in teams. Weak task cohesion can indicate problems in the social cohesion dynamics of the team.
Excessive task cohesion can be detrimental for the organization because once members realize that they work well together and their past effort was successful, the members may resent and resist breaking up the team. The situation could taint the enthusiasm of employees to become part of another team in the future.
MBTI and member selection
Are resources available to assist managers in selecting team members so that achieving both types of cohesion is a greater possibility? One approach is to consider the personality traits or temperament of the members. Numerous personality theories and assessments have been offered for this task. The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is one of the more popular theoretical approaches for identifying the personality traits or temperaments members would bring to the team.
A prominent theory in vocational psychology is that matching individual traits with the characteristics associated with a particular vocation and work environment is an indicator of future productivity and job satisfaction. The MBTI considers the temperament characteristics that influence individual behavior across four dimensions
TheMBTI factors
The MBTI measures personality temperament across four factors or dimensions. Each factor measures a different aspect of personality.Extrovert vs. Introvert examines the tendency for sociability. Does a person prefer external orientation in life and social interactions or living out of the internal world and social interactions represent an undesirable chore?
Sensing vs. Intuition or does a person prefer to focus on existing information or do they like to add to the information. High Sensing indicates a more “matter of fact” approach while the high Intuition person prefers to reflect on the given information and expanding the given information if possible in new ways.
Thinking vs. Feeling or how does one prefer to make decisions. High thinking individuals tend to prefer logic in decision-making while high Feeling individuals rely more on subjective information such as one’s feelings in decision-making.
Judging vs. Perceiving or how quickly does one prefer to make decisions. High Judging individuals tend to make decisions and reach conclusions quickly and prefer decision-making through a structured process. High Perceiving individuals prefer to delay decision-making in order to allow time for all of the relevant information to be gathered and are open to input from others.
Implications for teams
The MBTI combines these four temperament dimensions into a four-factor profile. For example, ESFJ means a personality profile of Extrovert, Sensing, Feeling, and Judging. How would this profile benefit a manager in the process of forming teams? The high Extrovert will tend to be sociable and welcome the contribution of the other members in decision-making activities. A high Introvert will likely avoid engaging in social interactions unless forced to do so. Constructing a team with an unbalanced combination of high Extroverts and Introverts can affect team communication and produce frustration for those seeking social interaction and for those who feel forced into interaction.
A high Sensing individual will tend to only focus on the existing information. A high Intuition individual could become a source of conflict if the individual decides that the team is moving too hastily in decision-making. A high Sensing individual can become frustrated if the high Intuition members seem to be delaying the team’s decisions seeking additional information.
A high Thinking individual will prefer to base the team’s decision-making on what makes logical sense. The affects of the team’s decisions on the feelings of others may have little to no influence on the decision-making process. High Feeling individuals would recoil at the notion that a team’s decisions and actions should not consider the potential emotional impact of the team’s actions. This could be a source of conflict over time.
A high Judging individual would be quick to make decisions because they like resolution. A high Perceiving individual would be more likely to allow decisions to remain unresolved until the team could fully analyze all of the relevant information and potential implications of a team’s decisions and actions.
The role of management
Teams are comprised of members who bring with them certain temperaments. The MBTI offers managers an understanding of personality temperaments that can be helpful. The Myers Briggs Foundation provides assessment resources and other information that can be helpful in understanding and measuring the MBTI traits in employees in the team formation process.
Two popular MBTI assessments are the MBTI personality assessment and theJung Typology Test. Online versions of these assessments are available. A numbers of online resources are available to assist in understanding the results of the tests.
However, the way these temperaments affect teamwork will largely be determined by the leadership that management and team leaders provide the team. All combinations of temperaments can be tools for building cohesion or potential sources of conflict in teams. Sustained conflict over time reduces productivity and member commitment to the team. The effective team leader develops strategies that nurture the positive ways to use the MBTI types and procedures that limit the potential negative influence of allowing conflicts between types to rob the team of cohesion and productivity.
