Fundamental Principles of DiSC®

All DiSC® styles and priorities are equally valuable and everyone is a blend of all four styles.

Your work style is also influenced by other factors such as life experiences, education, and maturity.

Understanding yourself better is the first step to becoming more effective when working with others.

Learning about other people’s DiSC® styles can help you understand their priorities and how they may differ from your own.

You can improve the quality of your workplace by using DiSC® to build more effective relationships.

Is DiSC® the Right Solution?
DiSC® is recommended for use in the following situations:

• Increasing an employee’s self-awareness and emotional intelligence
• Improving communication within a team, and between leaders and direct reports
• Awareness of differing personality styles, their unique strengths, and their contribution to team and task performance
• Reducing conflict between team members which may be caused by personality differences and communication approaches
• Identifying strengths and weaknesses of the team based on the breakdown of DiSC styles. Helping to identify any “gaps” (styles that are under-represented, yet important to project completion)

DiSC® is not recommended for use in the following situations:

• As a way to “fix” a challenging employee
• As the primary selection or recruiting tool
• As a solution for poor management, financial challenges, or any other significant organisational issues that may be impacting the business
• If managers have expectations that a short DiSC session will resolve long-term communication problems on the team.

Ways to position DiSC®

For Managers
Managers are first and foremost in the people business, and their job is to orchestrate people to get work done. Dealing with people is largely an art, but applying the science of DiSC® to people interactions increases effectiveness and takes some of the mystery out of the process.

The more managers know about how to read their team members and understand the dynamics of the DiSC® styles, the quicker and easier they will be able to relate to and give direction and support to each individual’s needs.

Overall, the conflict between employees will be reduced. Mistakes and frustrations in communication are minimised when communicating with an employee based on their DiSC® style. Trust is therefore built more rapidly, delegation is smoother, and employees feel more engaged and motivated. Managers can then focus more on clearing barriers and helping develop their people based on their natural strengths, instead of repeating points to make people understand the bigger picture.

For Team Members
As suggested by the Gallup Organisation’s research, having close relationships in the workplace is a key factor in employee engagement. Whilst for many this may be the case, we are often faced with colleagues that we would choose not to deal with outside the workplace.

DiSC® assessments help us to understand the natural differences between people. It helps us to realise that others may not be doing things to cause conflict but may be carrying out actions that are helping them to meet their individual motivational needs. Everything DiSC® aims to create acceptance through understanding.

Whilst no-one enjoys being involved in workplace conflict, the DiSC® assessment provides a language and process for averting and minimising any negativity. It also increases self-awareness and helps team members learn how to position themselves for success. DiSC® also helps team members learn to adapt and be flexible in their styles so they can manage their behaviours and emotions to be more successful in the workplace.

We’ve all faced times in our job roles where we’ve needed to use behaviours that aren’t entirely comfortable. DiSC® helps us to learn to adapt to these behaviours without stressing out. Through using the DiSC® assessment, we are able to understand our natural behavioural tendencies. In turn, this helps us to better manage our time, what motivates us and what may cause stress.