Comparing GRI Profiles for Team Success

The comparison of GRI profiles between team members is a feature that our clients find very useful.

By comparing the profiles, team members and their managers develop a greater understanding of their differences, including learning to accept them and to use them to the team’s advantage. Instead of working against each other and wasting valuable time in conflict and misunderstandings, they are able to match each individual’s preferred behaviors to appropriate tasks and become more efficient and productive.

How Do We Compare Profiles?

Take a look at the comparison of Jon and Pat in the image below.

The Profile Similarity percentage indicates how much difference there is between the two behavior profiles. It does not say if Jon and Pat match and get along, but rather the extent of adaptation required in order to adapt to the other’s behavior and style.

In the charts below Jon and Pat’s photos, the dots represent the four major personality factors used by the GRI. The color of the arrows and their lengths show how much energy it would take for each person to match the other’s style. The text offers an interpretation of what the colored arrows mean from both Jon’s and Pat’s perspectives.

Why Compare?

Making teams work well rarely happens by chance. In the highly competitive business environment, stress is rampant at the best of times, and only gets worse when a business does not grow as expected or is having severe hiccups.

When this happens, or even better before it happens, the comparing feature is of great assistance in helping team members become more knowledgeable and positive about the distinct contribution they each make to the team’s success.

Matching with Job Expectations

To understand if people match in a team, if they will get along working towards a common goal and with shared values, we use an additional set of information that we call the PBI: Position Behavior Indicator.

People’s understanding of one another also needs to relate to what is expected of them in the job: their specific role, contribution and function in the context of the team. The PBI shows the behavior required for a job, and helps in understanding how an individual will succeed in that position. Ideally a person's GRI profile matches the PBI.

In the above example Jon and Pat naturally have very different perspectives and expectations. Jon wants everyone to behave autonomously with a strong personal drive. Pat wants consensus and strong direction from her manager.

Both styles succeed in different ways. When team members' behaviors are in sync with the PBI for their job, the ability to compare profiles has a high impact, helping people manage their expectations of their coworkers, while putting aside their own perspective and style. This applies to teams at all levels in a company, including executive teams, which are naturally exposed to much pressure.

Compare for Success

For Jon and Pat to work together productively, comparing their profiles will help set clearer expectations, allow them to be more positive about their differences and enable them to recognize which of their behaviors are complementary. This will affect how they perform together, and will strengthen the team’s performance.

Team members often do not share the same behavioral attributes and that’s okay - they don't need to when their attributes are clearly understood within the team.