How to improve team dynamics with the AEC DISC©® method

Let’s look at the four stages of Team Development and see how AEC DISC©® method can help:

1. Forming

At the beginning, everyone is excited about being a part of the team. People come together and start working on a project. It’s a perfect time to support your team in their development by organising AEC DISC©® profile workshop.

Executive Team Case Study

Last year Adhemis assisted an executive team that was in their “forming stage”. Some of the team members were recently recruited and some worked already in the organisation but in different business units. It was a team of 9 professionals with 5 different nationalities based in 4 countries on 2 continents.

All participants completed their DISC profile questionnaire and then met our DISC certified consultant in 1-2-1 settings to debrief their results. This was followed by 2 days learning session in person where the team met for the 1^st time. Each person prepared a presentation explaining their DISC profile, motivations and their preference when it came to working on a team.

Those two days gave every member an insight into other people’s way of working and communicating. It also gave them chance to increase their empathy and understanding for others and explain what they need to be at their best and the most efficient. This way the members saved a lot of time on figuring out how to work with one another and how to adapt their communication style. The AEC DISC©® approach brought clarity and help the team consolidate much faster.

Feedback: Our clients really appreciated this experience. They reported that they had right tools to work with others and concentrate on the common goal. DISC method was an easy concept to understand and they could see the patterns in their past behaviours that confirmed its accuracy. Participants also appreciated how different profiles brought a range of strengths that made their group unique and strong. This increased the confidence among the team members that they can achieve great things together.

This is an ideal stage to organise the AEC DISC©® workshop but it’s never too late. Following 3 stages can also benefit from this approach.

2. Storming

In this stage we often experience conflicts. Once the team gets some experience working together, the members inevitably start to disagree on direction, scope, vision and so on. It’s a very good moment to bring DISC method to help sooth the tensions and allow the team move into the “norming stage” thanks to their higher awareness of themselves and their team members. If your team experiences prolonged conflicts and doesn’t seem to move on to norming stage you can contact one of our consultants to see how this method can support your organisation.

3. Norming

As issues are addressed and resolved, the team’s morale begins to increase. Even at this stage AEC DISC©® workshop can be use to empower further team cohesion and help the group learn about their blind spots but also potential.

4. Performing

The final stage is marked by high productivity and enthusiasm.

Unfortunately, there is a risk when the team works together for some time, that the performance might drop. The reasons can be different and include change in the workload, company internal changes, shift in responsibilities, personal challenges of the members etc. In this case team might need  an extra energiser to bounce back to their most productive stage. The team might benefit from AEC DISC©® activity to identify their strengths and also weaknesses as a group. They might realise that they lack someone with a dominance of Red Profile to make things happened & to move projects forward. They also might discover that someone among them have that element of Red in their natural profile and might ask them to step up to do certain tasks to enable team’s success. The scenarios of benefits are endless.

How does it look in practice?

After talking to our consultant about your needs and understanding your objectives as a team or a company, your employees/ team will receive a link to a questionnaire that they need to complete.

Once that’s done, one of our certified consultant will schedule an individual one-to-one call with each participant to explain briefly the method and discuss their results. It’s a two way conversations in which the participant will explore their own perception of themselves and compare it with the AEC DISC©® results. Our certified coaches will help your staff gain higher self-awareness and understanding of their decision-making process.

The second part of the learning experience is the most crucial: we bring it all together. It’s a training session for a team when we enable participants to share their insights about themselves and hear their team doing the same. It’s a fantastic team building activity that improves communication and helps to understand how other team members operate. The emphasis is on the fact that we are all unique and we all have strengths to bring to the organisation. By understanding our profiles as a team we can become more efficient, empathic and cooperative.

Get in touch to find out more.