We all know that one person who is a stickler for the rules, who follows processes to a T and who has a well ordered and planned approach to getting things done. If you need their help in a tight turnaround, you know you’ll be safe in their hands. But if you need them to bend the rules just slightly, you may be hard pushed to get them to change their ways.
Then there’s the opposite type of person, who is more free-thinking, less bound to rules and likes to challenge the status quo. The type of person who lives for the moment and takes things as they come. If you’re looking for a new approach or way of doing things, they will be up for the challenge. But their casual and unplanned manner might make you question their reliability.
These are two people with very different personalities. One whose Facet5 profile would show them to have a high Control score. And the other whose profile would reveal them to be at the low end of the Control scale.
Control is one of the five factors of personality measured by Facet5. It aligns with conscientiousness, one of the five personality traits widely recognised as one of the building blocks of personality.
Control, or conscientiousness, refers to the amount of self-discipline and responsibility a person has. High Control individuals may be described as logical, reliable and practical. But may also be seen as authoritarian, inhibited and uncompromising. Low Control people, on the other hand, may be seen as easy-going, liberal and creative. But also as irresponsible, unfocused and amoral.
An employee’s personality can be a good indicator of the types of roles they would suit best, how they approach their work, and how they interact with others in a team.
The challenge for organisations with a mix of high and low Control employees is helping them to work together more effectively. In many ways, their behavioural preferences complement each other. There’s someone to get a project off the ground, and another to make sure it’s seen through until the end.
But their differences may also cause conflict to arise. A highly controlled and disciplined employee may get frustrated at the “maverick” colleague who comes across as too casual, unplanned and even unreliable. Meanwhile, the more liberal and free-spirited employee may see their colleague's attempts at control as stifling individuality and become frustrated with them for not being open to new ways of doing things.
The practical solution is to help employees to build self-awareness of their own preferences, as well as helping them to understand the preferences of those they work with.
Self-awareness helps people to understand their core preferences, strengths and weaknesses, as well as how their behaviour may come across to others who are very different from them. This knowledge gives people the power to adapt their behaviour when necessary for the good of the team. What's more, if people understand each other's natural preferences, they can become more powerful as a team by delegating tasks accordingly.
How would you like to start a conversation?