Meet Marsha: Conflict Resolution and the i Style

Marsha had a difficult time hiding her feelings from the rest of the group during her recent confrontation with Pete and Jeffrey.

Marsha was excited to share her ideas with the rest of her team but became frustrated when she felt Pete and Jeffrey were too critical. Marsha felt like her creativity was being questioned by their negative comments. Her enthusiasm turned to frustration and she defended her ideas strongly. Jeffrey’s name calling felt personal and Marsha left the conference room in tears.

The i Style: At a Glance

i Stands for influence

Positives:

• Outgoing
• Enthusiastic
• Optimistic
• Encourages Collaboration

Negatives:

• Impulsiveness
• Disorganization
• Lack of follow-through

Quote
Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true. - Leon J. Suenes

How does Marsha handle conflict?

Marsha, like Jeffrey, handles conflict head on. Because Marsha and other “i styles” are naturally fast-paced, they are enthusiastic and passionate during discussions and may monopolize the conversation. The i personality is known for being open with their feelings but can become overly expressive and emotional during arguments. They can also become flustered and disorganized if they feel they are being bombarded.

How does this affect other styles?

The emotion that “i styles” bring to the table can make their colleagues feel very uncomfortable. Marsha and other high i’s are often seen as overly emotional or dramatic. Their colleagues may view them as high maintenance and try to avoid confrontations with them altogether.

What can Marsha do to improve?

Those with an i personality bring creativity, enthusiasm and positive energy to any team but need to be able to accept criticism in order to take their ideas to the next level. Marsha should first and foremost slow down during arguments and really focus in on what her colleagues are saying. High i’s can be much more effective if they remain objective during discussions and eliminate the emotional influence.

This and the rest of these blogs have been developed using the Everything DiSC® Workplace profiles, group reports and facilitator’s kit.

Join us for our next blog post in which we dive into the “S” style and how they handle conflict with others.

EPIC and Online DiSC Profiles

Online DiSC profiles provide the same benefit as the paper-based version but the scoring is automated and the reports are delivered in a narrative format. If you remember from the last post paper-based DiSC profiles are scored by hand and users look up information about their personality type or behavioral style in the DiSC booklet. Questions are presented just like the paper-version but users check-off their choices rather than using a coin to scratch off symbols. Most people find the online version of DiSC more convenient and a great time saver. The DiSC online version is delivered through an online system called EPIC which stands for Electronic Profile Information Center. EPIC is an online platform that makes it easy to deliver profiles via the internet. Organizations can have an online account set up which allows them manage all aspects of the profile distribution. Organizations can use their training time more effectively by using EPIC and online profiles. Employees complete assessments online in advance of training sessions, which ensures that every minute of training time is used to its full advantage. The EPIC system administrators control access to online profiles. Administrators can issue access codes to anyone in the world via email, making the platform ideal for the needs of multilocation businesses. System administrators also determine when and where respondents view their profile results to manage every step of the learning process. Plus, the EPIC platform allows trainers to personalize the response process by customizing the splash page and the report cover with their company or department's contact information and logo. The EPIC system also offers advanced functionality that permits system administrators to track various activities. This allows administrators to audit system activity and determine how many profiles have been completed by training participants at any time. Through EPIC, administrators can also view, print, or email completed reports, as the system maintains an archive of completed profiles. The EPIC system also offers reports and features not available in paper profiles through a variety of features. These range from composite group results to overviews of a team's interpersonal relationships. EPIC also gives organizations the capability to build group reports from data stored in the system, providing an analysis of team dynamics. As teams change, new group reports can be generated from existing data, adding new understanding without requiring more training time.