Use DISC to get the best workplace personality pairings
Adam Stamm
Managing Partner: Online DISC Profile
Every workplace will have a diverse range of employees, all with different personalities and traits, and as a result, there will be people who work better with some than with others.
Workplace camaraderie and a positive work environment are crucial for businesses to maintain. In a survey, more than four out of five employees (83.4%) said that they value a positive work environment, and nearly a third of employees from the same survey cited that they have quit a job because of a toxic or negative workplace.
Business managers need to understand their employees’ personalities and ensure they work in the best teams for them, ultimately creating a happy work environment, and using DISC assessments is one way to do this.
In this article, we examine the 12 DISC personality types and how workplace leaders can utilize these types to identify which employees are likely to pair well with others, offering guidance on building effective teams.
The ideal DISC pairings for the four main personality types
Analyzing the four main DISC personality types, this article details the ideal pairings for each.
These pairings aim to serve as a guide; it is essential to note, however, that self-awareness is the key to unlocking the power between personality types and the workplace.
Each employee will need to recognize that while one person might approach a task in a certain way, another person may have a preferred alternative approach, knowing this is vital to working well together.
If each person can recognize that they are leaning too heavily on a certain characteristic of their work style, only then can they recognize that their strength has become a weakness. All personalities have the potential to become a double-edged sword if wielded incorrectly.
Dominance (D)
Those with a Dominance personality are naturally quite direct and competitive. They appreciate results but tend not to be detail-oriented and prefer others to handle the details.
They are likely to take control of situations and interact with others in a fast-paced manner.
D-type personalities would benefit from being paired with two different types:
| DISC Type | Paired with |
|---|---|
|
Dominance Types |
Conscientious types:
Does one of your team members focus on all of the little details? In contrast to Dominance personality types, C-types have a strong attention to detail. They will be the ones in the team to be methodical and precise, whilst the D-types will be leading and asserting the jobs that need to be done. When both styles understand each other’s behavioral needs, they can work very well together and complement their strengths. Steadiness types:
S-types will prioritize harmony and act in a supportive role, so if a D-type gets irritated or argumentative, then S-types can offer support and guide feelings toward harmony. |
Influence (I)
Those with the I-type personality will be social people and generally quite talkative. They are keen on being collaborative, are positive, and quick to trust others.
This is how they could be paired:
| DISC Type | Paired with |
|---|---|
|
Influence Types |
Steadiness types:
Is a project feeling a little chaotic and in need of grounding? S-types will listen patiently and are interested in what others have to say. They can give someone who is an I-type, and perhaps quite energetic, the benefit of the doubt and work well with them to manage their energy and offer a side of harmony. |
Steadiness (I) and Conscientious (C)
We’ve grouped Steadiness (S) and Conscientious (C) together in their own section because they have a strong connection to each other, with easily pairable traits.
Steadiness personality types want harmony and consistency in their lives, and because of this, often act as the counselor in any group. They are also very supportive, likely to give others the benefit of the doubt, and listen patiently.
Conscientious types are those determined to stick with a problem until it’s solved and love to pay attention to the small details. They fear being wrong and will typically take longer on projects to avoid this happening.
They pair well with each other:
| DISC Type | Paired with |
|---|---|
|
Steadiness types |
Conscientious types:
Is a fear of making mistakes causing a project to run over, in turn causing workplace stress? C-types want to understand everything about a task first, to ensure that they do it accurately, which means they are likely to be strong listeners. This is a key trait for S-types, so the two will work well together. Also, as S-types crave consistency and harmony, C-types will be well matched because they are methodical and precise, meaning they are likely to offer consistency in their working style, benefiting an S-type. |
|
Conscientious types |
Steadiness types:
As S-types are cheerleaders, they can make sure the C-types, who are worried about doing it wrong, feel okay and in control.
They are also risk-averse and like consistency, so this will ease a C-type’s mind and help them feel in control. |
Next, we will examine how the different combination profiles (subgroups) are paired.
Before we move on to that topic, it’s essential to note that each employee will need to recognize that while one person might approach a task in one way, another person may have a preferred alternative way, knowing this is vital to working well together.
Each employee will need to recognize that while one person might approach a task in a certain way, another person may have a preferred alternative approach, knowing this is vital to working well together.
The ideal pairings for the DISC subgroups
While the four main styles represent the core structure of the DISC Model of behavior, each style can also be combined with an adjacent style to provide a more nuanced insight into an individual’s personality.
In this section, we examine which subgroups pair well with other subgroups – this is not to say that subgroups cannot pair with the four dominant personality types. The lesson here is to recognize the potential personalities.
Dominance subgroups
The two subgroups of the Dominance type are Dominance Influence (DI) and Dominance Conscientious (DC), and their traits are as follows:
Dominance Influence
These are assertive, persuasive, and results-driven, with a tendency to look at results through a “win-lose” lens.
Dominance Conscientious
These individuals have a strong-willed personality, are determined, and excel at critical thinking. They tend to want to feel like experts in their field and fear failing to meet their own high standards.
Consider these pairings:
| DISC Type (subgroup) | Paired with |
|---|---|
|
Dominance Influence |
Influence Dominance:
Is the team being too black and white? The enthusiastic nature and influential drive in ID-types mean that they will likely be results-driven like DI types, and the enthusiasm will pair well with this. |
|
Dominance Conscientious |
Conscientious Steadiness:
The DC style can have a fear of failure, but are often also determined and good at critical thinking, pairing them well with CS types who are careful, prepared and also tend to be perfectionists, meaning their work will often be thought out and likely very good, potentially making the DC type more confident. The high attention to detail of CS types will also match well with the critical thinking of a DC type. |
Influence subgroups
The two subgroups of the Influence type are Influence Dominance (ID) and Influence Steadiness (IS), and their traits are as follows:
Influence Dominance
These are similar to the DI-styles, but instead of Dominance being the primary personality, Influence takes the lead, and therefore they are more upbeat, enthusiastic, but still very influential. They also fear being trapped in a fixed environment or losing the approval of others.
Influence Steadiness
IS-types offer high levels of empathy and a strong need to connect with others. It is because of this that they are welcoming, trusting, and easygoing and generally try to avoid conflict.
Consider these pairings:
| DISC Type (subgroup) | Paired with |
|---|---|
|
Influence Dominance |
Influence Steadiness:
Does a member of your team feel like they’re doing all the talking? The steadiness part of this type means that they will be trusting and welcoming and have a strong need to connect with others. This works well with the ID types who are upbeat and enthusiastic. |
|
Influence Steadiness |
Steadiness Conscientious:
Do you work with someone who always likes to avoid conflict and stay cautious?
This type would pair well with the IS type because they are modest yet cautious, so this would work well with the trusting and welcoming nature of IS types. The cautiousness will also ease IS types who try to avoid conflict. |
Steadiness subgroups
The two subgroups of the Steadiness type are Steadiness Influence (SI) and Steadiness Conscientious (SC), and their traits are as follows:
Steadiness Influence
Those with this DISC type are the cheerleaders in a group; they do not like conflict and always want to be on hand to help others. They want to bring people together and tend to prioritize this over themselves.
Steadiness Conscientious
These types of people are generally very risk-averse, cautious, and value stability. They prefer to get on with work behind the scenes and can be soft-spoken.
Consider these pairings:
| DISC Type (subgroup) | Paired with |
|---|---|
|
Steadiness Influence |
Dominance Conscientious:
Have you ever experienced two strong-willed employees wrestling for control? The DC types are strong-willed and can take control, so the fact that SI types seek to serve others will mean they complement each other. DC types also fear failing, so the cheerleading SI types can help with this. |
|
Steadiness Conscientious |
Influence Steadiness:
Have you ever spotted an employee disengaging and reserving their input?
As above, from the perspective of the IS type, SC types, who prefer to work behind the scenes and act with caution, might find the easy-going and welcoming nature of IS types easier to work alongside. |
Conscientious subgroups
The two subgroups of the Conscientious type are Conscientious Dominance (CD) and Conscientious Steadiness (CS), and their traits are as follows:
Conscientious Dominance
CD-types generally use logic to control situations and hold themselves to a high standard. It is because of this that they often achieve efficient results when at work.
Conscientious Steadiness
Those who are the Conscientious Steadiness type will have high levels of attention to detail, which can cause them to err on the side of perfectionism.
Consider these pairings:
| DISC Type (subgroup) | Paired with |
|---|---|
|
Conscientious Dominance |
Dominance Influence:
Does the pace of work seem inconsistent across team members? As CD types want efficient results, and DI types are results-driven, they would work well together. And whilst DI types will be assertive when working on a task, the CD types will be using logic to control the situation |
|
Conscientious Steadiness |
Dominance Conscientious:
Have you ever noticed someone striving too hard to be perfect in everything they do?
As above, from the perspective of the DC type, the CS type’s high level of attention to detail would benefit from a DC type’s critical thinking; the two would go hand in hand when working together. |
Specific workplace pairings for teams
In any given job, there will be a wide range of projects or tasks that need to be completed, and managers might want to be extra considerate when building these teams to ensure the best outcome.
Teamwork is an essential part of any job, and working well in a team is important, as is evidenced by Ahrefs search data. Globally, 2k people are searching “working as a team” every month, and 3.5k for “teamwork skills”.
Data from AlsoAsked suggests that people in the US want to know about team dynamics, with some of the top questions including:
- What are the 4 pillars of team building?
- What are the dynamics of a team?
- How do teams develop?
- How to build a loyal team?
- How to structure a team?
Google Trends also shows an upward trend in the last five years of US searches for “how to work well with a team”, with 1k searches in the past month.
If you apply DISC training to your workplace, employees will not only be self-aware of their traits but also of their colleagues. Once this happens, it is likely to lead to a happy work environment where employees can work well in any team.
But it is also useful for managers to know that some employees will undoubtedly be better suited for some tasks than others. Managers can utilise their knowledge of someone’s personality type to assign them specific tasks better fitted to their traits and pair them with the best people, as detailed below.
Creative tasks
For creative tasks, a manager might consider pairing Influence types with Steadiness types to get the best outcome.
Creativity is often seen as very collaborative, with the need for a variety of literal and lateral ideas being bounced around. I-types are naturally very collaborative and social, and so this type of thinking will be very useful.
S-types listen very carefully to others, which is important during creative mind-mapping sessions when lots of ideas are being discussed. There can sometimes be heated debates over the right route to take for creativity, as it is very subjective, so having Steadiness types, who are naturally the counselors, will be beneficial to the team.
Long tasks
Longer tasks are best suited to someone who prefers to take a methodical and steady approach to work.
Along with quick tasks, managers can give longer tasks to those who are a Conscientious type. They can optimize their skill set of paying attention to detail and apply this to the chunkier, longer tasks that require more thorough checks.
Managers could then consider pairing C-types in this scenario with Influence types for their collaborative spirit. As tasks with length will likely need input from others, the I-type can offer this collaboration and positive energy that they also possess.
Get the best out of your teams
To promote a positive work environment and happy employees, businesses need to recognize that each of their employees has unique personality traits, and that they can utilize this understanding to ensure the best workplace pairings for everyday tasks and specific projects or assignments.
DISC is an excellent tool for this, and having this knowledge and understanding will enable business leaders to manage their teams effectively, extract the best work from their employees, and ultimately foster a positive and thriving workplace.
DISC assessments and training can be conducted at any workplace. We offer a complimentary DISC leadership assessment for managers who want to learn how understanding their employees’ personality types can help them enhance their leadership skills.
Please fill out the form below if you would like to discuss how to implement DISC within your workplace.
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