Resource Outline
Introduction to Diverse Working Styles
Teams thrive when they embrace the different working styles of their members. By understanding these differences, managers and individual contributors can foster stronger team engagement and collaboration.
Best Practices
Self Awareness: Leveraging Your Own Cloverleaf Dashboard - Begin by familiarizing yourself with the different assessments available, such as DISC, Enneagram, and StrengthsFinder. Each assessment provides valuable insights into the diverse working styles of your team members.
Leverage the insights search feature to reinforce knowledge of your own strengths
Other Awareness: Check your team’s Cloverleaf profiles.
Go to the "Team Dashboard" to view key team member’s assessments and insights. This will give you an overview of their working styles and strengths.Leverage the Thinking Styles Comparison feature to understand the differences in work and communication styles between team members.
Using Cloverleaf to Understand Diverse Teams: Assessment Specific Examples in Action!
Cloverleaf offers multiple assessments to help you understand your team’s personality, communication styles, and working preferences. These insights bridge the gap between different working styles.
Scenario #1: Leveraging Enneagram Triads During Decision Making to Get Buy-In
To gain buy-in from each specific Enneagram triad: Head (types 5, 6, 7), Heart (types 2, 3, 4), and Gut (types 8, 9, 1), you can apply universal strategies based on the core motivations and concerns that define each triad as a whole. Here's how to approach each triad:
Head Triad (Types 5, 6, 7): Motivated by Thinking and Security
People in the Head triad are driven by the need to feel secure, safe, and in control of their environment. They rely on thinking and strategizing to handle uncertainty and fear.
Approach:
Provide Clarity and Certainty: Offer detailed explanations, logical reasoning, and well-thought-out plans. Members of this triad want to understand the reasoning behind a decision, so give them a clear, structured roadmap.
Address Concerns and Risks: Anticipate their need for security by addressing potential risks or uncertainties. Offer contingency plans and reassure them that you've considered possible challenges.
Encourage Questions: Invite their input and allow space for questioning. This helps them feel more in control and reduces anxiety by resolving doubts.
Heart Triad (Types 2, 3, 4): Motivated by Feelings and Connection
The Heart triad is driven by the need to feel valued, connected, and understood. They focus on relationships, emotional resonance, and how others perceive them.
Approach:
Appeal to Emotion and Connection: Make the conversation personal and emphasize how the decision will benefit others or improve relationships. Show empathy and create a sense of emotional alignment.
Acknowledge Their Contributions: Members of the Heart triad need to feel seen and appreciated. Acknowledge their strengths, contributions, and how their involvement will make a positive impact.
Connect the Decision to Personal Values: Frame the decision in a way that resonates with their values and sense of purpose. They want to feel like they are contributing to something meaningful.
Gut Triad (Types 8, 9, 1): Motivated by Instinct and Autonomy
The Gut triad operates from instinct and is concerned with issues of control, autonomy, and integrity. They want to feel empowered, in charge, and aligned with what they believe is right.
Approach:
Offer Control and Agency: Give people in the Gut triad the opportunity to take ownership of their role in the decision. Present the decision in a way that allows them to feel autonomous and in control of their actions.
Appeal to Integrity and Fairness: Make sure the decision feels just and fair. This triad is sensitive to issues of right and wrong, so highlight how the decision aligns with ethical standards and fairness.
Demonstrate Strength and Confidence: Be clear, direct, and confident in your communication. Members of this triad appreciate straightforwardness and respect those who show strength and decisiveness.
Scenario #2: Leading a Strengths-Based Team Discussion
When embarking on a new project or initiative, consider a collaborative kickoff discussion where individuals speak to how they can use 1 or 2 of their top strengths reflected on either VIA or CliftonStrengths to contribute to this project and why. This helps diverse teams start off with a deeper understanding of each other and how they can work together towards a common goal. Allow these conversations to spark leveraging team strengths for optimum success. Here is a step-by-step process for this:
NOTE: If this is not an in-tact team on Cloverleaf, use Dashboard Builder to create it!
Prepare the Team on Cloverleaf
Set Up Profiles: Ensure all team members have their profiles set up on Cloverleaf, including their completed VIA Character Strengths or CliftonStrengths assessments.
Familiarize the Team: Encourage team members to explore their own and others’ strengths via Cloverleaf before the meeting. This will allow them to better understand each other's capabilities and strengths.
Schedule a Kickoff Meeting
Define the Purpose: Schedule a meeting where the primary objective is to align on the project’s goals and determine how each team member's strengths can contribute to its success.
Prepare Team Members: Send out a pre-meeting message, asking each person to review their top strengths on Cloverleaf and consider how they can contribute to the project using 1-2 of those strengths.
Sample Meeting Outline
Introduction (5-10 minutes):
Start the meeting by explaining the purpose of leveraging strengths for the success of the project. Emphasize how everyone’s unique contributions will collectively drive the project forward.
Highlight the importance of understanding and utilizing each other’s strengths for collaboration, innovation, and problem-solving.
Individual Contributions Round (15-20 minutes)
Go around the team and have each person share 1-2 of their top strengths, as reflected in VIA or CliftonStrengths.
Ask them to briefly explain:
What the strengths are and how they generally apply to their work.
How they see these strengths contributing to the project specifically.
Example prompts:
“How can your top strength help us overcome challenges in this project?”
“How does this strength align with the project's needs or goals?”
Encourage Reflection: Encourage other team members to listen closely and reflect on how their strengths can complement their teammates’.
Facilitate Group Discussion (15-20 minutes)
As individuals share, facilitate a group discussion on how the various strengths can be combined or leveraged for the best outcomes.
Explore opportunities for collaboration, where one team member’s strengths can complement or enhance another’s contributions. For example, if one team member’s strength is "Strategic" and another’s is "Execution," discuss how they can work together effectively.
If the team notices any potential gaps in skills or strengths, brainstorm ways to address them, either through other team members’ abilities or external resources.
Action Planning (10-15 minutes)
Based on the discussion, begin to assign roles or tasks that align with individual strengths. Ensure that everyone is positioned to contribute where they are most effective.
For example, those with strengths in "Communication" may take on roles involving stakeholder engagement, while those with "Analytical" strengths may focus on data-driven decision-making.
Clarify responsibilities and expectations so that each team member knows how their strengths will be applied to specific aspects of the project.
Summarize and Document (5 minutes)
Summarize the key takeaways from the discussion, including:
The identified strengths for each team member.
How those strengths will be applied to the project.
The roles and responsibilities aligned with individual strengths.
For Managers: Using Cloverleaf to Foster Collaboration
Cloverleaf provides managers with the tools to enhance communication, delegate effectively, and manage conflicts based on team members’ working styles.
Best Practices:
Understand individual profiles: On the Cloverleaf dashboard, click on each team member's profile to access insights on their preferred working styles and communication preferences.
Adapt leadership style: Check the daily coaching tips Cloverleaf provides for each team member to guide you in adapting your leadership style based on individual needs.
Use the Reflections feature to expand on how you can customize your leadership approach to individual team members.
Conflict Mediation:
Use Cloverleaf Team Thinking Styles to understand the root of conflicts and mediate effectively by addressing differences in working styles.
Use this feature for yourself when navigating conflict between you and another person.
Use this feature in conversations with team members as you seek to mitigate conflict. This means don’t get lost in details and drama. Bring up the thinking styles comparison or assign a team member to review it and ask “What about your different working or communication styles might have contributed to this conflict?”
For Individual Contributors: Using Cloverleaf for Personal Growth
Cloverleaf offers daily tips and insights that individual contributors can use to improve their collaboration, self-awareness, and communication skills.
Best Practices:
Check your daily coaching tips: Log in to Cloverleaf and review the personalized tips provided based on your working style and assessment results. Challenge yourself to use Cloverleaf Reflections 2-3x a week
Proactively check Cloverleaf insights before collaborations: Before meetings, review your teammates' Cloverleaf profiles to tailor your communication style to their preferences and improve team interactions. Leverage features like insights Search or Dashboard Builder.
Seek feedback: Use Cloverleaf to track progress and refine your interpersonal approach based on your teammates’ feedback and their assessment data. Leverage saving tips and Cloverleaf Reflections to capture insights.