Putting People in the Right Spots
One part of my job that gives me tremendous personal
satisfaction is making sure people are working in the right spot. Not only is
this personally satisfying, I feel strongly that doing this is ultimately the
best for the organization.
Over the years I’ve tried several things to help me do this
and I’ve settled on two tools that are invaluable to me as I try to maximize my
employee’s efforts and get them in the right spot. Certainly, there’s nothing
wrong with simply asking the employee some questions and observing where they
seem to gather energy and what tasks or projects seem to drain them. But, from
my experience these two tools are the best way to help them settle into the
right spot and their best zone:
Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator. I’ve used several temperament tools, but I find this one to be
most effective in helping me with my people. Basically the instrument is
segmented into four preference categories and it gives you an opportunity to
completely understand an individual from those preferences. By doing this
you’ll not only better understand the individual, you’ll be able to help them
in the context of the team structure.
StrengthFinders.
Once I read Marcus Buckingham’s book, Now,
Discover Your Strengths, I realized I had a different tool to help me. With
StrengthFinders you can easily determine people’s five highest ranked strengths
and again, not only understand them better, but also put them into situations
that fuel their strengths and their personal satisfation. Consequently, they
are more productive, happier and feel a sense of accomplishment.
It’s vital to put people in their most effective working
zones and if you’re not using these two tools, I highly recommend that you give
them a try and see the positive results for your employees, your team, your
organization and yourself.
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2 Responses to “Putting People in the Right Spots”
Good stuff. StrengthFinder is an amazing tool. I’ve led 100’s of people through advanced coaching with it and continue to be impressed by how quickly even the most difficult staff people can open up to an assessment that describes them so well.
It makes sense because it’s the only such management tool that focuses on an employee’s strengths (thus the name, huh) rather than temperament or weakness.
I always suggest that people use the “big book” rather than the newly released 2.0 version, because there’s more explanation and background in the original version.
Totally agree about the “big book” it has better information.
I’m glad you are using the tool. It quickly gives the leader some solid information on which to build their team and how to shore up obvious open areas (like one team I consulted with who had no achievers, activators or responsibility – nothing got done).