How to Design a Well-Rounded Team with DISC

Creating a well-rounded, balanced team is vital to your team’s success. When everyone can focus on what they do best and regularly share their unique perspectives, everyone is likely to thrive in their positions.

When you’re building or adding to a team, it’s essential to think about how different people with unique personalities will work with one another. Everyone brings their own set of strengths, blind spots, preferences, and more to a work environment. It’s important to hire people with different personalities to help create a well-rounded organization made up of many valuable perspectives.

For example, you don’t want to hire too many idealistic, creative types who may neglect to consider important specifics. Similarly, you don’t want a team exclusively made up of reserved, detail-oriented types who may have difficulty taking risks and considering new ideas.

Creating a balanced team will help the whole group learn to see the value in their personality differences, make better decisions, and thrive in their roles.

Place people in the right roles

When creating a team of diverse personalities, it’s crucial to make sure everyone is engaged with their work and can utilize their strengths--otherwise, you won’t truly have a balanced team. The best way to keep people engaged is to make sure the work they’re doing excites and invigorates them. Though their role may extend beyond what energizes them at times, people will always be at their best when they’re sufficiently motivated and making full use of their natural abilities.

Strong, assertive DISC D-types

Driven, dominant D-types tend to thrive in roles that allow them to set ambitious goals and produce measurable results. They may feel drained when they’re required to work slowly and meticulously or invest a lot of time in building relationships. D-types are most energized by roles that provide them with plenty of autonomy and control, so they may make good sales managers, operations managers, marketing directors, and more.

D-types’ strengths include…

• Committing to decisions quickly
• Having a high tolerance for risk and bold decisions
• Comfortably assuming responsibility and ownership over results
• Persistently pursuing important goals

D-types tend to be energized by behaviors like...

• Completing ambitious projects on a tight deadline
• Communicating with quick conversations and messages, only when necessary
• Taking primary responsibility and ownership over large projects
  
  

Enthusiastic, optimistic DISC I-types

Creative, innovative I-types are likely to enjoy positions that allow them to meet new people and pursue new ideas. They tend to feel exhausted and overwhelmed when needing to continually follow an unnecessary, detailed routine or work closely with specific facts and data. I-types feel most motivated in roles that give them plenty of creative freedom and tend to make great public relations specialists, account executives, sales representatives, and more.

I-types’ strengths include…

• Presenting the big picture
• Rallying support for creative ideas
• Thinking of innovative ideas
• Being quick to spot new opportunities for advancement

I-types tend to be energized by behaviors like...

• Regularly interacting with a large, diverse group of people
• Providing verbal encouragement and telling stories
• Explaining things with emotional, expressive language
  
  

Attentive, patient DISC S-types

Supportive, people-oriented S-types tend to thrive in positions that grant them security, stability, and predictability. They are often energized by group cooperation and loyalty. S-types may feel drained if they need to be assertive and blunt or work at a strict, fast pace. They feel most energized in people-centered roles and tend to make excellent counselors, human resources managers, marketing coordinators, and more.

S-types’ strengths include...

• Listening considerately to others
• Providing a stabilizing presence during challenging situations
• Considering the impact on people when making changes
• Offering support and guidance, when needed

S-types tend to be energized by behaviors like...

• Paying attention to the needs and concerns of other people
• Playing a supporting role on the team and staying out of the spotlight
• Responding to challenging situations with empathy and compassion
  
  

Detailed, thorough DISC C-types

Analytical, independent C-types thrive in roles that allow them to work independently, follow a predictable schedule, and demonstrate expertise. They often feel drained by responsibilities that require them to work through emotionally-charged issues or meet with large groups of new people. They may thrive in detail-oriented positions and likely make sound software engineers, data analysts, project managers, and more.

C-types’ strengths include...

• Maintaining focus on the problem at hand
• Identifying practical ways to help others improve
• Being straightforward, objective, and grounded in reality
• Effectively gathering information

C-types tend to be energized by behaviors like...

• Solving problems with a thorough analysis of the existing data
• Taking time to meditate on a problem before making a final decision
• Working on projects independently and bringing results back to a group

If you can structure someone’s role so they spend most of their time working on tasks that motivate and energize them, you can ensure the position will be well-aligned with their personality. By giving people responsibilities that help them thrive, you’re more likely to build a team of diverse personalities in which people can feel energized at work and make the most of their strengths.

Help your team connect

Creating a well-rounded team also means helping your team recognize and appreciate their different points of view. When you’re able to bring together different people with unique personalities, your team will have the opportunity to think through and discuss issues with many perspectives in mind and make thoughtful decisions that benefit the whole team. By learning more about each person’s natural strengths, communication styles, preferences, and more, your team members will begin to appreciate each other’s natural differences and communicate much more effectively. With practice and intention, you’ll be able to establish a well-rounded team with diversity of thought.

To help your team understand each other’s natural strengths, blind spots, energizers, drainers, and other similarities and differences, get started with Crystal.