Moving Beyond the Basics – Getting more out of the MBTI ^® assessment

Written by Shawn Bakker

The first step in using the MBTI ^® instrument is to help people gain a greater understanding of themselves and others. This provides many initial aha moments for people, but continuing the process can be difficult. To get more out of the MBTI assessment you need to help people/teams further their understanding of type differences and apply what they learn to deal with situations more effectively. In this article I want to highlight a few activities that you can use to engage teams that will help them make better use of their new type knowledge.


Activity One - Examining team members contributions

Step 1 - Have team members share their contributions to the team and organization. Introduction to Type in Organizations lists some of the common contributions for each personality type and can help participants get the discussion going. Make a list of the different contributions that people make on a flip-chart where everyone can see them. Tip – Ask for specific examples of each type’s contributions.

Step 2 – Have the team discuss how they can best utilize the skills of the entire team. If they cannot identify when a particular group/individual’s contributions are helpful then challenge them by asking “Why aren’t we making use of this?” and “How could we benefit if we did?”

Step 3 – Write down agreements and specify a time in the future to assess how well the team has been able to make better use of each member’s contributions.

Activity Two – Helping teams get the best out of their preference differences

The point of this exercise is to look at each of the 4 dichotomies and have people with different preferences come to an understanding about how to work together.

Step 1 – Start by asking “We need to get the best from both Extraverts and Introverts, so how can the team provide what each group needs?”

Step 2 – Have team members identify specific actions that relate to their daily work which help them to be more effective. You can also have team members with one preference make requests of team members with the opposite preference. Extraverts might ask Introverts to engage in more brainstorming, and Introverts might ask Extraverts for some information to consider before the brainstorming session.

Step 3 – Write down agreements and then move on to the next dichotomy until you have covered them all. If certain preferences are missing in a team, ask them to identify their possible blind spots and list ways they can “overcome” this deficit or ensure the missing perspective is taken into account.

Step 4 – Identify a time in the future when the team will assess whether their agreements are meeting the needs of the E’s and I’s, S’s and N’s, T’s and F’s, J’s and P’s.

Activity Three – Team decision making – using type preferences to cover all the bases

This exercise is very helpful with teams that are struggling with a problem or having difficulty making a decision. It focuses on the function pairs (S-N and T-F) because they illuminate the type of information that people gather and trust, as well as how they evaluate that information to make choices.

Step 1 – Have the team identify a problem or decision that the team is currently working on or struggling with.

Step 2 – Tell the team members that to gather the appropriate information and weigh it effectively they need to cover all the bases or information gathering and evaluation. These bases line up with their middle preference letters, S and N, T and F.

Step 3 – Have everyone gather at a flip-chart labeled Sensing. With the problem or decision in mind, ask the group to make Sensing notes (you may need to rely on team members with the Sensing preference at first). Ask Sensing questions such as:

• What is the situation now?

• What are the facts?

• What has and has not already worked?

• Mark down the answers
  
  

Step 4 – Move on to a flip-chart labeled Intuition. Ask the group to make Intuitive notes (you may need to rely on team members with a preference for Intuition at first). Ask Intuitive questions such as:

• What interpretations do the facts lead to?

• What future possibilities are available?

• What insights do you have?

• Mark down the answers
  
  

Step 5 – Move to a flip-chart labeled Thinking. Ask Thinking questions such as:

• What are the pros and cons of our various options?

• What are the logical consequences of our choices?

• What objective criteria would we like to have satisfied?
  
  

Step 6 – Move to a flip-chart labeled Feeling. Ask Feeling preference questions such as:

• What will be the effect on people in the organization of our choices?

• How will others react to the different options?

• What values are related to each choice?
  
  

Step 7 – After the entire team has answered the questions for each preference station, bring all the information together and have them focus on solving their problem or making the decision now that they have gathered more information and methods of evaluation.

Tip – for additional questions to ask each of the preferences you can refer to page 30 in Introduction to Type^® in Organizations.