Are you in the dark about your team’s strengths?
Not knowing the strengths within your team is like fumbling in the dark to get stuff done.
That’s why strengths coordination is the #1 most important skill project leaders need to have.
Recognising and leveraging each team member’s unique abilities improves task alignment, communication, and creativity, which ultimately boosts productivity and engagement.
In other words, playing to a team’s diverse strengths leads to better performance and project outcomes.
What do the stats say?
Gallup’s research shows that when managers focus on strengths, employees are:
- 6 x more likely to be engaged in their work.
- 8% more productive.
- 15% less likely to quit.
And organisations that play to their strengths experience a 29% increase in profit and 72% lower turnover in high-turnover organisations.
This makes sense because when team members are given tasks that align with their strengths, they are naturally more motivated and productive.
Whereas NOT playing to team strengths can mean:
- misaligned tasks leading to time-and-budget-draining doubling up or process gaps.
- escalating unhealthy conflict from misunderstood working styles.
- stifled creativity because of groupthink or single-person dominance.
- missed deadlines and opportunities thanks to poor communication.
- frustration and burnout from the stress of trying to work ‘in the dark’.
It’s tempting to think everyone should have the same approach to getting things done, yet just because others go about something differently doesn’t mean they (you) are ‘wrong’.
But how do you identify individual strengths (especially when the project is short-term with little time to find out) and what can you do if it turns out that everyone has pretty much the same ones?
That’s where a personality profiling workshop like True Colors makes it easy and quick. At the same time, the team discovers what makes each other tick.
How does personality profiling make a difference to project management?
Acknowledging individual contributions to the team’s overall strength and success instead of expecting each person to be excellent at everything in their job description creates a more attractive and fulfilling work environment.
An engaged team is more likely to stay for the long ride and your own time won’t be diverted to recruiting recruit new members.
Stress affects everyone differently and sometimes we don’t recognise how it takes shape in others (or ourselves). Stress can compromise personal and team performance capacity, regardless of individual or collective strengths. Recognising different triggers means you can anticipate stress points and prevent misunderstandings from escalating into conflicts, which in turn cause costly delays and mistakes.
How does True Colors help project leaders?
True Colors is a simple, accessible tool that helps you understand each team member’s core strengths – fast. For example:
- Golds are organised, responsible, and detail-oriented.
- Greens are analytical, logical, and innovative problem-solvers.
- Blues are compassionate, empathetic, and strong communicators.
- Oranges are energetic, spontaneous, and adaptable.
As the project lead, you’ve got a lot of moving parts to handle – deadlines, resources, stakeholder expectations, and of course, your team. When you understand the individual strengths and communication preferences of each team member, you can better manage the project and keep the team on track towards success.
So, knowing who on your team is the:
- organised, detail-oriented planner and checker
- analytical problem-solver and project designer
- empathetic and creative communicator
- adaptable innovator and calculated risk taker
means you’re able to:
- optimise resource allocation, like putting analytical Greens on complex problems and collaborative Blues on team connectivity.
- enhance communication, because some people need data-driven discussions while others value the walk over the talk.
- recognise and prevent stress triggers – who struggles with chaos and who resists rigid structures?
Why is recognising individual strengths so important for project leaders?
In the Journal of Business Research, Human Resource Studies academics at Tilburg University in The Netherlands identified “strengths coordination” as a key determinant of team performance. They also noted that the “effects on individual performance are negative when strengths diversity is low.”
You’ve got to know what strengths you have and which ones you’re lacking to understand what your team needs to perform better.
True Colors training with your team helps you to identify strength gaps, so when you’re adding to the team or building your next one, you know what to look for and what you don’t need more of.
It’s also useful for pinpointing opportunities for professional and personal development for each person and as a team.
Plus, when you know what strengths each team member likes to exercise, you can consider new ways to motivate and incentivise them.
If you want to stop fumbling in the dark and find out your team’s strengths faster, book a complimentary, unconditional Tell Me More call.