Carol Grubbe

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HOW TO MANAGE THE OPTIMISTIC YET DISTRACTED EMPLOYEE

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In this series of Understanding Your Employees, we move onto number two of four basic personality styles based on the Everything DiSC. The “i” style.

But before we move forward, a quick recap! To decipher which of the four personality styles someone identified with, there are two basic questions to ask when it comes to reading what type of personality with which you might be engaging.

  1. Is this person people oriented or task oriented?
  2. Is this person reserved or outgoing?

When doing this though, it is important to keep in mind that people can have traits overlapping across all four types. They might portray something different at work than they do at home or with their friends. But the point of this series is to show you a general concept of the different personality types so that you can better manage based on each individual employee rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach to your management style.

If you haven’t yet read through the first two posts of this series, I would encourage you to do so first in order to see how all of this fits together. You can view them by clicking below. 

  • Two Principles Every Manager Should Know which covers two principles that I believe are important for managers to understand and the two questions to ask in order to best understand your employees.
  • How to Manage Difficult Employees which explains the concept of Everything DiSC and covers the characteristics and tips for communicating with someone who is a D-style personality.

Once you have done that, come on back to this post to learn about the i-style!

If you have already read them, well, let’s continue my friend.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE i-STYLE PERSONALITY

If the person in question is people-oriented and outgoing, you are most likely working with an “i”style person.

Here are some adjectives for people who fall on the i part of the DiSC map:

  • Enthusiastic
  • Impulsive
  • Optimistic
  • Social

For some people, this type of person is a breath of fresh air with their energy and positivity. But for others, they might be a bit draining, distracting, and difficult to manage.

While often upbeat, they sometimes have a hard time staying focused which leads to situations where you feel like you are constantly repeating yourself, asking them to get back to work because they are by the water cooler a little too often. It might seem sometimes like this type of individual doesn’t care because of their overly optimistic and la-dee-da disposition.

TIPS FOR MANAGING THE i-STYLE PERSONALITY

A really good manager recognizes that this employee can be the energy that their team needs to keep everyone connected and motivated. They bring add fun to work, brainstorm new and fresh ideas, and often persuade others to do things in a way that someone who doesn’t share this personality type might not be able to do.

So, how can you as a manager develop this person to benefit both the team and the company?

  • Give them the lead on social events for the company.
  • Ask them for team building ideas for the group.
  • Make sure they understand all of the details for their projects.
  • Provide them with options. Ensuring they get a bit of variety in their role.
  • Keep them focused on the task at hand, meeting with them regularly.

These are just a few ways to help you with this outgoing, impulsive and talkative employee. For more tips like these, download your free copy of Upgrade Your Employee 1-2-1 Checklist for Managers! And don’t miss the next blog post which will cover the S-style of Everything DiSC.

RELATED CONTENT

This article is Part 1 of 5 in Understanding Your Employees, A Series for Managers. You can find the other articles in the series here: