Question

What is the value of assessing personality types for the development, formation, and management of project teams and how does it help a project manager and motivate the project team? What are the shortcomings?

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) Let us take the basic 16 personality types of the Myer Briggs test. The MBTI test has certain personality markers that span across two ends of a scale. These markers are: Introvert or Extrovert, Intuition or Sensing, Thinking or Feeling and Judging or Perceiving.

One can use this test to know which are the extroverts, the logicians, the emotional individuals etc. Once a person has taken the test by answering a series of questions, they can be placed into a group where they can work with people that they are most compatible with. It would increase the likelihood of group members having a better rapport, producing better work and enjoying work with people that they find relatable. A project manager might give the extroverts the late shift and the introverts an early shift or the thinkers might get calculation work and the feelers might get evaluation work.

However, in the grand scheme of things, this is merely a personality test that can be used for such mundane causes. This is a personality test where these generalised markers lack context. For instance, a person might be an introvert only at certain times and an extrovert when they are around people that they are comfortable with. Furthermore, personalities are constantly evolving through our experiences, thoughts and our inherent qualities. A person who believed in judging might have made wrong judgments and has now become a perceiver or other such variations.

Such a test cannot be used for serious applications like criminal profiling, parole, psychological evaluations etc. Each mind has their own dynamics, nuanced qualities and experiences that are unique to oneself. A generalised or even a categorised form of testing would be an unfair evaluation of an individual.