Collaborating Personality Types

I believe that collaboration is essential to a successful work environment regardless of what you ar doing for a living. That is not to say that collaboration must occur in all circumstances, however the feeling that it is possible and acceptable is necessary. Collaboration provides us with the opportunity see perspectives different from our own and to examine situations through many different lenses. This is especially significant in teaching because you are dealing with a great number of different personality types for prolonged periods and being able to view the actions of those personality types from different points of view and to work with them is extremely important to the success of the environment, whether the personality you are interacting with belongs to a student or to a peer.

In our blog post last week we discussed what misbehaviour is and the different reasons behind it and ways of controlling it. One of the most important things that was stressed in B&S was understanding the motivation behind a behaviour in order to best understand how to respond appropriately and to prevent its reoccurance. This is the same for working and collaborating with different personality types. The key is to understand the type of personality an individual possesses and what motivates that personality. By understanding these qualities we are better able to predict the reactions of those we work this and therefore decide the best way to work with and approach them.

For example the personality type I was given based on the Myers-Briggs test was an ISTJ (44% Introverted, 25% Sensing, 12% Thinking, 67% Judging). Taking this representation as fact (which in my opinion is open to debate, for while I agree with some aspects of this personality type in reference to myself there are others that I do not connect with, a feeling that I shared the first time I took this test a few weeks ago in another class when my result was an ISFJ which though similar does have some key differences) I can be classified as a "Guardian Inspector" personality type. Individuals of this type are very dependable and take great care in looking after items left in their hands, they make sure that rules are followed, laws are respected, and standards are upheld. This could easily come into conflict with someone with an ESFP personality type as the actions of the ISTJ could easily be construed as boring and unadventurous while the ESFP and their fun-filled attitude could be construed as irresponsible or flighty. By understanding where these traits come from, a place of loyalty and dependability for the ISTJ and a place of optimism for the ESFP, we can become at the very least tolerant of the behaviours of each and learn to appreciate the positives of each personality type, collaborating in the use of each individuals' strengths rather than being accusatory of their weaknesses.

As others before me have stated it is not realistic to expect people to be able to get along 100% of the time, however by making an effort to understand the different personality types, what they mean, and what they are motivated by we can significantly reduce the number of conflicts we face in the school. While there are undoubtedly some personality types that we will never find ourselves instinctively drawn to as there are certain personality traits that simply do not mesh well together by understanding those triats (whether we agree or not) we can at the very least have the potential to work cordially with them.