I was recently at a team strategic planning meeting when a coworker brought out the dreaded personality test. As you can imagine, there were groans in the room. The ENFPs were all for it, while the INTJs thought it was a waste of time. So everyone drudged through the process and when we got our results we posted them on a grid that included four quadrants: the troubleshooter, the analyst, the stabilizer and the seeker. As names started to populate on the board, it was suddenly very apparent that we had no troubleshooters on our team.

In her article on the importance of different personalities in the workplace, author Kate McFarlin describes several ways a mix of personalities contributes to a team's success, as we share in this issue of Promotional Consultant Today.

Team Diversity: Ideally, a team is comprised of the six major personality types: driver, adventurer, energizer, cheerleader, stabilizer and perfectionist. Each person has a dominant personality type and a latent personality type. By combining all of these personalities on the same team, you have the ingredients for success. The driver and the energizer keep the rest of the team on task, the stabilizer helps smooth over any disagreements, the cheerleader improves morale, the adventurer helps the team take risks that it might not otherwise take and the perfectionist helps ensure that the project is done precisely. Take away one of these personalities, and the team may lose direction.

Motivation: Different personalities can motivate one another, while similar personalities may actually prove to be detrimental in a workplace environment. If you have too many adventurers, the team may take too many risks. If you lack stabilizers and cheerleaders, teams and employees can experience infighting and a lack of motivation. Managers typically need to have driver personalities because they are the ones capable of motivating the other personalities.

Creativity And Analysis: Not to be forgotten in the overall scheme of personalities are the two archetypes—creative and analytical. Creative team members are vital to helping companies find new ways of doing business, marketing or designing new products. Analytical personalities are necessary for the everyday tasks and making sure projects stay on time and on budget. By mixing the two archetypes, you may have disagreements, but overall, the company will be better for the combination.

So the next time you feel frustrated with your team, look around. Where is there a gap? Look to balance your team with a variety of personality types and work styles to achieve long-term success.

Source: Kate McFarlin is a licensed insurance agent with extensive experience in covering topics related to marketing, small business, personal finance and home improvement. She began her career as a web designer and also specializes in audio/video mixing and design.