Different personalities at work

Differences at work can arise as a result of the different ways people work and behave. Some people can interact with almost anyone, whereas some may have friction with others. The ways we interact will affect our relationships and stress levels at work.

Everyone has a unique style in interaction and communication with others.  There is however no such thing as a good personality style, or a poor personality style. Everyone can be flexible and are able to vary their styles of communication and interaction to adapt to different environments. We can choose to behave differently in various environments.

The better we can get along with people, the more flexible our style of interaction and communication. When we face trouble getting along with others, our stress levels increase. This is due to our feelings of agitation, irritation or anger during the interactions. In such times, we have to examine how we can interact better by changing the way we behave and communicate.

The DISC personality style model helps us in identifying our unique personality type. It helps us to understand ourselves and others better. We can understand how our styles of behaviours come across to others, how others’ styles affect us and how we can adjust our styles of interaction in order to improve our work relations and reduce stress.

Briefly DISC classifies 4 main categories of styles.

·         D for Dominance, driven, direct

·         I for influencing, intuitive, spontaneous

·         S for stable, solid, structured

·         C conscientious, correct

Everyone’s personality style is unique; there are different combinations of the four major styles at different intensities.