Over the last few posts, I’ve been diving into four basic personalities that you’ll encounter when working with a team. When working with anyone really.
It is so that you can create a productive and engaging environment that your employees enjoy being a part of.
To quickly decipher which general personality someone is more like, I gave you two questions to ask. Is this person people oriented or task oriented? And is this person reserved or outgoing
If you haven’t been following along with this series, I would encourage you to start with Part 1, Two Principles Every Manager Should Know. This first post 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. This sort of sets you up for the last four posts of this blog series.
If you have been following right along, time to dig into the third basic personality type of Everything DiSC, the S-style.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE S-STYLE PERSONALITY
If the answers to the two questions are people-oriented and reserved, you are most likely working with an “S” style person.
Here are some adjectives for people who fall on the S quadrant of the DiSC map:
- Accommodating
- Inclusive
- Patient
- Supportive
The challenges that I see come up for people when working with these types of individuals is that the S-style person can seem so laid back at times that it seems they do not care. When really? They just want to be supportive of the environment that they are in. They typically don’t like change, conflict, or feeling pressured which leaves them trying to stay out of everyone’s way and prevents them from speaking up.
This can all be a challenge to a manager who is in charge of reinventing the company or freshening it up a bit to draw new clientele. It sometimes feels like this type of person moves as slow as a snail!
This type of individual often works best when they are able to take things slow, understand the why and how changes will happen, and experience time to process what those changes. As supportive as these individuals might be at heart, their co-workers might see them as not supporting the team’s initiatives.
TIPS FOR MANAGING THE S-STYLE PERSONALITY
An outstanding manager recognizes that this employee is the support that their team needs to keep everyone on track. This steady individual identifies with the team and can put a positive light on the changes. They are usually the ones that say, “Yes, I can help you with that,” without even blinking an eye.
This person brings the team together and cooperates with most everyone. The team feels like a family to them. While they need time to process things, they will find the easiest way to make it happen. So how can you as a manager develop this person?
- Give them the support they may need to get a project completed.
- Show them how much you appreciate them with words of affirmation.
- Be even-tempered when speaking with them.
- Know about their family and listen to their stories.
- Allow them time to adjust to any new changes.
These are just a few ways to help you with this slow-paced yet supportive employee.If you are finding this series helpful, I invite you to check out my upcoming workshop – The Key to Being a Successful Manager! Discover your management style and learn how to effectively communicate, creating loyal and unshakeable teams while using the Everything DiSC tool.
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:
- Part 1 of 5: TWO PRINCIPLES EVERY MANAGER SHOULD KNOW
- Part 2 of 5: HOW TO MANAGE THE DRIVEN YET DEMANDING EMPLOYEE
- Part 3 of 5: HOW TO MANAGE THE OPTIMISTIC YET DISTRACTED EMPLOYEE
- Part 4 of 5: HOW TO MANAGE THE SLOW-PACED YET SUPPORTIVE EMPLOYEE
- Part 5 of 5: HOW TO MANAGE THE CAUTIOUS YET ACCURATE EMPLOYEE