Question

Personality Types

Putting a team together is a difficult task. All team members cannot have the same personality; otherwise, you will have an imbalanced, monolithic bloc. You also cannot pick personnel at random; otherwise, you will end up spending much of your time trying to integrate them into a cohesive team. The reality is that you work with a multitude of different people—young, old, ambitious, less motivated, experienced, or inexperienced.

Given the fact that each person is unique, psychologists and sociologists have proposed several sets of traits that can categorize one's personality. Although the number of overall categories of people is always finite and much smaller compared to the population, the categories help us get an idea about people's character traits. Through this Discussion, you will learn a little more about yourself and others around you.To prepare for this Discussion complete a "Big Five" (OCEAN) personality assessment, such as The Big Five Personality Test or Big 5 Short Test. You will be evaluated on the following five dimensions of personality, the initials of which provide the OCEAN acronym:

Openness shows your readiness for new experiences.

Conscientiousness represents your self-discipline to plan and complete tasks.

Extroversion is the degree to which you seek out the company of others.

Agreeableness is your tendency toward compassion and cooperation.

Neuroticism, sometimes called nervousness or emotional instability, shows your predisposition toward emotions such as fear and anger.

You can learn more about the meaning of these dimensions from http://www.testsonthenet.com/cic-Big-Five.htm and http://oaks.nvg.org/eg6ra15.html

On the basis of your learning, respond to the following questions in two or three paragraphs:

Identify the two strongest dimensions of your personality—the ones that are closest to either end of the scale. Summarize your outlook and behavior in terms of these dimensions.

Which types of people and situations are the best for you to work in?

What types of personalities are the most difficult for you to interact with?

How will what you have learned as a result of this self-assessment affect your communication and resource management strategies?

Answer 1

The two strongest dimensions of my personality is conscientiousness (which represents one's self-discipline to plan and complete tasks) and agreeableness (or the tendency toward compassion and cooperation). As a conscientious person, i tend to be organized and exhibit self-discipline. I act dutifully and desire to achieve success. I prefer planned rather than spontaneous behavior. As an agreeable person, i tend to be compassionate and cooperative towards others. I trust others and also help them.

Extrovert and open people are the best for me to work with. Extroverts tend to be energetic, assertive, social and talkative. It is easy to communicate with extroverts, as they are ready to talk and have a conversation. Those who have openness to experience exhibit intellectual curiosity, creativity and an inclination for novelty. Such people have preference for different activities, rather than a monotonous routine. So, it will be easy for me to work with people, who think of new ideas and are creative. I can best work in challenging situations. Situations that demand energy and focus, keep me involved and engaged.  

Those who are low on extraversion, that is, those who tend to be reserved, aloof and self-absorbed, are the most difficult for me to interact with. It is difficult to have a conversation with introverts, as they stay reserved and want to avoid a social situation. It is also difficult to work with sensitive or nervous people, as they are vulnerable to psychological stress. The exhibit the tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily (like anger, anxiety, depression and vulnerability).

My resource management strategy will focus on developing a workforce, which is high on extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness and emotional stability. Extrovert, open, agreeable, conscientious and emotionally stable people will be easy to communicate with, as communication is the key to any kind of organizational success.