For modern companies, it seems the answer to every team working challenges can be answered by exploring the use of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) in team-building activities — and using the advice they’re promoting.
However, there’s an art to using Myers-Briggs in team building activities.
You’ve probably heard of some of the uses of psychometric tests but in this case we should start at the beginning.
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a personality assessment that categorizes individuals into one of 16 personality types based on their preferences across 4 dichotomies:
- Extraversion (E) vs Introversion (I).
- Sensing (S) vs Intuition (N).
- Thinking (T) vs Feeling (F).
- Judging (J) vs Perceiving (P).
To help you find the best of the best uses of MBTI, we want to stress that knowing team members’ MBTI personality types can help managers better understand individual work styles, strengths, and potential areas for growth.
Background on Using MBTI in Team Building
What’s going on with the use of personality style tests in teams?
If you haven’t asked yourself this question, then you probably haven’t seen the past endless discussions that took over team working forums.
In fact, there was a moment, not long ago, when it seemed that everyone was talking about using MBTI in team building. However, changes in how teams operate since the pandemic has somewhat cooled this attention – despite the considerable benefits they can generate for a company.
We believe that by laying out what these tests involve should help determine whether you should use them or not.
In basic terms, MBTI first involves having team members complete the assessment to determine their type. This allows managers to see the personality composition and employee strengths of their team.
Of course, this all may seem fairly simple but the good news is that managers can then use this knowledge to:
- Improve communication by understanding how different types of individuals prefer to give and receive information.
- Assign tasks and roles based on team members’ natural strengths.
- Identify potential blindspots or weaknesses to be aware of.
- Build more well-rounded teams with a balance of perspectives.
The Value of MBTI in Team Building
It’s important to contextualize MBTI.
There is no such thing as a single “application” of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), but there’s definitely a desired way to apply this assessment.
Whether you’re a die-hard who prefers sticking to a what’s written on the manual or the type of person willing to undertake something new when developing team activities, your intentions have a lot to do with what happens next.
What we can say with certainty, it that the experts tell us that using MBTI in team building provides many benefits. To illustrate:
- Enhanced mutual understanding between team members.
- Appreciation of differences in work styles and perspectives.
- More effective collaboration as a result of adapting to team members’ preferences.
- Increased self-awareness for individual team members.
- Better conflict resolution by understanding clashes may result from personality differences.
Features and Benefits of MBTI in Team Building
The easiest way to break it down is to first consider the key features of using MBTI in team building situations. These features include an:
- In-depth personality framework for understanding work preferences.
- Identification of 16 specific personality types.
- Assessment that can be easily administered to employees.
This is the time in the post where it must be said that the benefits MBTI provides is that it:
- Helps managers tailor communication, feedback, and management style to each employee.
- Allows employees to play to their natural strengths and manage weaknesses.
- Builds more complementary teams when forming new groups or projects.
5 Tips for Using MBTI in Team Building
In the team building world, the best use of psychometric are put on a pedestal, praised for their ability to new opportunities into team development initiatives.
When incorporated into your team-building efforts, these tried and tested products will also speed up team development.
Here are five basic tips for using MBTI in team-building:
- Have each team member take the MBTI assessment if they haven’t already.
- Share team members’ types among the group so everyone is aware.
- Discuss commonalities and differences between types.
- Use MBTI insights when assigning roles to play to strengths.
- Adapt your communication and management style to fit each member’s preferences.
Instructions for Using MBTI in Team Building
It may seem tedious, but the order of application really does impact how well MBTI can benefit your team working activities.
Here are step-by-step instructions on using MBTI in team building activities:
- Administer the MBTI assessment – There’s a reason administration comes first. You need to have employees take the official MBTI questionnaire. Experts recommend that you offer access through an external provider.
- Share results – Once completed, have team members share their 4-letter type with the group. Create a table listing all members and their types.
- Discuss types – Review descriptions of each preference pair (E/I, S/N, T/F, J/P). Talk about how types manifest on your team.
- Identify strengths and blindspots – Based on types, note team strengths and potential blindspots. Discuss how to optimize strengths and compensate for blindspots.
- Tailor teambuilding activities – Choose activities suited to your team’s personality makeup. For example, more introverted teams may prefer small group vs. large group activities.
- Form project groups – Use MBTI to intentionally create balanced project groups in terms of types, strengths, and blindspots.
- Improve communication – Note how different types prefer to receive communication and feedback. Adjust your approach accordingly.
Conclusion
There are so many choices in terms of team activities.
In fact, it’s hard to even think about options since usually the selection just has to fit into what is happening in the company at that moment.
Such is especially the case when most teams are so busy, and we select something to tick that box, and go back to deal with the drama we were facing.
But let’s be honest: seelections like that aren’t exactly the best for your teams and company. What’s more, such decisions come with fallen assumptions of returns that seldom are realized.
However, using Myers-Briggs in team building does allow managers to better understand individual team members and can help to create a more complementary team.
By administering the MBTI assessment, sharing results, and having open discussions, managers can also tailor communication, assign appropriate roles, and build teams optimized for success.
And, with improved mutual understanding, teams can collaborate more effectively.
To discover more about how our training course materials can help you to increase learner engagement, provide effective training courses, and extend your team’s knowledge, please take a moment to review our frequently asked questions, special offers, and training course material.
