07 Dec COLOR CODING: BUILD A TEAM THAT GUARANTEES SUCCESS

Recognizing the Chaos on Your Team

Jim is animated and tends to talk too much. Jane is considerate, but talks too little. Jamal can be combative, and Jamie is overly defensive. David and Jim disagree on every topic that is brought up, and Diane and Tonisha ask far too many irrelevant questions? Do you sometimes feel that you walk out of meetings with more headaches than accomplishments? Relax, you are not alone. Many meetings run this way, not because of the expertise in the room, but because of the groups dynamics. Fortunately, the team can be repaired and rescued.

Dysfunctions in Sports and Business

A similar dysfunction exists in team sports. At the beginning of each season, players attend “try-out” sessions where individuals are selected to elite teams based solely on their physical talents. Often players end up with team mates that they have never met before and despite the number of highly skilled, driven individuals assembled, they end up under-performing as a team. What is the catalyst that routinely and negatively interferes with a team’s success?

In sports and business, the challenge is to build and maintain a high performing functional team comprised of experts with similar skills, talent and objectives, and to integrate the diverse system of values and beliefs individual participants offer, each who is bound by generations of temperamental behavior. The success of a team is derived from the members ability to unilaterally recognize each other’s skills and behaviors, and utilize their combined talents within a self-regulated hierarchy to optimize results. Color coding temperaments facilitates this process.

What is Color Coding?

Simplified, color coding is grouping temperaments into 4 compartments that are represented by colors. Temperament modeling dates back as far as 420 BC when Hippocrates identified that people fit into 1 of 4 categories based on a measurement of body fluids. His goal was to identify why people behaved differently. For example, what determines a philosopher from a soldier? Or a musician from a scientist?

Over the years, the theory of temperaments has changed and taken on new forms. The Keirsey Temperament Sorter is probably the most well-known model of modern times and has been adapted into Myers-Briggs which evolved the theory into 16 profiles. In respect to color coding the 4 temperaments, Don Lowry can be credited with his adaptation of temperament theory and developing a fun, interactive process called True Colors.

Testing Temperament Theory

The theory of True Colors can be seen in your own circle of friends. Upon reflection, you will notice a range of characteristics that draw you towards each individual. Perhaps some friends share common traits, and others have traits that you admire or desire, and some may have traits that drive you completely crazy. For a modern display of temperament theory, watch an episode of any one of the successful “The Real Housewives of…” series. The secret of each show’s success is a terrific example of conflicting temperaments interacting from opposite ends of the scale. You may have attended meetings with similar scenarios and outcomes.

Building Stronger Teams

So, how does color coding help build strong teams? In two ways. First, it is important for everyone on your team to understand the natural behaviors of every individual in the room. Second, you must be able to match the “temperament” of your team’s objectives with the temperament of the majority of the members who form your team.

For example, if you are looking to solve a problem that involves operations in an elementary school, you would probably like to have a majority of people on your team that are relationship oriented mediators who possess traits such as compassion and sympathy. On the other hand, if your objective is radical change in a short period of time, you would most likely build that team heavy with people who are competitive, optimistic achievers, who thrive functioning at a rapid pace.

It is no secret that great supervisors who successfully “get shit done”, understand the power of matching task to talent. Some simply have a knack for reading people. Some spend a significant time with subordinates getting to know their strengths and weaknesses. Others have been trained to align talent and task based on quantifying the two, enabling them to quickly identify characteristics in an individual that would be most effective to complete a required task.

The Ability to Customize Multiple Teams

Depending on the size of your organization, color coding with a system like True Colors, will allow you to build multiple teams capable of satisfying a variety of objectives. You may have objectives that require analytical skills, or maybe you have a situation that requires the specific, guided action of a tactical nature and has no room for error or experimentation.

The Sports Team Solution

Let’s go back to our sports team analogy where players have been selected based primarily on physical talent. Elite players in team sports will train, play, eat and travel together for as long as 4-5 months. Imagine the negative affect personality conflicts would have on a team’s performance and success if left unchecked.

When an entire team understands why each individual behaves the way they do, because of their most natural tendencies, they will find conflict solutions more quickly and unilaterally. In fact, conflict may be avoided altogether, simply because individuals understand each other’s behaviors and know how their own natural temperaments can be used, not only to reduce conflict, but replace it with positive action. Keep in mind, color coding is not specifically used to reduce conflict, but primarily to maximize motivation through positive reinforcement… by players and coaches.

Aligning Talent, Teams and Tasks

This same philosophy demonstrated for sports teams can also be applied in business organizations of all types. Imagine the affect of team members when they understand why Dave and Jim tend to disagree so often, or why Jane is so quiet, and how they can each be influenced to participate in a positive and productive manner unique to their character. How about having the ability to use people like Diane and Tonisha to rapidly find solutions by asking effective questions in a conducive environment?

Wouldn’t it be nice to go to your next meeting knowing that the right mix of individuals are aligned with the tasks? Or to know that you can quickly assemble functioning teams designed to solve specific problems. Think of the results you would create by simply replacing conflict with action and cooperation. By color coding your team with a simple, fun workshop, you can change the dynamics of your organization, increase productivity and sales, and finally leave meetings with accomplishments instead of headaches.

For more information on workshops contact info@smilingrhino.ca.