There have been a number of discussions about how effective remote work environments will prove themselves. In many ways, we have already experienced certain attributes of remote work with offshoring and distributed global teams.
Technology is one factor in the remote work equation. It seems as though the infrastructure has proven itself out, and I believe we will see new innovation in remote work infrastructure moving forward.
What about individual sentiments to remote work? Why are some people so comfortable with a remote working scenario, and some are not? I believe part of the answer to this question can be understood by using Self-Assessments.
Self-assessments have been used in the workplace for some time. Wikipedia defines self-assessments as:
... the process of looking at oneself in order to assess aspects that are important to one's identity. It is one of the motives that drive self-evaluation, along with self-verification and self-enhancement. Wikipedia
There are a number of self-assessment providers available. I have always been interested in this topic, and have had the opportunity to take a number of these assessments. It has been a fun mental exercise to compare the results.
Most of the self-assessments talk about their models, on which the results of the assessments are based. I am not recommending one model over another. I consider myself an "end-user" of these models, and don't profess to have the human psychology background to offer an accredited opinion about the quality of any of these models. As an end-user, I have found the models extremely helpful in my own leadership journey, as well as helping coach others to achieve their goals.
First, here is a quick list of the self-assessment providers (A to Z) that I have used at one point or another in my career:
| Model | Description | URL |
|---|---|---|
| Birkman | Places individuals into one of 4 color quadrants within a square (Extroverted, Task Focused, People Focused, Introverted) | Birkman |
| DISC Leadership | Places individuals into one of four color quadrants on a circle (Dominance, Influence, Conscientiousness, Steadiness) | DISC |
| Hogan | Breaks down individual assessment into a number of leadership categories | Hogan |
| Meyers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) | Puts an individual on 4 different scales: Extraversion - Introversion; Sensing - Intuition; Thinking - Feeling; Judging - Perceiving; | MBTI |
| Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI) | Places individuals into one of 3 color zones in a triangle based on items such as Motivational Value System, Conflict Sequence, etc. | SDI |
Generally speaking, you begin the assessment by answering a number of multiple-choice questions. The questions can require a "binary choice" that is hard to make at times, though I would recommend you give your best "gut" response. An example of a true or false question might be:
I feel anxious when I attend a large meeting when I may have to answer questions.
There is no wrong or right answer to any of these questions. In fact, I've seen services that offer assistance to pass these self-assessment tests. Though I have never explored any of these services, in my opinion, there is no pass or fail! You achieve the best results by answering as open and honestly as possible.
One point of note - after taking these self-assessments, I've found the results are fairly consistent! The models provide valuable opportunities to learn different things about yourself - leading to multiple personal insights. If you are in a leadership role, self-reflection is a great way to improve your coaching skills, and I found this particular set of exercises really helpful.
I believe that everyone should try at least one of the above models. There are some providers that have a free online test that you can take. If your open to the idea, you will learn something about yourself.
As a leader, I've found the models really helpful when diagnosing a communication scenario going astray. They have helped me frame up communication scenarios from a different perspective. An example might be the Meyers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Thinker - Feeler model.
Alice is an MBTI Thinker. She does not understand why John, a MBTI Feeler, always seems to be unsupportive at the resource planning meetings. John seems more concerned about what people want to work on, instead of the most efficient way to complete the project. MBTI Thinker-Feeler
Being aware of the MBTI Thinker-Feeler model, as a leader, you could choose to have a 3-way conversation to help facilitate more productive discussions in the future between Alice and John.
I've found that on rare occasion, team members may reject the idea that people can be quantified by one of these models. In a sense, this is true. Continuing to build on the Thinker/Feeler model, I've encountered some people who believe they are 50% Thinkers and 50% Feelers (as an example).
So why use the models at all?
In certain situations, I believe most of us have a propensity to react in a somewhat predictable way. Some of the models focus on how you react based on the situation you are in. In my opinion, the models are not absolute guard rails to how people interact. The models can be thought of as general trail guides that can be helpful to navigate certain conversations.
There is an immediate benefit for individual leadership growth if you choose to take a self-assessment. The holistic benefit for the team occurs when you secure a consultant trained on the model, for a 60 to 90-minute discussion with the group after everyone takes the self-assessment. Note: Typically, the vendors of the models will try to sell add-on services related to the model, which if you're in a position to entertain, I would consider those services.
Your consultant can lead the team through a post self-assessment discussion which becomes invaluable moving forward. (Note that the results of the individual self-assessments can be shared anonymously with the consultant prior or during the debrief session).
I recommend you ask the consultant to work through how the different self-assessment types interact with other. What behaviors might you see, and how might you improve communications? In our MBTI example above, the consultant might discover that the team has a large number of Thinkers, and can make recommendations about how different MBTI types can interact.
You won't be able to cover all the different self-assessment type combinations in an hour. There are just too many combinations to cover in a short period of time for most people's schedules. You can learn how to have your own discussions by observing how the consultant approaches the subject. The team can then take that skill and apply it to other communication scenarios it will encounter in the future.
If you decide to move forward with one of these models, I would highly recommend that you make participation voluntary. I've found that most team members opt-in. The few that opt-out, often ask to attend a follow-on session after they see their colleagues talking about the results.
I have worked with a number of globally distributed, multi-discipline teams. Understanding that there are different personality types, and being able to fit them into a model, albeit not a perfect model, has definitely helped move "snagged" conversations forward. Knowing what a particular individual needs are in an interaction, can make a big difference to the success of future conversations.
As an aside, I recently took the Birkman self-assessment online. Afterwards, a consultant held the post self-assessment meeting on an online Zoom meeting. The consultant put up the Birkman square in the online meeting, opened the annotations, and asked meeting attendees to annotate the Birkman square in real-time with their type Birkman Square
This led to a healthy discussion about the distribution of types in the group and how the different types might have challenges or opportunities to improve their collaboration. I believe this online session was a resounding success.
I would definitely recommend that if your goal is to be a self-aware leader, try to take one (or more) of these self-assessments. Even if you don't have the larger team take the self-assessments, I believe it will help make you a better leader.
To gain traction within the organization, I recommend you start a conversation with Human Resources. Your company may already have an existing relationship with one of the model vendors, or better yet, one of the HR Representatives may be trained on one of the models! The more people aware of the model in your organization, the better.
If you don't find a connection in HR that can help, you can speak with other thought leaders in the company. Maybe they have taken a self-assessment and could become a champion.
Self-assessments can help with the following:
In closing, based on my experience, this process can add value to remote teams, and it can all be accomplished online!
Here are some links to self-assessment report samples, sorted Z to A
| Report Name | URL |
|---|---|
| SDI sample report | SDI |
| Meyers Briggs Sample Report | MBTI |
| Hogan Sample Report | Hogan |
| DISC Sample report | DISC |
| Birkman sample report | Birkman |