Understanding Teams – Yours and Theirs

Recently, one of my executive coaching clients was pulling his hair out over people in one department who were always complaining about his team. His team complained about the other team – of course. His team is essentially sales and the other team is policies, procedures, and compliance. You might as well try to mix oil and water and try to make a soufflé. What is it that has these teams all in a twitter?

Sales people are typically, not always, but typically a little more loose with rules and procedures. They just want to go out and influence people to buy so they can get paid. And yes, typically they do make more money than the “policy and procedure (P & P) enforcers.” The green-eyed jealousy monster starts running amok through the P & P team. The P & P people feel they work harder, are under more stress, and are constantly correcting the mistake of the sales team. The sales team doesn’t like rules; they take too much time to comply with and they need to be out selling. They reason, that if it wasn’t for them the P & P team wouldn’t it HAVE a job!

The sales team may have a point ̵ to a point, but without the P & P team, the sales tam probably wouldn’t get paid. Every behavioral style is important and brings value to every other team in an organization. For example, if you only had a team of four people, the ideal would be to have each of the four DISC behavioral styles on it. The D – for Dominance, the I – for Influence, the S – for Steadiness, and the C – for Compliance.

Each one of these behavioral styles brings value to the team. Here is a brief synopsis of each:

D Bottom-line organizer Forward-looking Challenge-oriented Initiates activity Innovative	I Optimism and enthusiasm Creative problem-solving Motivates others toward goals Team player Negotiates conflicts
S Dependable team player Work for a leader and a cause Patient and empathetic Logical step-wise thinker Service oriented	C Maintains high standards Conscientious and steady Defines, clarifies, gets information and tests Objective: the “anchor of reality” Comprehensive problem solver

Source: Target Training International

From the above graphic, it is easy to see that every behavioral style brings value and attributes to the team and that these values and attributes are needed for different aspects of any business. Leaders must be able to help teams appreciate the value of every other team, not only is this good management, but a component of extraordinary leadership.

Thank you for reading this blog. If you would like to have a no obligation discussion about helping your teams understanding each other better call 404-320-7834 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.performstrat.com

Graphic Credit: BigStock.com  Copyright: TINTIN75